my cabin is on leaning cement columns :/

Looking at Inspectors photo, you would just hold the house up with cribbing or some other support and cut your posts just above ground level, drill and install a saddle for the 6x6 posts.

Yes, just as Neal said... you dont need any poured concrete, just support what you have, remove the block columns that are there, down to a certain point....which may be the top of the footing and attach with a simpson strongtie collar to your new 6x6 posts.
All of this can be done anytime, just depends on if you like to work in the cold or not. :beer:

Have fun searching what you think will work, http://www.strongtie.com/products/connectors/?source=topnav

It’s hard to offer an opinion with only some of the information at hand. I tend to offer advice based around the uncertainty of the information and the severity of the consequences. In this case all we have to go on is what we see in a few photos and what the OP has shared. No one knows for sure what is under the ground we are told the footings are down 4 foot. That would be good.
I quite often use the theory of what I can see is my guide to what I can’t see in terms of quality. Most of the time I find the unseen quality is actually less.
What we are talking about is a structure that was most likely owner built or handyman built without any engineering done. My clue to this is would anyone approve a column built by stacking 17 blocks in a straight line like that. We are told they are filled and rebar added but what we don’t know was the rebar put in in pieces and was the fill total. Why were the blocks laid across the grade as opposed to with the grade capturing more of the beam and having a stronger section resisting the grade. All this points out to me I wouldn’t trust what I don’t see equally as much.
Given the quality of engineering or lack of I have to assume the actual footings to be a wheelbarrow full of home mix dumped in a hand dug hole.
In contrast if you look at the photos inspectorD posted the footings at the corner of the house look to be 3 foot diameter and I’m sure 4 plus foot deep, or a couple yards each. I agree the diagonal bracing is what gives it great strength. Wood diagonals can both act in tension and compression but in both directions if they are needed they are pulling or pushing against the footing.

I personally wouldn’t feel good about attaching anything to the first block out of the ground, but if I did I would also look at a lower column to column member at least on any of the columns that had diagonal bracing coming off them. The building being the top member forming a simple truss.

Bud, those are good points. But I have looked at from the other way.
No complaints about major settling so I thought the footing were deep enough and have been carrying the load.
The post have had a lot of stress, so they have to have something of value inside them, and the least damage on them will be where the ground has supported them against the stress.
But that could all change when the post is cut down and you see what is there, as rusty steel will break concrete and would have to be addressed.

nealtw said:

Bud, those are good points. But I have looked at from the other way.
No complaints about major settling so I thought the footing were deep enough and have been carrying the load.
The post have had a lot of stress, so they have to have something of value inside them, and the least damage on them will be where the ground has supported them against the stress.
But that could all change when the post is cut down and you see what is there, as rusty steel will break concrete and would have to be addressed.

Click to expand...

Neal that was kind of my point also I guess. The only thing we know for sure is the footings whatever they are carry the load straight down. If we run members into them at angles like 45 degrees or something we are now expecting that top block to take a great sideways load. If the load wasn’t going to be applied then there would be a reason to have them large beams. When you look in those photos and see 6x6 beams running across corner to corner some engineer calculated how much load those could see and then sized those 2 cubic yard footings to take that force.
The way around that is to supply another way to take that force and put all the load straight down into the footings he has. The bottom beams I’m talking about work like a collar tie.

Add to all this: we know that the top of the hill has moved because the house was a reference point. The OP mentioned that dirt was pushing the building. How can we NOT assume that the lower part of the hill is moving to some degree? Is there any kind of reference point for the footings?

slownsteady, the previous owners dug into the hill, and then build the house's rear supports right against the wall of exposed earth created from the dig ... then built a retaining wall that was attached to the building's supports, with earth pressing against the retaining wall. that decision plus the single-block columns were bad ones, to say the least! but that just pushed the rear supports forward, which brought the house and all other supports forward too, at least 6 inches... so the movement of the front columns occurred at the top, while their bases never moved, hence the leaning forward.

as for the rest of the discussion, I'm strongly considering taking the advice to install wooden posts with diagonal braces. this raises a few questions. Can I really just drill into the existing concrete and then insert a post saddle? aren't they usually put into wet cement.. and also, are those really strong enough to support a house, and not just a deck? for example do you think the basic post saddle would have been used in the house photos that Inspector posted, or would it have been a more heavy-duty, deeper-sunk saddle/anchor.

also, keep in mind that the 'footings' are only in place on the sides of the house, and only between the front and middle columns. the rest of the columns are just cement and rebar-filled blocks sunk about 4 ft deep. as for cutting into the existing columns and using their bases as supports for post saddles, do you really think I can cut through the rebar, and then insert a saddle? I guess I could try, but it might be cleaner/stronger to completely remove the post and pour new cement footings... especially since even the bases are leaning a bit. so I'm guessing I will install temporary wooden posts on the existing footings, combined with jack posts in other places, and then in the spring, undertake the larger operation of replacing the columns one by one... thanks for everyone's continued interest.

Mrmarbles

In looking at your photos this morning I was thinking 4 to 6 inches of movement also. That same frost movement we were talking about is most likely what pushed the cabin along over time.

I agree with what you are planning and I think you will have a much more stable building redoing the footings. It is the right way to approach it and it’s also going to be a big job I think. It will be hard getting digging equipment in there. Do you plan on doing this by hand? Can you get a concrete truck in close at the top. The trouble doing them one at a time is bringing the truck in many times.

I don’t know what type of saddles they were talking about but I also was seeing some heavier iron work holding the posts.

I hope you stick around and show us the temp work as well as the finished work come spring.

I'll definitely post updates some updates!

For replacing the columns one by one, I'm assuming I will just buy a cement mixer rather than a truck.

do you think, for the temporary solution, that drilling 7 inches into the old cement footings (which some of my jack posts are currently just sitting on) to install one of these is a viable option? http://www.strongtie.com/products/connectors/canada/rcps.html
and if so, do you think it would be strong enough to support diagonal braces, which I assume would put greater pressure on the anchor...

If you can prove that that is the footing near the surface and prove that they are deep enough for frost protection, likely 4 ft. from top of dirt to bottom of concrete. If they are not deep enough, you might just raise the dirt level. You can just drill into the top of the footing for the saddle or leave a few blocks and drill into those for the saddle. You want a 3/4 by 10" drill bit in a hammer drill for that and appoxy them in place.
The angled cross braces are bolted High on one post and low on the other, once that is done you have a stiff box and there is no latteral push on the saddle
I don't see a need for more concrete unless I have missed something.
For all of this use, underground rated treated lumber and hot dipped galvinized sadlles, nails and bolts.

Sorry but I think you need a structural engineer to review this project. The hazard of working under there without adequate shoring is bad enough. My first choice is sonotubes buried way below frost line to compensate for possible movement and cross bracing to beef up the structure .... if the hillside is shifting, there is probably no long term solution anyway. The pics freak me out.