Dirt caving in under house

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Frank

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Hey! When I got the house this is the way it was. Actually it was worse than this but I have use jack stands to help lift it because it was settling really bad.

The problem I'm having is the dirt is caving in on my furnace. I can't just remove that dirt because then the dirt that supports the weight of the house with the jack stands will cave in. So I'm lost on what to do and trying to find a solution that will last a long time and not just something temporary.

I thought about concrete wall like 3 feet tall on three sides but then how would I support the open space and the pressure that the dirt will exert on the concrete wall. I have a few pictures for illustration and a diagram that I drew. Any help is appreciated.

You can see that the plenum is rotted through and I'm going to get that fixed but that was a result of a water leak that happened before I had the house. It baffles me how they just let dirt set on the furnace like that but this is something I walked into it so now I have to fix it.

Again, any help is appreciated! Thank you

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Floor joists, bearing wall above ceiling joists above that and maybe some weight of the roof too as well as live loads . Soil condition and type questionable at best.

First thought would be to put two temporary beams in running east and west one north one south of the original pier. remove that pier and do a longer, wider footing and build a section of wall, that would spread the load better on that poor soil.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2jFPPDioDQ[/ame]
 
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Is it your intent to attempt this yourself, or are you looking for alternatives in methodology?

Is the pier in the last photo structural?
 
Snoonyb- what do you mean exactly by "is it structural"? I dont think i understand the question.

Its just sitting on those structures of center-blocks
 
Snoonyb- what do you mean exactly by "is it structural"? I dont think i understand the question.

Its just sitting on those structures of center-blocks
He is asking if the structure will fail, like will the house fall in the hole?
I think the answer would be yes.
 
Snoonyb- what do you mean exactly by "is it structural"? I dont think i understand the question.

Its just sitting on those structures of center-blocks

The question has been addressed, however, it helps if the photo's are more panoramic and include what the masonry is supporting.
 
Hey everyone. I'm sorry I haven't wrote back in almost a year.

Not much has changed because I'm struggling financially but I did add a couple of those foundation posts sold at the box stores. Hold like 14k pounds each.
I STILL HAVEN'T gotten a new furnace because I simply can't afford it.

I ran into another issue. Check this out.... That screwdriver is 6" and I was probing underneath the foundation wall because I noticed that "lip" of concrete and thought "what if the dirt has settled that much and how to fix this.... Wow, this is gonna be a money-pitt it seems. The walls seem to NOT have a" footer". It looks like the walls are just all the same width.

I found videos online stating you can pour concrete walls beside it and under it in 4ft sections called "UNDERPINNING" and tieing rebarto the existing walls, from it up and pour. Basically a big step next to the foundation.

Im worried about digging underneath the concrete wall... Even if it's just 4 feet because I'd have to dig deep enough for stone and sand as a good base... Then all I have is a crawlspace that I literally crawl in and I can't stand up at ll. The existing walls are 5feet tall from the dirt.

HELLLLP PLZ


 

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Hey everyone. I'm sorry I haven't wrote back in almost a year.

Not much has changed because I'm struggling financially but I did add a couple of those foundation posts sold at the box stores. Hold like 14k pounds each.
I STILL HAVEN'T gotten a new furnace because I simply can't afford it.

I ran into another issue. Check this out.... That screwdriver is 6" and I was probing underneath the foundation wall because I noticed that "lip" of concrete and thought "what if the dirt has settled that much and how to fix this.... Wow, this is gonna be a money-pitt it seems. The walls seem to NOT have a" footer". It looks like the walls are just all the same width.

I found videos online stating you can pour concrete walls beside it and under it in 4ft sections called "UNDERPINNING" and tieing rebarto the existing walls, from it up and pour. Basically a big step next to the foundation.

Im worried about digging underneath the concrete wall... Even if it's just 4 feet because I'd have to dig deep enough for stone and sand as a good base... Then all I have is a crawlspace that I literally crawl in and I can't stand up at ll. The existing walls are 5feet tall from the dirt.

HELLLLP PLZ



Remind me, how deep do you want to go. another 3 ft?
 
I think code is 36" but I could be wrong. I don't know how deep to go. I just want it to be strong and dependable. I don't want to worry about it.

I can't afford helical piers
 
I think code is 36" but I could be wrong. I don't know how deep to go. I just want it to be strong and dependable. I don't want to worry about it.

I can't afford helical piers
It sounds easy if you say it fast. This is a full underpinning .
There is another that I am trying to find a video.
 
I'll check it out here soon. Thank you brother. That other place u posted in crawlspace, it opens nothing and it says error. Something isn't right
 
I watched it. There's no way in hell I would've even know where to start. They don't explain nothing so I'm left with a million questions and they never showed how far to dig under the footing or adjacent to/beside it. This isn't something I wanna "guess/hope" goes well.

They also stand upright 100%. I can't stand up lol. Whatever conveyor belt that is is cool but I'm guessing they broke the pieces down small. Who knows?

I didn't see any rebar in the actual pinning. I saw 1 pier done but I'm wanting the WHOLE WALL done because the WHOLE bottom of the wall is showing
 
You can dig thru that other stuff and see what he did . I would start at the door and dig in so I could stand up most of the time.
this would be the tool of choice. It's a walk behind.
images
 
I don't know how far the depth they are going inside the walls. Like if I'm looking at the wall Straight Ahead how far do I need to dig towards the outside of the house? Does that make sense? I know that my height will be somewhere about 24 in or I may just go ahead and do 36 inch butt I need to know the depth of how far to dig because if I have to go in more than 12in then that means I need to dig from the outside of the house too and I can only do about a 4-foot section at a time and if I do this all in one big dig out then it will eventually rain because I'm doing all this by myself and I will have rain water all on the inside and that won't be any good
 
When you say door are you talking about the crawl space?
 
When you say door are you talking about the crawl space?
Door, yes I meant entrance.
I found a little on benching, they like the dirt from the wall to be lowered at 45* so to come down 3 ft you would be in 3 ft , doesn't sound like it would be worth the effort.
I think you are right about worrying about rain during the job.
Do you want to back up and talk about the furnace.
 
Lol, Im getting a horizontal furnace brother. It'll cost about 4k total with AC.

Thank you for all the support. I'll try and put rebar in the existing walls and have it tied into the new foundation/steps so I'm guessing I need to dig just below where my dirt is now, throw in some sand, then rock then pour on top of that. Does that sound right?

3" of Course sand, 3/4" drainage rock at 2" deep, then dirt, then rebar axis/grid every 12" horizontal and vertical
 
Lol, Im getting a horizontal furnace brother. It'll cost about 4k total with AC.

Thank you for all the support. I'll try and put rebar in the existing walls and have it tied into the new foundation/steps so I'm guessing I need to dig just below where my dirt is now, throw in some sand, then rock then pour on top of that. Does that sound right?

3" of Course sand, 3/4" drainage rock at 2" deep, then dirt, then rebar axis/grid every 12" horizontal and vertical
Footing are never less that 7" thick and if you want concrete to float all the way in and fill the space you would form it so it was about 3" up the wall too.
Doubt you would ever get to full depth but I have been thinking about plan C if you are interested.
 

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