Garage Tilting

[biddlecom]

Hello, I attempted to take measurements but it wasn't working out to well on my own. However I did some investigative work and have some new photos. If you look at photo 'tilt footing inside 1" and "tilt footing outside 1" that footing is tilting about 45 degrees. The footing is the one under my awning. Also if you look at photo 19 then you can see that both walls are tilting towards my house. The rest of the photos show footings that are level. It seem that I would need to fix the tilted footing and then use come-alongs to straighten it out and then reinforce the walls?

 

[nealtw]

The language of foundations is important.
Footing are below gound level at the depth of frost to and bigger that the foundation or piller toi spread the load over a bigger footprint
Foundation is a solid wall made out of many different materials usually concrete
Pillers or posts are in the ground with or with out footing with beams across the top for the building to be built on.

The latter seems to be what you have and we need to know how stable that is now.
If you have access to one where yoiu can dig without breaking asphaut or concrete, dig down and see how deep it goes and if there is a footing.

 

[beachguy005]

I'll agree with nealtw. I think when the building was constructed, all they did is lay timbers on the driveway and built a garage on top of them. Over time, weight, rot and weather have caused the "foundation" to settle and move. Causing the walls to separate.
In your area, there should of been a concrete footer dug and poured to below the frost line. PT sill plates bolted to the footer and the walls built on that. Preventing the walls from ever moving out or in.
I know in Maine, they're not much for permits and such, but I think this is the result.

 

[biddlecom]

If I was to dig down and then found out that it was not at least 4 feet deep then what would be the next step? If it was 4 feet deep then what would be the next step?

 

[nealtw]

If I was to dig down and then found out that it was not at least 4 feet deep then what would be the next step? If it was 4 feet deep then what would be the next step?

If they are deep enough perhaps they could be added to to make them stay put and maybe replaced one at a time, really I don't know but usually we want to know as much as we can find out before we start pushing and pulling at things.

I think last year you had a cold spell that lasted longer than usuall. The longer the time the deeper it gets and may have got to what ever depth your pillers are.
The outside raised up in the frost pushing the otherside toward the house. But yes I am guessing.

You have to figure the cost of replacing the unit to see if you are willing to do a whole bunch of work on a garage that will still be very old when it is fixed, if it can be fixed

 

[biddlecom]

I can dig down and see on Saturday. Like I said though it looks like all the pillars are straight and the building is sitting on them fine minus that one that has tilted. If I was to dig that one out and reset it then straightened and reinforce the garage then it would last 5+ more years? I do plan on tearing down and rebuilding I just don't have the funds at the moment and dont need nor want another lone right now.

 

[nealtw]

I did miss where you said only one leaned over. Does it learn sideways or back to front and does it look like that has happened in the near past?
If you drive a nail into the bottom plate half way and bend it straight up then you can hook your tape to that to measure, one person.

 

[biddlecom]

In the photo facing the garage the left front pillar is leaning at about a 45 degree angle to the left towards my house. The rest of the pillars are fine. After thinking about it I think this has been happening for a couple years now.

When measuring am I just doing left wall to right wall on the floor and then on the top? Just one place or like front middle back?

 

[nealtw]

Yes you want to know if it is just one spot or many that are different. We would hope the top is the same for the length of the garage but check a couple places anyway, you never know what you will find some people build funny.

 

[Snoonyb]

I have a whole different take on this.
Looking at the OH door picture, it appears that the garage is leaning away from the dwelling, as evidenced by the door itself.
It appears that the wall farthest from the house is rolling off the foundation and that motion is causing the structure to deflect in that direction and I would surmise that the garage foundation and the garage floor were not tied together.

 

[nealtw]

I have a whole different take on this.
Looking at the OH door picture, it appears that the garage is leaning away from the dwelling, as evidenced by the door itself.
It appears that the wall farthest from the house is rolling off the foundation and that motion is causing the structure to deflect in that direction and I would surmise that the garage foundation and the garage floor were not tied together.

Ya that's why we need measurements and levels

 

[Snoonyb]

What needs to happen is the dwelling side of the garage needs to be shored up, in and out, to stabilize it.

The floor needs to be cut for the placement of a new foundation under the wall away from the dwelling..

Prior to excavating for the foundation, remove the freeze boards from the exterior and secure the wall in place.

Excavate and pour the new foundation, support and move the deflected wall back in place.

Yes, I know it's an oversimplification.

 

[bud16415]

What needs to happen is the dwelling side of the garage needs to be shored up, in and out, to stabilize it.

The floor needs to be cut for the placement of a new foundation under the wall away from the dwelling..

Prior to excavating for the foundation, remove the freeze boards from the exterior and secure the wall in place.

Excavate and pour the new foundation, support and move the deflected wall back in place.

Yes, I know it's an oversimplification.

Along with that the building needs some additional strengthening to the structure to resist the type of movement that has happened. It needs good points to rest on and it needs to be somewhat self supporting not relying on the footings to hold it straight. IMO the failure happened because the bearing points moved by rolling over and the building itself had no rigidity and went right along for the ride. Who knows what came first did the wall push an inadequate footing out or did the footing fail and take the wall with it?

 

[Snoonyb]

Absolutely and if the OP wants to "expose" himself to the learning curve a step by step can be provided, but he'll need to learn the language.

When the building is back in place, plumb and square and even though the effect will be marginal, because of the width, adding shear panel, on the inside, to each side of the OH door will help.

The other end will be far easier and more effective.

 

[biddlecom]

I am just trying find the cheapest and safest route in fixing the garage.

 

[bud16415]

I am just trying find the cheapest and safest route in fixing the garage.

The old saying is something like (Fast, Good or Cheap. You can pick any two.) In your case you want cheapest and safest and that might be an example of pick one. You have set a time line of five years you want your repair to last and then you will be in a position to build something new and better. IMO I find if someone is looking five years down the road, that in five years there will most likely be one of two things happen. The repair will still be holding and the replacement will be pushed out to 6, 7, 8 years to forever. Or two in five years it will be a problem again and there will still be a budget problem and another stop gap will be put in place. Actually I think the problem you are having now was the result of a five year replacement plan back when the inadequate footings were done.

I actually think you have a decent looking out building someone has done siding and the roof and all the material from one foot up I’m guessing is solid. I had a garage built exactly the same at my old house. Someone got a hold of a bunch of timbers about 50 years ago and put up and outbuilding saying at the time I’m 40 years old and if this thing lasts 30 years what do I care if it falls down when I’m 70 or 80. Then someone younger came along and thought it’s not so bad put on some siding and a roof and paint it up and it will be good for another 20 years, etc. It looks to me like a problem started showing up 5 to 10 years ago and someone did the quick fix of jacking the corner up a little and then hand digging a little under the corner and drilling a hole thru the beam and pounding a piece of rebar in as a pin and then mixing a few bags of ready mix and putting a shallow pad under the corner and calling it a day. Winters came along and freeze thaws worked away at the corners combined with some more wood rot and it let go.

You have a building that I would guess is going to cost at a minimum 20k to replace. Depending how much DIY you put in could be saved for a maybe 1 or 2k now. The trouble is you have another cold snowy winter around the corner and a month or two to get moving and do something or your spring project is going to be ripping the garage down. If you don’t have any funding at this time or very limited you need to at least make it last the winter if you can and do not use it at all this winter getting everything out of it.

The farm I know well lost one barn and half of another last winter with snow loads. They have been picking away at cleaning the mess up all summer. Those barns looked straight and solid going into last winter. Yours, you don’t want to be up on this winter shoveling snow.

We never know any ones skill set when they come for advice and what type of equipment you have etc. or how much you have to spend at this time.

 

[biddlecom]

Any suggestions for keeping it up through the winter?

 

[bud16415]

Any suggestions for keeping it up through the winter?

I would be looking at some diagonal bracing top to bottom forming an X several places down the length of the building. The forces they would see could be quite high so most likely they would be lag bolted or thru bolted in place. What does the building measure across and height inside up to the truss? It’s anyone’s guess how much is enough. Seeing photos and being there are two different things when taking a guess.

 

[nealtw]

Bud cross bracing will keep it up for the winter but depending on what is wrong, it might be just as cheap to fix it with the same 2x4s. On the other hand if you have it cross braced and it stresses somemore you may be afraid to remove those braces to fix it in the spring.

 

[biddlecom]

From all the talk on this forum at this point it seems I need to secure it so it stays up this winter then just tear it down this coming spring.