House Is Shifting in The Soil/ Foundation. Solutions Anyone?

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  JimmyF on 18/09/2017 - 11:10

  On stumps? If so, get under and have a look around and see whats happening.

  • 

    JackOfNoTrade on 21/09/2017 - 07:32

    The actual brick frame/ perimeter walls of the house goes into the ground while underneath through out the rest of the flooring there are stumps. There's not a whole lot underneath that I can determine as being the main issue. Did find a whole lot of asbestos though :-S

    • 

      JimmyF on 21/09/2017 - 09:55

      was it wet or dry?

      asbestos under the house? Thats new. What was it installed as?

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  tebbybabes on 18/09/2017 - 11:29

  +1

  We have the same problem but we live in townhouses. There doesn't seem to be any structural faults but the cosmetic changes are annoying.

  It seems like injecting resin/foam under the structure might be a possible solution but other than reading marketing materials for it, I have yet to go into deeper research.

  • 

    jnewau on 18/09/2017 - 11:41

    +3

    I had the resin injected under my house (100 year old double brick place) as I had some severe movement (70mm in one spot) due to poor foundation and wet soils. I had some severe cracking (right through double brick)

    Got the drainage fixed and in combination with the injection, the house is now level and so far, crack free!

    • 

      TheBilly on 18/09/2017 - 15:50

      When you went through this process, did they tell you whether the resin actually pushes the level back up or whether it just stops it in it's tracks?

      • 

        jnewau on 18/09/2017 - 17:29

        +1

        I used a Newcastle company called Resinject so sorry Supasaiyan (to answer the question below), not in Melbourne.

        They placed around 20 laser levels on all external and internal walls and actually lifted the house in tiny increments where needed, until it was all level. They drilled around 40 points around the house against internal and external walls (they had to go down 2-3m to hit something solid in spots) and monitored each one individually and injected it in small increments.

        A few new cracks opened up in the process as the house reshifted, but the old cracks visibly closed up. The bricks needed redoing and retying and replastering over anyway so that was expected.

        Mine was a pretty extreme case as it was a combination of poor drainage and old house built on the ground (brick foundations in dirt) so accessibility was also awful, making for a perfect storm of a difficult job!. More modern places probably wont need as extensive work as I had.

        Still cheaper than knocking the place down though and it looks great now, so it was money well spent.

    • 

      87percent on 18/09/2017 - 17:15

      And if you're in Melbourne, what company did you use and how much was it?

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  ohsotight on 18/09/2017 - 11:41

  +4

  It could be the type of soil. Certain areas its reactive soil which makes the house move.

  Also keep an eye out of there are any large trees near your house. Invasive tree roots could be a reason. Also the tree roots could be sucking the moisture from the soil in a certain area of the foundation.

  Also have a look under the house and see if its damp and if its wooden stumps if they are constantly wet.

  If this is the case then again the house could be moving and the soil is always wet. Could be surface run off water or a broken pipe. Therefore check that your storm water is working correctly and discharging in outlets as its meant to. Also check your guttering is good nick.

  Good luck!

  • 

    JackOfNoTrade on 22/09/2017 - 11:14

    Its actually concrete stumps but I can see gaps between the stumps and the wood floor structures. Thanks for the advice :-)

• 

  chumlee on 18/09/2017 - 13:02

  +1

  Houses always shift. Long spells of dry weather than lots of rain etc.

  Maybe get it underpinned or restumped and you should be good for another 20 years at least

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  FirstNameLastName on 18/09/2017 - 13:05

  +1

  op.. good advice given already..
  also if you are on a slope with other people's water coming.. maybe consider drainage solutions to properly get it away from your house. also.. if you check on your council's online system, you may find old building applications related to your address where soil is hinted at (ie reactivity/clay), also.. try and google/youtube for basic house design.. work out what yours is.. and work out if you are on concrete or wood stumps. concrete stumps can fail too. maybe you can also access your main bearers (if you are on stumps) to see if there are gaps.. measure the gaps to determine movement over time.

  i believe some gaps forming is normal, because the house sorta expands/shrinks constantly with heat changes.. but what you describe sounds more serious. i believe you could pay a structural engineer or something to help diagnose the issue.

  • 

    JackOfNoTrade on 21/09/2017 - 07:53

    Yeah my house IS on a slope and its a corner house as well (corner of a couple of streets, I mean). I guess I'm bummed out that my neighbours don't seem to have those issues and all of em are about the same age. Having said that, the previous owners did cut a lot of corners when it came to the building like wiring being exposed, half assed efforts with lighting and side skirts. So essentially I think when they built the house they probably didnt compact the foundation soil all that well either before the work began. Thanks for the advice :-)

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  FirstNameLastName on 18/09/2017 - 13:08

  (p.s regarding if there is a permanent fix.. yes probably.. depends on your construction/cause/costs.)

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  c64 on 18/09/2017 - 13:54

  build yourself a water level and check the level at each stump

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  Seraphin7 on 18/09/2017 - 14:04

  +1

  Get a structural engineer in and commission them to write a professional report on the matter. It will likely run you $1-2k so not "cheap" but it will give you a clear articulation of the issues, whether or not it is a matter for concern and give you some clear direction on where to next.

  Be careful not to assume it is a particular problem and get the corresponding trade out … inevitably that trade will be able to do something to "correct" the issue, whether or not that is actually the underlying issue.

  • 

    JackOfNoTrade on 21/09/2017 - 07:55

    A structural engineer would probably be able to establish EXACTLY what the issue is. Would you say one of those building inspection guys would be able to do more or less the same, since they're a bit cheaper? Thanks for the advice

    • 

      Seraphin7 on 21/09/2017 - 12:26

      +1

      In your circumstance I would avoid the house inspection guys. I've had too much experience (both first and second hand) where these guys really only point out things that "might" be an issue but don't actually give you a view on how significant the issue is or what needs to be done to rectify the matter.

      I've found it to be based on a principle of "well, I've pointed out hings that might be an issue … now over to you to work out what you want to do about it". To be clear, I'm not saying all these guys are like this, just many in my experience.

      In my opinion, I think you'll end up getting a better outcome with a structural engineer. They will be able to specifically examine the problem that is causing you concern and detail if/to what extent it is actually causing a structural issue and then determine a scope of works to rectify whatever issue might be found.

      I'm all for saving $$$$, but would humbly suggest that a potential structural issue in your property (I'm assuming worth at least several $100k) that might need remedial work of several $10k is not the time to skimp on a few hundred bucks.

      • 

        JackOfNoTrade on 21/09/2017 - 22:13

        +1

        you make a good point on ..well pretty much everything.Thanks again :-)

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  TheBilly on 18/09/2017 - 15:51

  How much space under the house? Height wise?

  • 

    JackOfNoTrade on 21/09/2017 - 07:25

    About 80cm to a metre I'd say. That's at the biggest gap of the house, since its on a slope. Then it gets narrower towards the front of the house and we'd have to be our on bellies to crawl over to that end underneath.

    • 

      ohsotight on 21/09/2017 - 08:29

      +1

      If it’s a corner block and you say the house is on the slope there is a possibility that surface run off water from all the other houses ends up in your property when it rains. I am going on the assumption you are the last house on the street.

      You may not see it but the soil underneath maybe always damp and rotting away the stumps if its wood. Go under the house take a screw driver and excavate around a few stumps and see if it’s wet and damp.

      Speaking from experience here with a similar issue! I am in the process of installing an agi pipe to collect the surface run off water and direct it to the storm water system. I am hoping this will fix my issue.

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  JackOfNoTrade on 21/09/2017 - 07:56

  Thanks everyone for your advice :-)