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Porch settlement, HELP!

ugadigger

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Feb 25, 2012
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JAWJA!
When I built my house 20 years ago I had to back fill 30 loads of dirt about 8 ft from the front of my house against the basement wall. The porch has been jacked up and new cap blocks and quikcrete to support the corners etc. I am thinking of putting 8” blocks piers under it now. Or I might be better served to dig a perimeter footer. I’m tired of doing repairs to jack this thing up every few years! I wanted to see if y’all have any ideas? Thanks in advance!
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How deep is it down to solid untouched ground? That's where your footers need to be.
 
How deep is it down to solid untouched ground? That's where your footers need to be.

Yes. This. Maybe add some brick or block piers. It also looks like you need to get some more dirt in to shed the water away , that steep of a slope will just be a washout , maybe a retaining wall on that side of the house.
 
How deep is it down to solid untouched ground? That's where your footers need to be.



Therein lies the problem, think 10 feet poured basement wall . That’s how much fill I have and why it took 30 tandem dump truck loads! The roof of the porch is supported by trusses so no weight on the porch just the porch itself.
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You can see in the picture above how much settlement has occurred based on the paint line on the 4x4 post
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Not sure what state you are in ? Here in Wisconsin we put the footings below the frost line 4 foot. But one thing I would do from the picture is extended out your downspouts. Depending on how much rain you get will effect the ground conditions around the house.
 
Not sure what state you are in ? Here in Wisconsin we put the footings below the frost line 4 foot. But one thing I would do from the picture is extended out your downspouts. Depending on how much rain you get will effect the ground conditions around the house.



Good tip! I am in Georgia


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How far down are your porch post going into the ground now ?
 
Hmmm...roof is self supported with trusses eh? Well then simples! Get rid of those unsightly 4x4's and hang your porch off your roof trusses with garage door cables and turnbuckles! No more settling! Plus it would be cool! Like the whole deck is a free floating kind of Huge Porch swing! Anything else I can help you with today? :laughing:
 
If it were mine, I'd tear it down and start over. It was poorly built from the start.

Tear it out, dig some holes, set some Sonotube, fill with concrete, and go from there.

Your location doesn't help to determine frost/freeze/heave issues, so you'll have to determine how deep footers from your building codes.

ETA: I should have added....

Bring the Sonotube above finish grade, add brackets to accept new posts, and it will keep the out of the dirt.
 
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I agree that you need to go down to solid undisturbed ground. You said you have a basement so you would have to auger down a hole as deep as the basement footings to insure good support. Once you get the hole dug you should only have to fill with concrete one third full and allow to set up before installing corner posts. Also if it were me I would install 6"X 6" treated posts on both outside corners. Just that much more surface area for added support.
 
Hmmm...roof is self supported with trusses eh? Well then simples! Get rid of those unsightly 4x4's and hang your porch off your roof trusses with garage door cables and turnbuckles! No more settling! Plus it would be cool! Like the whole deck is a free floating kind of Huge Porch swing! Anything else I can help you with today? :laughing:

Man your nuts :laughing::rofl:
 
This really is one poorly built fussed up mess of a front porch you got there Brother...Its like damn! If I woulda built that mess after age 10 I woulda kicked my own @ss just on the principal!...

I wouldnt worry about it though, I'd leave it 'as is' until I go to re-sell it to some other Hillbilly, just wrap a riff of 3" wide white duct tape around the top notch there.......Its not like you are using it for anything important anyway...so who cares if the deck has got a 6 pitch? If anybody asks, just sell the Water runoff feature!

I sure hope this awful Front porch was not your creation...I hoped you subbed it out to the local tech school kids...Whoever built that disasterous mess was either a Gyp Traveler or a total tree house tard...did they throw in a driveway blacktop in the quote?

The whole shot is one engineering abomination..I'd just move the hell on out of there if I was you, or, go with the garage door cables off the roof rafters and build myself a free floating "Sling Porch!" :laughing:

It really is one damned old mess! ..Easiest thing to do would just be just pull the whole damn deck and everything right off of there and wall in that doorway with some scrap OSB and plastic siding, plant a few bushes if you want...take about a half hour...

Keep the flag though, its a nice touch and would work well on the lightbar of your Chevy truck at the Jawja Peanut Festival Mudboggin Event this Springtime right? :laughing:
 
Haha Mud your creativity never ceases to amaze me. I think the auger suggestion would work but I don’t know anyone with a 10 foot auger. I will have to do some research into that. Thanks for the ideas!


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Haha Mud your creativity never ceases to amaze me. I think the auger suggestion would work but I don’t know anyone with a 10 foot auger. I will have to do some research into that. Thanks for the ideas!


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Yeah..save yourself the trouble...Get rid of the whole deal there....Close it all off and plant some shrubs or go with a cantilevered 'Frank Lloyd Wright' kind of 'Falling Waters' deck thingy?...After you hang the deck off of the garage door cables from the roof rafters, simply pipe your gray water out there underneath it into a meandering stream with waterfall features and goldfish?...High class up the neighborhood! Maybe even raise some aquaponic crawdads in the effluent, and have a boiler pot handy?? Jawja Curb appeal right there! :laughing:
 
Unless that 30 loads of fill material was engineered fill (properly compacted) then it will probably continue to consolidate under load. I would say either go down to natural soil (which probably isn't practical) or pour some square footings at the post locations and lay block up. Then keep an eye on it and shim when needed. How long it will settle will depend on how it was placed and the type of soil. Clay material will take much longer to consolidate than granular material. Also as mentioned previously, get the water as far away from your foundations as possible. Water is an enemy to clay soils.

One other option could be helical piers. Don't need to excavate just "screw" them down to practical refusal and found on them. But that typically takes a specialty contractor.
 
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