When You Need Foundation Replacement
As a homeowner in Southern California, it is essential to stay on top of all necessary repairs to your home. This is especially important when it comes to protecting and sustaining your home’s foundation.
When a home’s foundation suffers mild to moderate damage or deterioration, there are a number of methods that can be used to repair it. But, when these issues are left neglected and unresolved, foundation damage can worsen with time. When a foundation has been damaged beyond repair, foundation replacement is necessary to preserve the structural integrity of the home.
Foundation replacement is the process of removing the home’s old foundation and replacing that structure with a new and robust foundation.
Common Examples of Damage that Could Mean Replacement Is required:
• Poorly compacted soil base, causing the existing foundation to sink or shear.
• A large and excessive number of cracks.
• Unusual or unsound building materials used in the original construction.
• Cheap, low-quality concrete mix used in pouring the foundation.
• The foundation was not allowed to cure long enough, leaving it porous and prone to damage.
• Voids or hollow spots in the foundation.
• Extended exposure to ponding water and moisture.
• An interrupted pour, creating an unintentional “joint” in the concrete.
• The foundation was constructed out of materials such as brick, stone or other masonry which has not been reinforced.
Before the foundation process begins, an in-depth foundation inspection is conducted to determine if the entire foundation needs to be replaced or if it’s just portions of it.
The Foundation Replacement Process:
The first step is to shore up the house. This is done carefully and precisely in order to prevent damage to the house (in the form of unwanted cracks to walls and ceilings). We transfer the weight of the structure to the temporary shoring so that the existing foundation is no longer doing any load-bearing.
Removing the old foundation is a relatively straight forward process, because most older foundations do not include any form of steel reinforcement. Typically if the existing foundation was too difficult to remove, it wouldn’t need to be replaced—it would only need to be repaired.
A trench is dug underneath the house to allow for a new footing to be constructed. The depth of this footing will depend on the size of the house, how many stories it has, and the weight of the materials used in constructing the house as well as the type of soil present.
New treated lumber is installed — known as a sill plate — to provide firm anchoring material for new foundation bolts. New rebar steel reinforcement is installed throughout the trench, along with the new bolts, and wooden forms are built to receive the concrete.
The concrete is delivered to the job site by a concrete truck and pumped directly into the forms. The new foundation is allowed to fully cure, before the wooden forms are removed.
Once the forms are removed, the structure is attached to the new foundation and the stucco or siding is re-installed.
If you think your home may be in need of foundation replacement, foundation repair, or earthquake retrofitting contact Julian Construction today and we will send one of our foundation specialists out to conduct a free, thorough inspection with a quote for repair.
We have extensive experience serving our Los Angeles community and nearby regions. In fact, Julian Construction has inspected over 30,000 structures in the area! Give us a call at (323) 733-3377 to schedule your free inspection or complete the inspection request form.
