Supporting Lifted Concrete Block

[Manjo]

There's a 4' x 3' x 1.5' poured concrete block at the bottom of the back steps that's shifted down and to the left about 2 inches.

I've dug a 12" wide and 12" deep "tunnel" under the block's low end and can get a small 2-ton bottle jack under the block. With 2x6's above and below the jack, I can raise the block the required 2 inches to level it.

Now I need some ideas/guidance on how to permanently support and hold the raised block in place. I would like to pour cement under the block, but I don't know how to temporarily hold the block in place as I removed the jack so I can pour the cement under the block.

TIA for any tips, suggestions, ideas.

Manjo

[Robert Allison]

Use bricks and plastic shims. You will have to install the bricks and shims, set the weight down on them and see if it sinks (it will probably sink a little). Jack it back up and add more shims or bricks. Repeat as necessary until steps are where you want them, then pour the concrete. Be careful not to bump the brick column when working the concrete.

[Manjo]

Robert,

Thanks for the idea. Where would I get plastic shims? Are they something a hardware store would normally carry?

Thanks,

Manjo

Robert Allis> > There's a 4' x 3' x 1.5' poured concrete block at the bottom of the

[Bobk207]

Manjo-

I assume this block is a landing at the base of some steps?

If you're going to have to place some more concrete to stabilize the block...perhaps an easier approach is to remove & replace the block.

It's pretty thick.....frost zone? Because structurally there's no need for something that thick.

Your block is about 2700 pounds so be careful when working around it while raised.

Is the soil under it sound? No organics?

I would also suggest just adding leveled smoothed sand under the block. The block is so heavy you'll need to get good uniform bearing against the soil so that it doesn't sink more. Local shims & blocks, unless over a large area will also sink over time, hence the need for more concrete.

Why did the block sink? With uniform bearing that's less than 250 pounds per square foot...way less than even crappy soil can handle.

cheers Bob

[Italian]

[Manjo]

The block of cement is the footing for the back porch stairs. We live in Massachusetts where we can sometimes go well below zero F degrees which will create frost heaves.

I really don't know why the block sank 2 inches. But after digging the

12"x12" tunnel under the dropped end to place the jack, I think it is all the sand with little to no rock in the mix.

I really don't have a lot of room to work with under the footing, so I placed a rather large cement block in the tunnel and jacked up the footing enough to get one course of cement bricks on top of the large block. I then let the footing rest back down on the bricks. The brick support structure has sunk a bit into the sand. I will jack up the footing tomorrow and place another course of brick in place on top of the others and see how high that holds the footing. If I'm just a little over and the next morning I'm at level or still a little above, I'm going to pour cement to fill the entire hole and surround the bricks. I'm hoping this is enough to hold the footing in place for a long time. If I get more sinking, I will dig from the other side of the footing and jack it up and pour another cement support.

Thanks again to everyone who has posted to this thread. Many good approaches and ideas that made it hard to choose the one I could work with the best since I'm not a construction guy

Manjo

Manjo wrote: