Coordinating repairs on old house

Old house, 2 story craftsman, 1925 square foot, built in 1910. Had roof replaced last November (a must!), but there are many things that need doing:

  1. Foundation replacement. Current foundation is conglomeration of stone and mortar, some concrete, some brick. The house is not bolted to the foundation, a big problem in Berkeley, CA, where it's 1.5 miles from the most dangerous earthquake fault in the USA (the Hayward fault), in terms of the estimated damages and likelihood of serious rupture (up to 7.3 on Richter Scale 70% likely within the next 30 years). Considerable settling in the middle of house, especially noticeable downstairs. Unmistakable to anyone but a sleepwalker.

  1. Removal of brick and stone cosmetic siding from all 4 sides, first story (they tell me that will have to be done before the foundation job, in order to protect the workers). The current brick, besides being dangerous to workers replacing the foundation has mortar like sand (mostly you can remove it with your finger nails!).

  2. Obviously, the removed siding needs to be replaced with some type of siding, probably after installation of sheer and insulation. I'm thinking I might be able to do that myself - cedar shingles, if I rent scaffolding.

  1. Replumb entire house - remove the old galvanized hot and cold water pipes (the ones I've seen are very badly corroded inside, and give off a LOT of rust when unused for a few days).

  2. Replumb all the drains. I assume all the drains should be replaced. I had the drain to the upstairs bathroom sink bust a couple of weeks ago (water poured out of the downstairs ceiling!) and can't use that sink nor the tub in that bathroom (because it's clogged).

  1. New electrical service. In the attic you can see knob and tube wiring (much of it blatantly illegal) and none of the outlets are grounded.

  2. Exterior paint badly needed.

  1. There's no central heating, so I'd like to install.

OK, so I have a neat deal where the town will give me a no-interest loan of $50,000 I don't have to pay back until I either sell the house or 30 years passes. I qualify because of my age and income.

$50,000 won't pay for even just the foundation and siding. I got a quote for $64,000 for that, but the contractor didn't plan to have drainage for his new reinforced concrete foundation. If I want that, I'll have to pay more. His bid includes removal of current siding and replacement with board-like concrete horizontal lap-siding.

I have some money, but it's invested and is my only source of income, currently and hate to tap into it. I'm hoping I will get a job.

I'm wondering if it's reasonably practical to put off the foundation, leveling and siding work and do the other stuff now. Would it make more sense to do it all now? I was going to ask this question of contractors, but think I may get a more unbiased response posting here. I asked the woman I'm dealing with for the loan monies yesterday (she works for the city, but has a degree in architecture) and she said she thought it didn't matter. I'm not sure I trust her opinion on this. She has her own perspective on things. I've heard some talk that electrical is best done when the plumbing is done, etc. When the exterior brick and stone (all 4 sides of the house, on the first story) is removed, wouldn't that make it easier and more economical to replace the plumbing, do the new wiring and install central heating?

There's a lot of other stuff that needs doing, but I've only mentioned the crucial stuff. Things like remodeling the bathrooms, interior painting, window replacement (well, some of it should maybe be done when the siding is done), refinishing floors, replace garage roof and replace one wall of garage, removing an upstairs wall, etc. can all wait until I can afford to do them.

If I put off the foundation work and can do just the plumbing, electrical, heating and exterior painting, I figure I can maybe do it with the loan money and not spend my own, for now.

I'm thinking I should find a real good general contractor to coordinate this stuff, especially if I do the foundation and siding now (that will all be a lot to coordinate). How important is it to coordinate these things or are they pretty independent?

I know a few general contractors who seem to have very good reputations, and plan to start making calls in a couple of days (Monday). These are guys who I've talked to in the past who have been here. I have to act soon, because the loan money has to be used within a year or so, I believe. Thanks for considered advice!

Dan

Reply to
Dan_Musicant
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Ok, so I've also been in foundation hell myself this summer. Why so expensive for a foundation? I've completely replaced my sill plates around my entire 2000 sq ft foundation for $4000. Once your house is jacked up, replacing whatever foundation needs help should be really cheap (a few thousand if that), then just drop (ok, gently lower) the house back on the sill plate (with newly reinforced/replaced foundation) . Bolt or don't bolt onto the foundation. I don't get the cost. My house is built on stacked stone, with brick and mortar used between the studs for insulation (house built around/before 1800), so it's not exactly simple/easy to jack. Why so expensive where you are? Am I just missing something about CA? I'm in upstate NY farm country.

Reply to
hilary

I've been going through the same thing with a 1901-or-so (records disagree) 1600 square foot 2-story in Washington State. Obviously construction costs differ regionally, but even so, it cost us less than $20,000 to jack up the house, have the old foundation torn out, and install a new foundation that exceeds seismic codes for Alaska and California.

If you can get your trades coordinated, there's never an easier time for replumbing, rewiring, or rot replacement than when the house is up on blocks with no foundation walls in the way. We figure that cut many days' labor off our other renovations.

Getting the new foundation in definitely goes before almost anything else -- if you do siding, doors, windows, etc. before the new foundation, things won't be level when you get the foundation done.

Reply to
Joshua Putnam

Dan-

DTBT.......I own a 1930 classic home in Santa Ana. Luckily I have a concrete foundation & I don't have nearly the seismic exposure that you have.

Honestly the commericial restoration of a old home is not an easy or inexpensive project.

IMO you've either got to be really handy (& have the time & desire to do the work) OR have a fairly long time frame OR have sizeable chunk of $'s

I'd do the foundation work first or concurrently with the other work.......you'd be pretty bad off if you did all the work (less foundation) on the house & it got destroyed by an e/q before you got to foundation!

If the siding is coming off; that's a good time to do the electrical, plumbing & insulation. I have stucco, so my "siding" most likely won't be coming off (at least in my lifetime) so my plumbing & lectrical will be soemwhat more trouble if I want to preserve (& I do) my artist textured plaster intact.

Do you have the experience / skills to act as your own GC?

Search through this newsgroup....there is a fellow in Berkeley who posted (& got answered) a ton of questions about old house work. He's in Berkeley as well

I think this is one of his first posts....

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My suggestion would be to look him up, he's got a whole lot of experience under his belt by know & he's put a lot of thought into the process

cheers Bob

Reply to
BobK207

I'm cheap, and handy, and usually try to salvage things that almost no-one else wants because of my "don't waste" philosophy. But your house sounds like maybe it would be better off just starting over. I mean, really, what exactly are you salvaging here? Just the frame and roof. Or, parts of it anyway -- you mention taking out some walls, and a new garage roof.

But if you do have some other reason to restore (that loan, or historical value, etc.)... I would guess you need to do that foundation first. The drain side of plumbing can't be done until the house is level, if it really is as out-of-level as bad as you say. The electrical can be done while the siding is off, too.

And just to be sure: you aren't planning on living in this house while the work is going to be done are you? There will be no electricity, water, or plumbing for likely many days or weeks. At some point, you will basically have just a frame (raised in the air, no less).

-Kevin

Reply to
kevin

Dan: Rip everything out first, siding, sheetrock, etc.. and get it down to framing. Foundation is first after that. Now it's easy to do your electrical, plumbing, AC.

Sometimes it's cheaper to start from scratch because construction people can get much more accomplished not trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. That's why renovations typically cost more than new construction.

Either way, it's sounding like $100-150k depending on your material choices. Don't do cedar shakes. I have it, and they're very expensive and labor intensive ($400 /sq) for materials alone. For that much, I went with hardi shingles and I'll never have to worry about warping, checking, splitting..

good luck

Dan_Musicant wrote:

Reply to
tim1198

:Dan- : :DTBT..

Done that been there?

:.....I own a 1930 classic home in Santa Ana. Luckily I have a :concrete foundation & I don't have nearly the seismic exposure that you :have. : :Honestly the commericial restoration of a old home is not an easy or :inexpensive project. : :IMO you've either got to be really handy (& have the time & desire to :do the work) :OR :have a fairly long time frame :OR :have sizeable chunk of $'s

I have some of all those, but not in spades. : :I'd do the foundation work first or concurrently with the other :work.......you'd be pretty bad off if you did all the work (less :foundation) on the house & it got destroyed by an e/q before you got to :foundation!

Yes, I'm gambling if I roll the dice and just hope a devestating earthquake doesn't upset my apple cart. Am I mixing my metaphors? Well, the meaning's there.

: :If the siding is coming off; that's a good time to do the electrical, :plumbing & insulation. I have stucco, so my "siding" most likely won't :be coming off (at least in my lifetime) so my plumbing & lectrical will :be soemwhat more trouble if I want to preserve (& I do) my artist :textured plaster intact.

The siding is most definitely coming off. I have stucco on 2nd floor. Half of the upper floor siding is shingles. Those are painted, some in poor condition and ideally they would all be replaced... especially if I install shingles on the first floor. Maybe the stucco can remain. : :Do you have the experience / skills to act as your own GC?

It would be a stretch, a huge stretch. Yes, I could, but I'm afraid I'd make serious mistakes. I know several GC's (3, at least) who could probably do a much better job. : :Search through this newsgroup....there is a fellow in Berkeley who :posted (& got answered) a ton of questions about old house work. He's :in Berkeley as well : :I think this is one of his first posts.... : :

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I've made friends with him - Wayne Whitney. We've helped each other a bit and visited each other's house several times. He's quite impressive, a very bright guy and very level headed. His posts here tend to be informed and well worth reading. The work he's done (and is doing) on his house is top notch.

: :My suggestion would be to look him up, he's got a whole lot of :experience under his belt by know & he's put a lot of thought into the :process

I couldn't agree more. We've done a lot of email correspondence.

One of the guys I'm considering to do my foundation (and maybe act as my GC) is the guy who did Wayne's foundation and new basement. That contractor gave me literally hundreds of local references! Talk about experience!

Dan

:cheers :Bob

Reply to
Dan_Musicant

On 30 Sep 2006 17:58:42 -0700, "kevin" wrote:

: :Dan_Musicant wrote: :> Old house, 2 story craftsman, 1925 square foot, built in 1910. Had roof :> replaced last November (a must!), but there are many things that need :> doing: : :I'm cheap, and handy, and usually try to salvage things that almost :no-one else wants because of my "don't waste" philosophy. But your :house sounds like maybe it would be better off just starting over. I :mean, really, what exactly are you salvaging here? Just the frame and :roof. Or, parts of it anyway -- you mention taking out some walls, and :a new garage roof. : :But if you do have some other reason to restore (that loan, or :historical value, etc.)... I would guess you need to do that foundation :first. The drain side of plumbing can't be done until the house is :level, if it really is as out-of-level as bad as you say. The :electrical can be done while the siding is off, too. : :And just to be sure: you aren't planning on living in this house while :the work is going to be done are you? There will be no electricity, :water, or plumbing for likely many days or weeks. At some point, you :will basically have just a frame (raised in the air, no less). : :-Kevin I don't know about living in the house during the dark ages of its renovation. I guess maybe I could live with my sister for a few weeks.

I'm also cheap and handy (The "new" sinks I installed in the bathrooms a month or so ago are ~55 years old (American Standard), but this work is far beyond my resources. I can't do my own foundation. I don't have the expertise to do my electricity, although I suppose that isn't impossible if I do the homework.

Starting over? That was the foremost question in my mind when I first considered buying the house. I was already a tenant. I knew the owner had to sell it, and I had the house evaluated by an experienced GC I knew. Later in the day he gave me a tentative bid to fix "everything" (well, all the major stuff... not including the garage). $150,000, beginning of 2000. Of course, it would cost a lot more now. How much more, I'd like to know and I'm going to call him and see if I can get him interested. He wasn't last year, but the housing market is cooling off FAST and I hear he's not too busy, so who knows? He may be willing to change his mind and do some GC instead of the mostly window installation work he's been doing the last few years. His take was that the house is very solidly constructed, much more so than today's houses. He said there is old growth redwood in the main supports (I'm not too sure of that. It might really be Douglas Fir). Anyway, the house does have a lot of character. The question is how expensive it will/would be to restore it to its former glory, or some semblance of that? I'm not a preservationist. The house has been seriously altered and I have no aspirations to maintain an authentic architectural statement, assuming that's even possible at this point. I don't want to make it into an absurd combination of architectural/stylistic elements, but I want to be practical. Residing with brick and stone would be prohibitively expensive, certainly.

I'm told that living in the house while they are doing the foundation won't be a real problem (by Wayne Whitney, discussed elsewhere in this thread), but if the electricity and plumbing will be unusable for any length of time, I will probably be living elsewhere temporarily.

Thanks for everyone's comments!

Dan

Reply to
Dan_Musicant

:Dan: :Rip everything out first, siding, sheetrock, etc.. and get it down to :framing. Foundation is first after that. Now it's easy to do your :electrical, plumbing, AC.

There's very little sheetrock here. It's almost all lath and plaster. But a WHOLE LOT of that plaster is disintegrating. I haven't evaluated it carefully, but there are very very many places where it's crumbling or has obviously come loose from the lath. Bulges, big cracks, etc. In fact, most of the downstairs and some of the upstairs plaster was covered with paneling, which I'm removed, almost entirely (exposing the plaster problems). Maybe most or all of that plaster should be ripped out, such as you say, prior to the foundation, plumbing and electrical work. Then, I suppose it could either be replastered or else sheetrock could be put up. Don't know if the lath should stay or not, if it's sheetrock. Maybe not, since that would probably interfere with installation of an updated electrical system, a central heating system, and plumbing. I suppose that would mean the house would be a mere skeleton prior to even the foundation work. Clearly, I'd have to live elsewhere. AC I won't need (Berkeley), but heating, yes! : :Sometimes it's cheaper to start from scratch because construction :people can get much more accomplished not trying to fit a square peg :into a round hole. That's why renovations typically cost more than new :construction.

By scratch I assume you mean what I described, not tearing the house down, but I'm not sure. : :Either way, it's sounding like $100-150k depending on your material :choices. Don't do cedar shakes. I have it, and they're very expensive :and labor intensive ($400 /sq) for materials alone. For that much, I :went with hardi shingles and I'll never have to worry about warping, :checking, splitting..

So, you removed your cedar shakes? Or you have a combination with "hardi shingles?"

: :good luck

Thanks!

Reply to
Dan_Musicant

:Ok, so I've also been in foundation hell myself this summer. Why so :expensive for a foundation? I've completely replaced my sill plates :around my entire 2000 sq ft foundation for $4000. Once your house is :jacked up, replacing whatever foundation needs help should be really :cheap (a few thousand if that), then just drop (ok, gently lower) the :house back on the sill plate (with newly reinforced/replaced :foundation) . Bolt or don't bolt onto the foundation. I don't get the :cost. My house is built on stacked stone, with brick and mortar used :between the studs for insulation (house built around/before 1800), so :it's not exactly simple/easy to jack. Why so expensive where you are? :Am I just missing something about CA? I'm in upstate NY farm country.

I'll need a lot more than replacement sill plates. They have to jack up the house, remove the current foundation, excavate for a new foundation, place rebar and pour concrete. Then new sill plates, lower house and bolt to the foundation.

The bid for $64,000 included one day devoted to leveling the house as far as they reasonably can. It didn't include provisions for drainage, and I think that could be a serious mistake. He said I could have drainage installed later if it was determined to be advisable. I don't know how practical that position is. We do get rainfall normally about

22"/year around here. The lot is pretty level (from side to side), maybe some back to front slope.

If that bid is high, well, I can get some more bids. I did have one guy over to bid on the foundation and in talking to him I mentioned the $64,000 quote I already had and the guy just said "jump on it. I'm telling you as one homeowner to another, you should get all over that one. We couldn't come anywhere close to that" and he left. He seemed sincere. That was a year ago. The housing market has cooled considerably since, and I don't doubt that I could do better now. How much better, I don't know, but hope to find out in the coming weeks.

Dan

PS I got another bid for close to $80,000 a year ago for similar work on the foundation, siding and front porch and steps. He was going to install stucco where the bricks and stone had come off. The guy who made the $64,000 bid was going to install concrete lap-siding.

Reply to
Dan_Musicant

The order in which you build a house should be the order you do a major remodel such as you have stated. Although house moving tec. has advanced raising and setting back down which you whould need to do for this project will most certianly produce some interior movement. Being that the house is currently out of level in several areas when the new foundation and stem wall is in place and the house is lowered it will shift ever so slightly but just enough to crack tiles on floor, walls, drywall, or plaster in your case. Getting the foundation out of the way first is the only way to go otherwise your just rolling the dice on if the improvments you have already made will survive the lift.. If you are in Berkely the eng. required on the foundation project is going to be though the roof cost wise lots of footing and lots and lots of rebar...welcome to California... One other coment I read below quickly something about a window guy doing the GC on you project....if thats what I read please give this a second thougt..yea it looks easy to be a GC and it can be but to be a good one and not cost the owner MORE money if is a very complicated undertaking that requires experiance and organization otherwise when the plumber gets pissed that the framers are not done with the bathroom wall fix and he has to re adjust his other work which may cost him money or another job somewhere else...ect..ect for each trade. If you would like another bid for the foundation contact me via e-mail. we have done several in that area and are familiar with the red tape involved.

Dan_Musicant wrote:

Reply to
Italian Mason

On 1 Oct 2006 10:38:53 -0700, "Italian Mason" wrote:

: :The order in which you build a house should be the order you do a major :remodel such as you have stated. :Although house moving tec. has advanced raising and setting back down :which you whould need to do for this project will most certianly :produce some interior movement. Being that the house is currently out :of level in several areas when the new foundation and stem wall is in :place and the house is lowered it will shift ever so slightly but just :enough to crack tiles on floor, walls, drywall, or plaster in your :case. Getting the foundation out of the way first is the only way to go :otherwise your just rolling the dice on if the improvments you have :already made will survive the lift.. If you are in Berkely the eng. :required on the foundation project is going to be though the roof cost :wise lots of footing and lots and lots of rebar...welcome to :California... One other coment I read below quickly something about a :window guy doing the GC on you project....if thats what I read please :give this a second thougt..yea it looks easy to be a GC and it can be :but to be a good one and not cost the owner MORE money if is a very :complicated undertaking that requires experiance and organization :otherwise when the plumber gets pissed that the framers are not done :with the bathroom wall fix and he has to re adjust his other work which :may cost him money or another job somewhere else...ect..ect for each :trade. :If you would like another bid for the foundation contact me via e-mail. :we have done several in that area and are familiar with the red tape :involved.

The only floor tiles I have are in the downstairs bathroom, and you should see them! They are already so cracked it's ridiculous. The wall tiles in there are ALL cracked with little cracks and the floor has wide, long cracks. The shower surround (tiles) was recently torn out and redone with cultured marble, the old shower piping replaced with copper, and new shower fixtures installed, but the agency said they can't afford to do my floor now (they were going to install the original linoleum, an environmentally friendly product). So, the floor will have to be done later. Anyway, I explained that to show that the foundation shift over the years has already done damage. Yes, I agree, that the foundation work should preceed almost, and probably everything.

The $64,000 quote I got on the foundation was within Berkeley's technical specs and actually he said he'd go one size larger rebar than the specs. The contractor advised against hiring an engineer. Berkeley said they didn't necessarily require a signoff by an engineer on the foundation replacement as long as it meets their spec, and the contractor said it would be OK. He's evidently pretty much a foundation specialist, and he said he's well familiar with Berkeley's requirements. He said he'd work with 3 other guys.

The GC who did the original inspection total-house-bid for me in Nov.

2000 is specializing in windows now, yes, but he used to do a lot of GC work and I was very impressed when he did the inspection with his knowledgability on all things construction. Admittedly, I was inexperienced and he was probably trying impress me, obviously. He succeeded. He told he he'd done "8-9 houses similar to" mine - old houses needing major work in many areas, was the implication, and I assume that included foundation work in most cases. I've seen some finished interior carpentry work he did on my sister's house - very nice work. He's also done major remodeling work for some of her friends. My sister said that if anything the problem with him can be that he sometimes gets a bit obsessed with everything being just so and she has to prod him not to worry about that and get on with it. So, if that's still the case, the concern from my viewpoint would probably be cost overruns more than crummy work. He himself lives in a wonderful house, big with a pool, in great shape (now), and I know that he's done or supervised or contracted a lot of work on it. I had a look a couple of years ago when I went to a party there.

He's taken to doing windows because it's easier than GC work, and especially foundation work. He said it's hard, dirty and evidently relatively depressing work. He told me that all good contractors he knows who used to do foundations had moved away from them (into other trades) and that for these reasons it's very hard indeed to find people who do quality foundation work. Well, he was coming from a different space when he told me that - he was telling me he wasn't interested in doing my house any longer. This was around 3-4 years ago, in the midst of the red hot housing boom around here and it must have been easy for him to find easier work. He's getting older, and probably doesn't have the energy he used to for whole house renovation that he used to, is my take on all this. Anyway, I guess I'll call him and see if he at least returns my call this time! I value his opinion and input even if I can't get him to take on the role of GC for the_project.

Back in 1999, I was impressed that this guy was well up to coordinating things - he said he knew a good mason for the fireplace/chimney, recommended an engineer and termite inspector (I had them both do inspections for me. I'm sure the engineer is permanently retired by now ... he was semi-retired then), and he obviously had lots of experience subcontracting work on his projects. He's undoubtedly _relatively_ of out of that loop presently.

I'll probably email you as you suggest and see about having you bid on my foundation. Thanks! Where are you located?

Dan

Reply to
Dan_Musicant

No, I don't think so, for the same reasons as others have mentioned. The foundation and leveling are the first order of business. Since you will have to partially remove the siding to do the foundation, residing should be done shortly thereafter.

Now an important question is whether the plaster on the interior of the exterior walls should be retained or not. If it is generally in good condition, I suggest simply patching it as necessary. In this case, your access to the inside of the exterior walls is only while residing, and so any plumbing/electrical/insulating work in those walls should be done before residing.

If, on the other hand the interior plaster on the exterior walls is generally in bad condition, and you want to replace it all (I suggest blueboard and veneer plaster), then it will be simpler to do the work in those walls from the inside. Then just go ahead and get the foundation and exterior shell updated as one extended project, and do the interior work as another extended project.

As to the question of living in the house while replumbing and rerunning the electrical, it is possible to do without a huge amount of trouble. The basic idea is that you'll be installing entirely new electrical and plumbing systems, so you run the new systems parallel to the old systems, and when the new systems are (almost) complete, you cut over to them and stop using the old systems. Cutting over should only take a couple days and be bearable. This won't really work for the DWV, as the pipes are so big, but since you have multiple bathrooms, the DWV replacement can be done in stages. As to the electrical, it may also be convenient to do the work in stages, with just one or two rooms shut off at a time.

Those are my thoughts, of course I'm in the middle of doing all this right now. When I've finished I'm sure I'll be able to give a better answer. :-) I elected to retain the interior plaster, it was in good condition, so I'm presently insulating and resheathing the exterior walls from the outside of the house. It's a slow process for one person, right now I'm racing against the coming rains. So I'm quite busy, sorry to have delayed in responding.

Cheers, Wayne

Reply to
Wayne Whitney

In my case, a single story house with a crawl space, the way my foundation contractor replaced the foundation didn't involve any jacking or moving the house. The floor joists were independently supported on two long beams sitting on cribbing inside and outside the crawl space. Then the existing foundation was demolished, leaving a trench for worker access. The sill plate was replaced and nailed into the cripple studs from below, and the form work and bolts for the new stem wall were hung from the new sill plate and the existing cripple wall, respectively. Of course the cavity between the forms was thick with rebar. The inverted T-shape foundation was done in a single pour, with the footing portion just poured against the earth the width of the trench. After the pour, the forms were stripped, the drainage system was installed on the outside, and the trench was filled.

Cheers, Wayne

Reply to
Wayne Whitney

A 1600 square foot 2-story has a footprint of 800 square feet, which is maybe 25 by 32, for a perimeter of 116 feet, call it 120 and it's $166/foot. Sounds like a good price, I think costs are a bit higher here in California, maybe $200/foot, not sure lately.

Cheers, Wayne

Reply to
Wayne Whitney

Aw shucks, I think you are giving me a little too much credit too soon, I'm still in the middle of my rehabing my house, I'll feel more confident when I've completed this house.

Cheers, Wayne

Reply to
Wayne Whitney

I believe he meant demolishing the whole house. Wayne

Reply to
Wayne Whitney

Sorry Wayne :)

but I put a great deal of faith in planning & thoughtfulness tempered by experience

cheers Bob

Reply to
BobK207

:On 2006-10-01, Dan_Musicant wrote: : :> I'll need a lot more than replacement sill plates. They have to jack up :> the house, remove the current foundation, excavate for a new foundation, :> place rebar and pour concrete. Then new sill plates, lower house and :> bolt to the foundation. : :In my case, a single story house with a crawl space, the way my :foundation contractor replaced the foundation didn't involve any :jacking or moving the house. The floor joists were independently :supported on two long beams sitting on cribbing inside and outside the :crawl space. Then the existing foundation was demolished, leaving a :trench for worker access. The sill plate was replaced and nailed into :the cripple studs from below, and the form work and bolts for the new :stem wall were hung from the new sill plate and the existing cripple :wall, respectively. Of course the cavity between the forms was thick :with rebar. The inverted T-shape foundation was done in a single :pour, with the footing portion just poured against the earth the width :of the trench. After the pour, the forms were stripped, the drainage :system was installed on the outside, and the trench was filled. : :Cheers, Wayne

Yes, when I said the house would be jacked up, I really didn't mean that they would elevate it, just that it would be supported by jacks until support beams (2 parallel, possibly 3, I'm not sure) could be placed and the house _lowered_ down from the jacks onto the beams. It would rest there until the foundation was poured and ready for attachment, presumably to be lowered a tad in the process. Thanks, Wayne.

Dan

Reply to
Dan_Musicant

:On 2006-10-01, Joshua Putnam wrote: : :> I've been going through the same thing with a 1901-or-so (records :> disagree) 1600 square foot 2-story in Washington State. Obviously :> construction costs differ regionally, but even so, it cost us less :> than $20,000 to jack up the house, have the old foundation torn out, :> and install a new foundation that exceeds seismic codes for Alaska :> and California. : :A 1600 square foot 2-story has a footprint of 800 square feet, which :is maybe 25 by 32, for a perimeter of 116 feet, call it 120 and it's :$166/foot. Sounds like a good price, I think costs are a bit higher :here in California, maybe $200/foot, not sure lately. : :Cheers, Wayne

In my case the costs associated with a foundation removal/replacement will be higher because of the necessity of first removing all the brick (3 sides of the bottom floor) and stone (the other side of the first floor), and the subsequent installation of new siding of some kind. That factored into the figures I stated. The two bids I've gotten included all that.

Dan

Reply to
Dan_Musicant

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