Not sure what’s going on with this foundation…
This is not my house so questions will take a bit to ask the owner and post, but as i understand it its a century old house near Toronto Ontario, the original basement was concrete but only about half way down, (shown by the hard to see cantilevered foundation) but the basement was dug out to full height and the CMU was installed inside of the original foundation.
The question is what is causing the cracking (is the house shifting, rising or the foundation falling) and how best to deal with it?
There are no water issues that i know of, and insulation is probably in its future assuming this problem can be solved and not expected to return.
Sorry about the picture quality, the cell phone camera is not great but what i had
http://s21.postimg.org/mnokekj0n/image.jpg
http://s21.postimg.org/otngmtbuv/image.jpg
http://s21.postimg.org/5yn4inmfb/image.jpg
http://s27.postimg.org/qo8ho50ab/image.jpg
TIA
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Replies
Alan,
It's hard to say what's going on. If the voids of the CMUs aren't filled with rebar and grout, then this is a very weak foundation wall -- one that is easily displaced by frozen soil.
I don't recall seeing rebar when i looked in the gap but i wasn't looking for it
If we assume there is none what would be a good repair option. Does this change if rebar is present?
Alan,
We can't really evaluate the situation you describe over the Internet. You'll need to consult with an experienced foundation contractor or an engineer.