# Foundation Problems



## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

We have clay soil here in our neck of the woods and with our recent flooding in the spring we developed problems common with peer and beam type foundation. We had Ram Jack come out and re-level our house. After a couple months, we developed a hump down the middle of the wwlole house. Ram Jack out again today to eval what is happening and found that the ground down the middle of the house is wet! He checked all the plumbing for leaks and finally decided that the French drain is not functional anymore. So, Gramps is out digging it up so it can dry out. RJ will be out in a month or so
to see if any improvement happens before re leveling.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Do you have pictures? What is the foundation of your house ? What is peer and beam?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

That was one the one thing that prevented us from buying another house we looked at. Someone that didn't know what they were doing put in a ton of new piers under a house that was almost a hundred years old and really messed it up. The house needed a couple of steel beams under it and not all of the extra piers. I hope this is going to fix your issues with the foundation. Too bad RJ didn't figure that out in the beginning.

I am a bit confused though, if you don't have water leaks, how is it only the center is wet? 

Sem, instead of an enclosed foundation like most houses have, many houses here in the south were built up on piers. You know, like the ones that are elevated above a flood surge?


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

I'll take some pictures tomorrow as its raining right now. #1. We were young and dumb when we built our house only to realize a few years later that we put it on a fault line that runs from Brackettville, Texas all the way past us into E-SE Okla. #2 we set just a little below the fault line and until a few years ago weren't able to put gutters on our home (we do now). The RJ man feels like the French drain was put in wrong and was probably cracked (water under the house) . There is no water line that runs u der the length of the house only were it enters and hooks into our plumbing system. No leaks observed excepf for a few drops from our guest bath and that was only 4-5 drops in about 5 min. so not the main water concern. We are planning on remodeling that bath in the hopefully near future and have that fixed. So the French drain was the main concern. Jim dug that up this afternoon and filled the trench with dirt. We'll watch to see if the area of concern under the house dries then RJ will come back out. Our floor is raised right in the middle 2/3 exactly were the dampness is and the ground is raised. Otherwise, under the house is dry.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

Oh yeah, we were pier and pad until about 10 years ago when we had a company come in and picked the house up , move it and put concrete footing and the pier and beam in. The piers are supposed to be to the bedrock.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I'm not sure young and dumb is on you guys. They've made so many advancements in understanding soil conditions and how they come in to play with foundations in the past 20 years or so. 

I take it they didn't put those piers on bedrock?

I lived on the East Coast of MI, not far from the water. My sis started home shopping and wanted to stay in the area. What her inspector found was home after home with in bulging basement walls because of the high water table. My hubs was all hot to have a basement, who knows why he was raised in FL, but I was having none of it. Maybe a new build but not in an older home.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

I thought they were to the bedrock, but J said that they dug holes and poured concrete around the beams . There are cracks in our ground that would take days to fill with water. We're thinking that the French drain might have been stopped up and the water was seeping under the house. We really don't know what to think until it dries up and go from there.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

And of course because you need things to dry out, it's raining.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

We had close to 40 inches of rain in April through June then tge faucet turned off and now we are back in drought conditions. Hence some of the wet ,I'm sure under the house due to the faulty drain. Either that or we have a spring starting under ( unlikely because there is no running or seeping water). Many who lived along rivers lost their homes completely so I'm not going to complain very loudly at all. We have very much to be thankful for!


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Wow! I'm on a typical Florida slab . They take heavy trucks and run back and forth over a section of sand. They lay a termite barrier at some point. Then a footing and pour a slab . Not real water proof If you ask me. Then the house is built out of concrete blocks with metal rods and cement poured in every ??? feet. Wood roof.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

I think I have been to Florida maybe 2 or 3 times. My son married his Georgia peach then Jim and I stayed at the mother in laws time share a few days to recuperate brfore heading home. I was there after my HS graduation in a 1969 with my grandparents who owned a laundry mat as a retirement business.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

Ok, here's a few pictures of our place. Nothing fancy, but home. .


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

2 more . The last one shows how far our coop is from the house.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

Just FYI, I'm standing with my back to the south and facing north. The is no water coming in on this end of the house.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

So, you actually have a block foundation but have piers under the house. That is a very standard way of building. I can also see why water getting under the house could be an issue with the front walk being lower than the yard. 

Fingers crossed that the french drain does the trick.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

Actually, we took it out because after putting the water hose full on after 5 or 10 min thwre was no more than a tricle coming out the end. The man from RJ said he thought it was holding water which was then seeping out under the house. He saidnit wasn't installed deep enough to be of any help. We had the gutters put on at the same time the drain was put in. I think wecwere getting more water off the roof tha over the sidewalk which actually diverts the water away. I guess a little time will m tell us the story. We had mold all under the house which is now cleaned and no recurrence.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Cute little house with a front porch!
Where does the water come from. Rain? Is your floor inside wood?


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

Thx! We think that the water is a result of the malfunctioning French drain, the slope and the massive amounts of rain we had in May and June. My floors are laminate with area rugs around.
You can see our coop and "barn" in the distance behind our garage.


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