Can We Actually Repair This Foundation? (DIY concrete on a budget) 

I'm guessing there is no inspection schedule.

@@Synaptic_gap with or without an inspection, you should never backfill a footer compacted and then pour the footer on top of it

What about being below the frost line? I’m sure in Idaho it’s well below 2 feet in Wisconsin it’s 4ft.

Good advice. I also noticed that they drove (pounded in with hammer) the rebar into the soil. This isn't good practice since the rebar will rust, water will wick up the rebar, and rust jacking would cause cracks in the concrete, letting in more water. Should have tied all the vertical rebar with a horizontal run and block it off of the ground. Rebar should never be put into the dirt.

I noticed that too.

Mr & Mrs Adventure have their own Andy.

Oh man, I wish we had thought to do that! I think we’re going to pay the price this week for that. 😬

@@AmbitionStrikes you can always cut the worst of the threads off and it will be much less of a problem

​@@AmbitionStrikes Another remediation you might want to consider just in case is get a thread chasing die. Similar to a thread cutting die, but designed to re-shape existing damaged threads.

@@random-person1 hahaha, if putting two nuts on a J bolts...you have bigger problems. I love watching those with zero history in the trades. Teach how to do things wrong...funny stuff.. and, the walls will break away from the slab, and sink when you put a house in top of it. A smart person would have a engineering firm do a soil study. Check how thick the slab is. And why so much of the SOILD basement walls failed and cracked away.. but hey I'm old school...but I used to build 15 house a month down south for Jim Walter homes. Have designed and built 28 million dollar estates in LA. And even built a cliff side house estate hanging over a ocean front cliff. 200 feet above the beach. That when we were done. Bank appraiser gave it a 35 million dollar price. ( Step one, soil study. Step two find how deep the footers are. Step three do the math of the tons your going to add and see if the cheap ass slab concrete PSI can withstanding the tons.. old school.)... Math never lies, like the three little pigs... Build crap, the big bad wolf blows it down... In this cast...it sinks. Good luck. Money waisted is...little Casper's college funds...Oliver....needs a nest egg also.. Best luck..

Run an angle grinder on a 45⁰ around the end of bolts​@@AmbitionStrikes

Using hot light and jute for cast iron pipes... I had the blessing to be taught by Master when I was a young teenager. I found it so rewarding, a little boring but very rewarding!

Where is the vertical rebar in the wall and the horizonal bond beam with rebar on top of the wall? Rebar is need in a concrete block wall!

what about the rest of the problems?

@@jimthode I believe they placed vertical rebar in the holes of the blocks, but I don't know about horizontal.

I also hear it's important to have washed stone without any dust to help for compacting

that's what they did

@@ronblack7870 They almost kept them separate, but they tied the two together at the rear corner of the house. In theory, any blockage at or downstream of that point will cause both the french drain and the gutter drain to back up.

@@spenceralridge4958 that should work 👍

@@spenceralridge4958 Yup. You'll want a cleanout for sure after the roof downspout to catch any roof debris before entering your whole system.

I have a concrete pump. Mine will only pump 1/2 inch minus gravel. Not sure what theirs claims to do.

Yes, they saved the walls. But that doesn't mean that the walls are good. The side walls were cracked. They "repared" them, but the walls are still cracked. And cracks in a concrete wall is and always will be point of weakness and chance for leakage.

Had a boss who used a special listening device for drips from pipes in concrete. The galvanized was more prone than the copper, but some of the copper was not as good as what was American made. Either way was a major inconvenience for the homeowners ripping up carpets and slabs. The slabs that were tension poured we wouldn't touch

Municipalities are paying millions across the country to replace galvanized pipe, PLEASE DONT BURY THAT IRON PIPE! Replace it with CTS poly, please!

That's a great idea!!

@@AmbitionStrikes Yeah, if you so some web searching, you can find large rectangular water storage containers, filters and pumps to move the water from one container to the next and put a string of them alongside the building under the eaves out of the weather and protected. Put them on the side of the building where there are no windows and simply stack them in a line. The water runs off the roof, down the gutters through debris screens so that mostly only water goes into the catch barrel which is then filtered into the storage tanks. There are detailed plans on the web for how to do it. Figure 1.5 gallons per person per day for drinking, bathing, dishes, cooking, etc. Then plan your storage tanks accordingly. FREE WATER, why not.

I understand why Riley and Courtney would consider that at their own place (because they have a shallow well) but why would you need 200 days worth of emergency water? Just curious.

@@spenceralridge4958 gardening or in case of fire perhaps….just some guesses

Many States prohibit rain water catchment because the State considers rain water Imminent domaine. Just like a well, the water in the well belongs to the State.

You beat me to it. I see cracks and settling in the future 😢

Agreed.

Most people use sand bags for void areas so it doesn't cost so much where it doesn't need to be that thick like the floor, but not footers. Like patios and steps, the center they use sand bags, then the footers edges they just fill with concrete.

Or a thousand gallons or so of water for hydrocompaction (at low psi). Depending on soil composition anyway. Although with the way it looked from just the rain. I’d give it a few days to dry out. Especially since water cannot compact, so it can make the footer settling later even worse.

I used to be a project manager for an electric utility. We often compacted fill well over the 100% of the virgin earth. I remember getting 140% compaction on one project. But to know this, you have to take soil density test before and during the compaction process. You also limit fill to nine inch lifts prior to compaction. Moisture content is key to good compaction and our soil had a high clay content. So I disagree with it's not possible to get 100% compaction, but I don't doubt you're correct with the way it was done here. I've also seen virgin soil settle over time.

called insulated concrete forms. the foam is on both sides of the concrete walls and stays there permanently. the foam is the form.

That is a really good idea. 😬

@@AmbitionStrikes I’m honored and glad to help…

That’s what I’m wondering too.

Thought the same thing!

lol i posted that as well before reading this comment.

if they still own the house in 20years

@@ronblack7870 --- Doesn't matter who owns the house whenever - still possibly gonna corrode/swell and crack the foundation someday. IMHO, it's just a poor construction practice.

This comment is scary on so many levels.

yes they don't know what they are doing