This feels scary. In Tucson I have a small (600 sq ft) old original adobe home rented out. Last time I stopped by, the tenant showed me from an interior wall that the outside wall has separated away by about an inch. !!!??? Yikes!! Is the wall falling off the building? Duh? What the heck do I do in the short run and in the long run???
All I know is that I have seen buildings in the midwest from the late 1800’s that have what is apparently a long BOLT running thru them from outside wall to outside wall with plates at either end to hold it on.
Is it time to call a structural engineer. How do I find a good one? Throw a dart at the phone book?
Anyone out there have any good ideas?
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What kinda of roof? Flat with Vegas, pine logs? Is it adobe brick or ramed earth walls? Is the stucco cracking? Cabling the building may work but you will need bolt to a steel strap on the outside to stablize the adobe and repair any cracked stucco imeadiatley. Give more details.
Doesn't have flat roof. Nice little attic space. Adobe brick. Stucco overall is pretty good. At the rear of the house there is a small brick addition and there is some kind of a water leak on the exterior. I had a plumber to fix it a few years ago, and restuccoed the area, but now the stucco is falling off and bricks deteriorating again. Damp.But it's maybe 6 feet away from where the adobe wall is falling outward. I know to get the leak fixed, bricks repaired, etc. But what to do about the adobe wall??
Old adobes have two possible flaws.
There is no bond beam.....continous band of concrete or wood at the top of the walls that hold the walls together. They want to splay outward.
There is no foundation. Lots of old ones have the first course of adobe set right on the ground.
That said, there are plenty old ones built like that and they still have no problems. Course, the use of modern cement stucco will hold the water inside and turn the adobes to dust if they're sitting on the ground wicking up water. The English have the same problem. Call it "rising damp". Mud plaster allowed the old ones to "breath".
If this is a new problem, you might poke around and see what is causing it. What's changed in your little house? Your renter hasn't planted flowers up next to the house, has she? From your description, sounds like the walls are falling outward because there's no bond beam. You might be able to fix it with a buttress. Used on the old ones. Take a look around. See those buildings with the giant thick corners? Buttresses to hold the walls. Get it stablized, throw some mud in the crack, you're good to go.
Here are two references. Only know them by reputation. http://www.rammedearth.com They're builders and architects in Tucson. Do a lot of urban infill stuff. Very cool looking.
The Canelo Project. Don't know the url but they have one. They're into straw bale as well as adobe and natural plasters. They're down South of Elgin. I'm sure that one or both can give you a reference to a local who can help you out.
ShelleyinNM