Hello all,
I am looking at a project that would inlcude re-building a garage that burnt to the ground. The original structure was a wood frame building sitting on block walls with a poured slab inside. My question is how to determine if the exisitng block walls are sufficient to construct a duplicate structure on. The walls rest on a poured footing and to initial inspection seem to be sound. Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Matt
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Replies
foundations in garage fires usually survive but can be damaged by the knockdown.
it's unlikely the heat damaged the foundation walls.
sometimes the floor spalls severely if the auto inside burns.
if you want backup, have a structural engineer inspect and give blessing.
otherwise, get rebuilding.
carpenter in transition
I had an arsonist burn down a spec home I was building a few years back. We had just finished up the framing....hadn't even put the windows in yet. Had the insurance inspector come out to look and he said tear EVERYTHING out and start over. Not only did he not want to warranty that foundation but he didn't want me to have to disclose that the foundation had been through a fire.
Our excavator started tearing it out with the track hoe and some parts of it were like busting up normal concrete and some of it just crumbled. After watching that and having been through it....I'd be inclined to tear it all out and start over like I did. Of course in our situation....it burned completely to the ground...there was nothing left of it when the fire department got it out.
Good luck!!!
Sam
Take a hammer and tap the sides of the blocks most of them that got hot enough will break very easy. Some might be cracked already.
If they look to be in good shape, none of them break during the hammer test. See if filling the cores is an option. Very inexpensive poured wall. I use a pea stone mix.
That way you can set anchor bolts in the pea stone for attaching your mudsill to.
If they are a typical 8x8x16" block, figure how many yards for a typical 8" poured wall then cut it in half for filling cores.
Matt
Thanks to all for your advice. I am going to recomend a complete tear-out.
Thanks!