Hello, this is my first post, I have been a lurker here and love the information provided. I have a 1920’s bungalow with some steps leading to a basement in serious dis-repair. I took pictures of them last night, if I post them, would anyone be willing to give me advice as to how I should proceed?
1.Repair
2.Replace
3.Call in a professional?
Regards.
Sean
Replies
Post away. There's always folks here to give advice.
Ok, i am editing the pics now in fireworks so they dont take up 125% of your screen when you click on the links.
Everyone on dial-up will appreciate it if you post something in the range of 75 dpi and not over 100 kb.
Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.
Ok, that I can do in Fireworks. Thanks so much, the more eyes that can see this monster, the better.
OK, here are the pictures. These are steps leading to my basement. I bought this house and have sworn to do something about these steps. It looks like the steps have shifted or the house shifted, or the steps settled, pulling them away, creating these large even-ish cracks.
Most likely the steps were cast on backfill that hadn't been properly consolidated and if they are still on the move then replacement is the long term answer.
IanDG
should i do the "crack test", tape the crack, wait a month, if it is broken, I know it is on the move. Or tape a ruler to either side to see if it is on the move etc.....? If it is not on the move, would patching, or filling work?
Scooleen,
Let's call the area where the steps lead up to the "deck."
It looks like the steps are pulling away from the deck, and the wall next to the steps is also pulling away from the deck at a faster rate than the steps.
Also I think there is a problem seeing that the wall was layed to meet the contour of the steps. It should have been stacked down to a level footing.
What you have there appears to be a piece of concrete (the wall) set on a steep slope (the countour of the steps) of dirt. that is allowing the wall to easily slide down the slope.
each of the steps is an individual piece also poured on an unstable, sloped, earth footing, so they are also sliding downhill.
Time to replace the wall and the steps, this time excavate the wall to a level footing, stack or pour new wall. Set pins to attach new steps to the wall and pour all the steps as a monolith.
SamT
You said that the steps lead down to a basement. I assume that the walws butt the basement walls, right?
just what is moving where in that situation?
In order for the walls and steps to move downward the basement walls have to be moving out of the way?????
Are you in a freeze/thaw zone? Maybe the "deck" is being shoved away from the house?
If the house is moving, you should be able to find evidence of that somewhere.
SamT
I am no expert, but I see no cracks or evidence of any differential settlement in the foundation of the house, I.E. around the bricks etc... around the house. The inside has no cracks in the plaster, and the doorways are pretty squared away, i dont see any rhombus shaped door areas. So I dont think the house is moving.
The steps lead to a landing, which leads to a basement.
It seems like those steps are just falling away from the cinderblock walls.
If they were falling away horizontally from the wall, they would be falling into the "deck", but it looks like they are also moving horiz. away from the deck.
The gaps i see in your pics look like the steps and wall are seperating horizontally from the deck and each other.
In the pic 'Detail of Crack' I see about 1/2 step vertical movement relative to wall and about 3" horizontal movement of wall relative to step.
Looking at 'Hammer and Tape', I see about 1 1/2" movement horiz. under the grass and the hammer for the top step and about 1'2" to 3/4" horiz movement of the second step, all away from the "deck". In the same pic I can see where the wall has dropped vert. about 2" from the elevation of the "deck" and the top step also shows droppage from the deck.
You have a tremendous amount of movement there, but I think that the solution I first posted will take care of everthing, except house settling.
Either the house is moving away from the "Deck" or the "deck" is moving away from the house.
Or the concrete steps and walls have shrunk 4". hehe. Ok, I know it's not funny.
I am beginning to seriously think that you should hire a soils engineer to come out and look the situation over, rather than trying to get a long distance opinion, cuz' we just can't see all of the necessary details that are required to form a good opinion, and it will require a professional investigator to even know where to look. It is a process, after all.
SamT
Het Sean,
I am also in Richmond,VA!
It looks to me like the steps are individual blocks and they are sinking. The deck may or may not have moved. The ground under the steps has eroded and is continuing to wash out through the cracks now. This will surely cause them to move on the tape test, though it may take longer than the tape will adhere. The question is whether or not they will still move if you patch them, which will also plug the holes that are allowing the soil to wash out . Looking at the age of the stairs and the water ingress that has developed leads me to believe that the soil has settled enough to be stable....
They are not constructed in the best possible manner, but, I believe that they may be repairable if budget and/or time constraints will not permit removal and replacement at this time.