With excavation proceeding, the conditions of what we find become more important, as we figure out what can or should be done to merge the new part of the house with the old one.
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| Interior Wall with 3" Moment Arm |
With the corner of the foundation exposed and approaching readiness for footers and foundation for the addition, we had a structural engineer return and look at what the subtraction process exposed. In short, it exposed problems.
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| Exterior of Wall |
The first and most obvious issue being the exterior foundation wall that will become an interior basement wall when the addition is complete. From the pictures it might be hard to see clearly, but this wall has what the engineers like to call a "moment". Given the age of the house, perhaps you could call it a "senior moment", should you be so inclined.
Essentially the wall is buckled inward by about 3" and can't be repaired. Since it will be an interior wall, it will be replaced with a standard 2x6 interior studded wall of today's construction. This actually will allow us to rearrange the basement floor plan.
In addition, the corner of the house currently supported by a random stack of old bricks has begun to look more frightening by the day. The pile of bricks continues to deteriorate and what was once a tenuous support by two sections of 2x4 is now a harrowing support by two sections of 2x4
resting on their corners. We have avoided breathing too heavy near this corner, and our builder has reinforced it for the time being.
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| Slow Motion Collapse |
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| Don't Get Too Close |
