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I have a few questions about a foundation repair on our 1920's colonial. The foundation in question is in the attached garage (no rooms above garage).
We needed a new floor in our garage, as the old one was heaved and busted. When we were collecting quotes, one of the contractors pointed out the large crack in the middle of one of the garage foundation walls (this wall is plaster covered brick, about 24" high. The garage wall sill plate sits atop this masonary wall). He pointed out that one corner of the foundation had settled, and also pointed out that the exterior stucco had cracked many times over the years (evidenced by cracks, and many old repairs). He further explained that he could stabilize the wall by "underpinning" existing foundation. This would make the foundation strong and stable (and thus eliminate future stucco cracking). I had concerns about this crack/foundation settling, but hadn't planned on any fixes in the near future. His quote was reasonable, so we gave permission to proceed.
Last Thursday, the old garage floor was removed. On Friday, he dug down below the footers and set forms. He would return on Tuesday to pour the cement. Shortly after he left Friday (yesterday), I noticed the existing crack was larger, and there was a 1" gap between the foundation wall and the garage wall sill plate. The contractor was called and returned to shore up garage ceiling. The contractor seemed non-plussed and talked alot about "sometimes this happens, ..old bricks, ..old cracks, unstable soil," and "the old foundation must be replaced" . By morning the gap had grown to 6", with numerous cracks thru the wall. On the outside, big cracks, gaps, and chunks of missing stucco.
The contractor's plan for repair, is to rent a bigger backhoe, tear out the previous days work of laying forms. The existing
existing foundation will be removed. New foundation poured, and a cinder block wall up to the garage sill plate.
My questions are;
1) Was this a typical kind of things for repair of an old foundation (i.e. that it might fall apart (-I wish he had mentioned that possiblity)), or was this a contractor error in digging too far under the existing foundation, or in doing the excavation but then waiting over the weekend to pour cement? If this is a contractor's misjudgement, how big of screwup is this (i.e. just plain dumb, or the kind of thing that happens to anyone). Should I trust him to complete the repairs? He seems competent and claims to have lots of foundation experience.
2) Who pays for this extra work? Obvouisly this is now a much bigger and different job than was quoted. A builder friend says the contractor should cover all repairs, as we relied on his experience to fix things, not make them worse. Then again, the guy has to make a living. What's fair in this situation?
Thanks for any replies!
We needed a new floor in our garage, as the old one was heaved and busted. When we were collecting quotes, one of the contractors pointed out the large crack in the middle of one of the garage foundation walls (this wall is plaster covered brick, about 24" high. The garage wall sill plate sits atop this masonary wall). He pointed out that one corner of the foundation had settled, and also pointed out that the exterior stucco had cracked many times over the years (evidenced by cracks, and many old repairs). He further explained that he could stabilize the wall by "underpinning" existing foundation. This would make the foundation strong and stable (and thus eliminate future stucco cracking). I had concerns about this crack/foundation settling, but hadn't planned on any fixes in the near future. His quote was reasonable, so we gave permission to proceed.
Last Thursday, the old garage floor was removed. On Friday, he dug down below the footers and set forms. He would return on Tuesday to pour the cement. Shortly after he left Friday (yesterday), I noticed the existing crack was larger, and there was a 1" gap between the foundation wall and the garage wall sill plate. The contractor was called and returned to shore up garage ceiling. The contractor seemed non-plussed and talked alot about "sometimes this happens, ..old bricks, ..old cracks, unstable soil," and "the old foundation must be replaced" . By morning the gap had grown to 6", with numerous cracks thru the wall. On the outside, big cracks, gaps, and chunks of missing stucco.
The contractor's plan for repair, is to rent a bigger backhoe, tear out the previous days work of laying forms. The existing
existing foundation will be removed. New foundation poured, and a cinder block wall up to the garage sill plate.
My questions are;
1) Was this a typical kind of things for repair of an old foundation (i.e. that it might fall apart (-I wish he had mentioned that possiblity)), or was this a contractor error in digging too far under the existing foundation, or in doing the excavation but then waiting over the weekend to pour cement? If this is a contractor's misjudgement, how big of screwup is this (i.e. just plain dumb, or the kind of thing that happens to anyone). Should I trust him to complete the repairs? He seems competent and claims to have lots of foundation experience.
2) Who pays for this extra work? Obvouisly this is now a much bigger and different job than was quoted. A builder friend says the contractor should cover all repairs, as we relied on his experience to fix things, not make them worse. Then again, the guy has to make a living. What's fair in this situation?
Thanks for any replies!
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