Violation of the integrity of a dilapidated structure over time is a natural phenomenon. Old wooden houses are especially prone to this fate. The cause of skewed doors and windows, cracks in the walls is the destruction of the foundation. Timely elimination of the factors that caused the deformation of the supporting structure and the tree itself will extend the life of the housing. How to repair a foundation wooden house, consider in detail. Depending on the degree of changes, partial or complete reconstruction of the base is carried out. In some cases, a full replacement of the old foundation is required.
Causes of destruction
The development of a plan for the repair of the foundation is preceded by the identification of the reasons for the violation of its integrity. There are several factors that triggered the deformation:
- Increasing the load on the foundation. For example, they completed the attic or made the cladding of the old wooden structure.
- Raising the level groundwater or improperly equipped rainwater runoff, resulting in soil erosion.
- Construction of other objects near the old wooden house that increase the load on the ground.
Situations like this change bearing capacity soil, which leads to a distortion of the structure or its subsidence. Repairing the foundations of an old wooden house may be required as a result of the loss of strength of the base material itself. This is due to:
- incorrect choice of the type of foundation;
- incorrect proportions of mortar or inappropriate grade of concrete;
- violations of the technological process when laying;
- incorrectly determined level of soil freezing;
- unexpected exposure to water.
Correctly identifying the source of the problem is the starting point for planning the repair process. An assessment of the condition of the support and identification of weak points will determine whether a partial restoration or a full-scale restoration of the base is necessary.
Determination of the degree of deformation
The degree of deformation of the support of the old house directly affects the content of the renovation plan. Defects are conventionally divided into four levels. Partially detached finish refers to the minimum deviations and does not have a tangible effect on the bearing performance of the base. This defect is visible without deep analysis and is eliminated without difficulty.
Moderate severity
Extended repair of the foundation of a wooden house is required in the presence of cracks that appeared as a result of subsidence of the support or destructive processes in it. The following points deserve attention:
- The direction of the crack is determined. Horizontal slots are less hazardous.
- A vertical or zigzag fault is a serious defect that requires an early foundation repair.
- What is the nature of the subsidence of the base under the old wooden housing: temporary or progressive.
Advice! The installation of lighthouses in the crevices will help to indicate the nature of the destruction of the foundation under the wooden structure.
The function of beacons will be performed by ordinary paper strips; in this case, to obtain a reliable picture, they should be avoided getting wet. Plaster plasters will also help. The most reliable way to make beacons is to apply a small amount of putty to the wall and mark a straight line. With a slight fluctuation, such a beacon will break. This technique allows you to fix the increase in the crack and find out the rate of development of defects.
The subsidence of the foundation under the wooden housing was temporary, if the lighthouses were not damaged and remained motionless. This happens with a single ground movement under the support of an old house. Repair of the foundation will only consist of removing the existing cracks. The repair process includes the following steps:
- jointing a fault;
- cleaning the gap from falling out fragments and dust;
- processing with a primer;
- grouting with cement mortar or a special compound.
The collapse of the beacons signals progressive faults at the base of the old wooden dwelling. Therefore, repairs to eliminate cracks will not be enough. This type of deformation is characterized as catastrophic and requiring urgent action.
Serious damage and permanent deformation
Serious defects can provoke the destruction of an old wooden dwelling. The repair plan depends on the type of support structure, the tape and columnar options are more common. In some cases, it is impractical to strengthen the base, it is better to completely change the foundation for a standing house. If it is not possible to eliminate the deformations, the dwelling is subject to demolition.
Strengthening the strip base
Foundation under wooden house can be strengthened if its defects are removable, and the soil is stable.
Comment! The need for reinforcement also arises when it is planned to make a superstructure, and the supporting structure is not designed for additional load.
How to strengthen the foundation for an old wooden house, consider in detail:
- Prepare a trench along the perimeter of the base, allowing you to pour the foundation in the future.
- The old surface of the base of a wooden house is cleared of the ground.
- The repair begins with drilling holes with a diameter exceeding the size of the reinforcement by 1 mm.
- The reinforcement hammered into the holes acts as a link between the old support structure and the additional new one.
- The next step in the repair is the formation of a reinforced belt. Welding is used only at a few points, most of the strapping is made with wire. Such fixation will exclude deformation of the reinforced belt during the pouring and hardening of concrete mortar.
- Do-it-yourself repair of the supporting structure of a wooden house by installing formwork continues.
- At the final stage of the repair, concrete is poured to strengthen the old foundation. After it hardens, the formwork is removed, and the new foundation settles for a while, depending on the temperature and humidity level.
- High-quality repair of the base of an old wooden dwelling provides for waterproofing the new foundation and the formation of a blind area for water drainage.
Strengthening the supporting structure helps to redistribute the load of the old structure over a large area.
Attention! Performing repairs strip base, do not forget to form air vents in the foundation of a wooden house. This will ensure good ventilation in the basement level.
The following video will demonstrate how to fill a rubble stone foundation:
Repair of the pile foundation
Piles hammered under an old wooden house can be crooked. Minor deviations can be tried to be eliminated by straightening. To do this, digging is made, the pile is given a strictly vertical position, and the space around the support is filled with a mixture of cement and gravel.
If the piles under the old wooden structure have collapsed or become severely deformed, surface repairs will not be enough. To replace old piles, pipes made of asbestos cement with a diameter of 200 mm are suitable. Foundation repair is as follows:
- For the installation of a new support, a place is being prepared under the old wooden dwelling.
- In addition, an inclined gutter is formed for the establishment under the house.
- In order for the pile to hold the vertical level, its cavity is filled with cement mortar of a liquid consistency.
Important! The concrete mixture should saturate the sand and gravel pad prepared under the pile.
The next stage of repairing the old foundation for replacing the piles includes strengthening the new pillars from the outside. A solution of cement and gravel acts as a fixative. Expanding the well at the bottom according to the mushroom cap principle will increase the stability of the pile and the strength of the foundation under the wooden structure several times.
Restoration of the columnar foundation
Repair process columnar foundation consists of the following steps:
- The old wooden structure is raised to a certain height. Competent calculation of the required height allows you to carry out repairs and prevent sagging lower crown.
- The lopsided pillars are dismantled. If the support has become dilapidated, it is replaced with a new copy. In other cases, the repair consists in aligning the posts.
- At the installation site, the soil is removed. Mandatory points for the installation of supports are the corners of the old wooden structure and the abutment of the internal walls.
- A cement-sand cushion is arranged under the pillar.
- The repair continues by reinforcing the pillar, after which a concrete solution is poured.
- They are installing beams made of wood or steel, which transfer the load from the old wooden dwelling to the foundation of the pillars.
- The house returns to its original place.
Repair or full replacement of the pile support structure takes much less time and effort than strengthening the strip base.
From the following video, you can find out the details of how to add a foundation for an old wooden house:
If you become the owner of an old wooden house built several decades ago, then it is likely that you will have to repair it. In many cases, repairs will have to start from the very foundation of the house - from its foundation.
Checking the condition of the foundation of a wooden house
Very often, of all the crowns of a wooden log house, its lower tier suffers. As a rule, during construction, brick posts were used as its foundation support. Over time, they can collapse, settle into the ground, in addition, the lower tier of the logs of a wooden house often begins to rot from the high humidity of the earth. Also, over the years, the waterproofing layer between the logs and the foundation, which was previously made of roofing tar, an old and ineffective roll material, is destroyed.
In order for your log house has served you faithfully for more than one decade - you will have to rebuild its strip foundation base, change the waterproofing and the lower tier of logs.
Repair of the foundation of a wooden house
Preparatory stage
The best option for replacing the old foundation will be the creation of a strip concrete foundation with a side in section of at least 20 centimeters. There must be a metal reinforcing structure inside the concrete casting. In the event that the site under the house is located on a slope, then it is advisable to build a foundation on screw piles.
Installation of support jacks
To gain access to the old foundations of the baths, the house must be raised. It is advisable to carry out this process evenly, with the simultaneous lifting of all load-bearing walls.
In order to evenly distribute the efforts over the entire perimeter, it is necessary to secure the lower rims with a structure made of boards. Jacks should be installed in places where the log tree is the strongest.
Spacers must be installed between the jacks and the places where they are installed. They are steel plates with a minimum thickness of 5 mm. Support plates must also be installed under the lower part of the jacks; they can be made from thick boards at least half a meter long.
In addition to completely replacing the foundation of a wooden house, it is possible to repair it.
Repair of single cracks in strip foundations
Most likely, a single crack can form in the place of engineering communications: cable or sewage. The presence of a crack provokes further destruction of the foundation due to the destructive effect of freezing and thawing water. Therefore, immediately after detection, a single crack on the foundation of a wooden house must be covered concrete mortar.
Multiple cracks in the foundation
There are several reasons for the appearance of multiple cracks in the concrete foundation of a wooden house. But in any case, to control the behavior of these cracks, beacons must be glued to them. If such cracks are static, they can simply be repaired with concrete. If the cracks expand, it is necessary to either replace a section of this foundation, or completely replace it.
Violation of the foundation position
In the event of soil movements, some parts of the foundation of a wooden house may change their position. So, to lower part of the foundation, you can chop off the edges of the piles on which it rests.
Also, part of the foundation can be lowered by digging a trench, or a partial replacement of the foundation support can be carried out.
Repair of the columnar foundation of a wooden house
Preventing foundation pillars from settling.
If some of the pillars of your foundation began to sink, then you can fix it as follows:
Dig a hole to the base of the pile at an angle of approximately 40 degrees. Under an elevated corner or section of the house, you need to place a pipe made of asbestos cement into which we pour concrete mortar.
Correcting the slope of the pillars of the foundation of a wooden house
In wet soils, the pillars of the foundation support can tilt. Such a pillar-support must be replaced. The replacement procedure is similar to replacing a sagging post and is shown in the figure.
Note that at the bottom, the new support has a larger area than the main support diameter. This is intended to more effectively distribute the weight of this section of the building.
In any case, a timely and thorough revision of the condition of the foundation of a wooden house and its timely repair will allow you to enjoy life in this environmentally friendly home for a long time.
No one can reproach our ancestors for being dishonest about construction. The wooden houses they built have stood for many decades, while others have crossed the century.
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However, alas, nothing is eternal, and sooner or later any owner will come across signs of aging of the building. Deviations from vertical lines become visually noticeable, subsidence, skew and windows and doors cease to close normally. All this speaks volumes about the need to repair and replace the foundations of the old wooden house.
Let's look at a few typical situations and methods for solving issues with a dilapidated foundation.
How to strengthen the foundation of a wooden house
The reasons why the foundation ceases to adequately fulfill the functions assigned to it the foundations of the entire building, quite a few.
- Time and environmental factors - the materials of the foundation structure have lost their physical properties.
- Errors made at the stage of building design.
- Drastic weighting of the structure of the entire building, for example, the construction of an attic or an additional floor.
- Non-compliance building technologies when constructing an old foundation, the use of low-quality building materials.
- Ignoring drainage work around the structure.
- Problems related to soil displacement or subsidence.
In this way, the first thing that will need to be done is to conduct the most thorough audit of the foundation, try to objectively assess the cause of its destruction or subsidence. Only then will it be possible to make a decision on the possibility of repairing it or on the need for a complete replacement.
Repair of the strip foundation of a wooden house
How to repair the foundation of a wooden house? To see the real picture and the extent of the damage, you will have to expose the old foundation. If we are talking about a tape, once folded from rubble-cement mixture, then a trench up to half a meter wide and deep to the base of the foundation is being dug along the perimeter of the entire structure.
- In the case when the subsidence of the house occurred evenly, without causing distortions, it is quite possible that it will be enough to be limited to repairs.
- It happens that the general condition of the old strip foundation does not inspire confidence, although the subsidence of the house took place evenly. In this case you can strengthen it with a solid new belt 20-30 centimeters thick.
- After final casting and complete setting of the concrete the foundation becomes more massive and wider, its erosion stops. On a thickened base, you will definitely need to install ebbs.
- The situation is more complicated if the shrinkage of the house was uneven, and there is a clear distortion of the old tape. Here you cannot do without lifting the entire structure of the building to level the foundation.
- Before lifting the structure, the house is lightened as much as possibletaking out pieces of furniture and household utensils from it, sometimes they resort to removing windows and doors, dismantling the floor covering.
- Formwork installation is made according to the hydro level, taking into account the planned height of the basement. The through reinforcement of the old foundation masonry and its connection with the reinforcement of the newly poured layer is mandatory.
- After the strip foundation has been repaired, you can lay out several rows of a brick base, although many do without it, laying the log house directly on a reinforced concrete base. Often it is necessary to replace logs or beams of the lower crown of a log house, which are most susceptible to rotting. At the same time, a layer of waterproofing (several layers of roofing material, planted on tar mastic) is necessarily lined between the base and the renewed crown.
For this, crumbling fragments of rubble or brickwork removed. Holes are drilled in it, into which pieces of reinforcement or anchors are carefully knocked out, then they are connected by welding with reinforcement. The trench begins to fill with liquid concrete, gradually - it is better to do this in sections of 1-1.5 meters, blocking the trench with jumpers. The main thing in this action is to let the concrete thoroughly saturate the soil and fill all possible cavities in the old masonry, so rush will be inappropriate.
Sections that are poured in turn are necessarily connected with reinforcement. Thus, after filling the trench and firmly setting the concrete, the house receives additional support on the ground, and its subsidence should stop.
For this, a sand and gravel cushion is arranged at the bottom of the trench, and formwork is installed along its outer wall along the height of the basement. General reinforcement of the old masonry is carried out, in addition, the welded solid metal mesh is laid after the first layer of concrete is poured.
How to raise a log house above the foundation? For this are used hydraulic jacks, allowing you to raise the frame to the desired height, laying it out on temporary supports made of powerful beams or metal profiles (channels or I-beams).
In order to avoid skewing or destruction of walls, ceilings, roof structures, etc., lifting is carried out very slowly, if possible - simultaneously from four points, literally 5 centimeters each, constantly installing safety wooden pads. After fully lifting to the required height, the structure is installed on temporary supports, which will serve as its foundation until all repair work is completed.
In this video you will see how the foundation of a wooden house is being repaired.
Repair of the pile foundation of an old wooden house
- If the log house rests on pillars lined with bricks, which have cracked and eroded from time to time, but still retain their functionality, you can dress them in a concrete reinforcing belt, similar to what was described in the previous section.
- Skewed hammered piles can be straightenedto give them the desired vertical position. To do this, from the side opposite to the direction of the skew, a tunnel is made, the piles are straightened and the space around them is filled with a cement-gravel mixture.
- If the body of the pile is deformed or destroyed, it will have to be replaced completely... For this, you can use asbestos-cement pipes with a diameter of 200 mm. To bring the pile into place under the house, in addition to the hole for it, an inclined gutter is also dug. After installing the pipe and giving it a vertical position, it is gradually poured from the inside with a liquid cement mortar, so that it necessarily saturates the sand and gravel cushion placed under the pile.
If the repair of some of them is considered unreasonable, it will not do without raising the structure. In this case, the collapsing pillars are laid out anew, the remaining ones are repaired.
In addition, it is reinforced with cement-gravel mortar and outside. It is advisable to widen the well at the bottom, giving it the shape of a "mushroom cap" - the stability of the pile after the complete filling of this cavity and solidification of the cement will increase several times.
In this video you can see how the foundation under a wooden house is being replaced.
Replacing the foundation of a wooden house
It also happens that the foundation, regardless of its type, is in such a state that its easier to completely dismantleto install a new one. There is nothing to be done, the house will have to be lifted and started to work.
- Of course, even before the reconstruction of the foundation of a wooden house, you need to carefully consider the issue of drainage around the basement so as not to repeat old mistakes and not provoke further subsidence of the structure.
- The most popular way - device of a new strip foundation with a plinth of the required height. The required depth is dug, taking into account the freezing of the soil, a trench, a sand and gravel cushion is laid in it.
- Often, homeowners prefer another way of replacing the foundation, using modern screw piles.
A solid reinforcing belt is made. A formwork is being built, on which the height of the base to be poured is clearly indicated. After pouring and complete hardening of the cement, waterproofing works with a foundation, if necessary, its insulation and cladding, after which the entire structure of the house is lowered onto a new base.
This method is often less costly and does not require a lot of time, and, at the same time, it is quite comparable in strength characteristics with a concrete base. The piles are screwed into the ground with the help of special levers to a depth exceeding the level of soil freezing, leveled in height and tied at the top with a belt from a channel beam of the desired section. This type of foundation is especially good on weak and sinking soils - it perfectly withstands the loads of a wooden structure.
Insulation of the foundation of a wooden house
A good owner will not calm down if, after the construction of the concrete foundation, he does not carry out work on it waterproofing and insulation... These activities will significantly extend the life of this supporting structure, but in general - and the entire structure. Penetration of moisture into pores and microcracks and its further freezing in winter leads to erosion processes that destroy the solidity of the foundation and its gradual destruction.
Waterproofing is carried out more often by a coating method, applying special bituminous or cement-polymer mastics to the walls of the foundation along its entire height, from the outside and from the inside. The use of pure bitumen is unacceptable, as it tends to crack over time and lose its waterproofing qualities.
Modern mixtures for penetrating waterproofing are also used, based on cement with active additives and the inclusion of finely dispersed quartz sand. Such solutions penetrate well into the thickness of the basement, fill pores and cracks, create a reliable barrier to soil moisture and atmospheric precipitation.
After applying waterproofing, it is necessary to immediately insulate the foundation of a wooden house from the outside. This is done by gluing around the entire perimeter and along the entire height. insulation boards - expanded polystyrene or polyurethane foam. Their thickness is calculated in accordance with thermal protection standards depending on local climatic conditions.
The joints must be strengthened (caulked) between adjacent slabs and corner joints, in order to avoid the creation of "cold bridges". Insulation panels are glued onto bituminous mastics or special adhesivesthat do not contain organic solvents.
Facing the foundation of a wooden house
At the request of the owner of the house work is underway on the lining of the basement... The modern building materials market offers homeowners a lot of different options. Someone prefers to lay out the plinth “for joining” with silicate, ceramic or hyper-pressed bricks. Others are limited to brick-like tiles.
The hosts wooden houses often use a special basement siding for facing the foundation, plastic or metal, imitating a rounded beam (block house) or a board (lining or "herringbone"). This method is quite simple and inexpensive, the cladding is easily installed on all types of stone, concrete or pile foundations.
A very good solution - use of modern finishing materials, combining both insulation and decorative properties. We are talking about thermal panels with a layer of polyurethane foam or expanded polystyrene insulation coated with decorative trim in the form of clinker or hyper-pressed tiles for a stone or brick. Of course, the cost of such materials is considerable, but their qualities justify it.
