Foundation concersn?

 

  This is for you that may deal with concrete & foundations on a daily basis (If any hopefully)

  My house, started life back in 1960 as a small rectangular cabin, simple 4 corners, and a center peaked roof in the Redwoods, on 2 parclels of land.  Around the 80's it was renovated to add a bedroom, bath, and deck, new roof.
  The foundation under the additation is narrow at one end, and since the ground is sloaped downward,  gets taller to the other end (Our berdoom now) over the years the ground beneath the foundation has erroded away in some spots near the middle of the span so that you can see what was the bottom of the form used to pour the initial forming of the foundation.  I would like to fill the voids below the foundation to stop the errosion. (Sorry no pictures yet)
  I've thought about stuffing maybe some muddy dirt, packing it in with something (Hammer maybe?) or maybe mixing cement and stuffing cement into the voids.  I think cement would be a longer lasting fix,
maybe make a "Grout bag" of sorts to squirt cement up into the voids?  When I get pictures attached this will be a little easier to understand.
  I'll save my requests for recommendations, suggestions on fixes until I post some pictures of the affected areas on my foundation.
  I'll get some shots today when I get home!

What kind of foundation do you have? If it is a drilled with grade beam then it is common to get voids under the grade beam and you just throw dirt against it and pack it under. If you have a T footing it should be a foot or so into the ground and the fix would be to dig out the areas that are now at ground level in short sections and pour concrete in them while the soil is dry and more supportive.  The fix depends on what has caused the problem, how serious it is, how much you want to spend etc.

if there really are voids beneath the foundation, you will need to jack the corner and re-pour the foundation block in that area. 
If there are problems with erosion under the house, that is the first thing to fix and I'm sure one of teh contractors on here can help you.  If they aren't avaible, I can help with videochat/skype before the rains start back up...Erosion is a geologist kinda thing...
If its just cosmetic, then whatever makes you feel better works.

Jim

 

  I don't think it's a "T footing" as mentioned, I think a form was built on top of the ground (Grade included) and I'm assuming rebar is inside, then cement pourd into the form, again right over the dirt.  I'll get some shots of it when I get home.  I'll probably end up pumping cement into the void, which isn't that big at the moment maybe 2-3 " then I"ll need to return soil to the area in question, that'll mean a small retaining wall just off the foundation to retain the and keep covered the area in quiestion.
   Rockfish, the house was a summer cabin for it's orignal owner for 52+years.  (We've had  it now for 6yrs) He would come in the summer time and spend a few week.  I don't think he ever spent a winter in it.  So, the area where our bedroom sits now has had 32years of weathering and run off from gutters that leaked.  You know how when you see a sigh post with a cement base and that base had been exposed due to weathering/errosion?  Thats kinda what's happened here I think. 

Thanks for the info so far!
 

Cement .... not dirt

Cement .... not dirt

To be precise, it would be concrete, not cement. Cement is the powdery stuff added to the gravel and water to make the concrete. 

 

  So here's what I'm dealing with.  The holes in 8091 are the holes I want to fill.  The crack pictured does not go through,only an inch or so deep, is not seen from under the room, I filled it with hydrolic cement to keep water from making it bigger.

Cement .... not dirt

To be precise, it would be concrete, not cement. Cement is the powdery stuff added to the gravel and water to make the concrete. 

Details, details.......  Lol

  So here's what I'm dealing with.  The holes in 8091 are the holes I want to fill.  The crack pictured does not go through,only an inch or so deep, is not seen from under the room, I filled it with hydrolic cement to keep water from making it bigger.

Ideally, the bottom, wider portion of the foundation would be buried. Being on the surface is what is allowing for the erosion from underneath. Your retaining wall idea should work. If you do it, I would want the gutters to drain somewhere else, and not in the area you're trying to retain.

Cement .... not dirt

To be precise, it would be concrete, not cement. Cement is the powdery stuff added to the gravel and water to make the concrete. 

Details, details.......  Lol

  Yeah.

 My old man drove cement trucks many years ago. (Including to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.) He drilled in to my head the difference at a very young age. Then I worked in the trades for 20+ years.