How to strengthen the foundation of the old house

Despite the fact that the foundation should be the maximum strong component of any structure, after some time its characteristics begin to deteriorate. It is worth understanding that this applies not only to really old structures, but also to a relatively new. It is impossible to exclude that some external factors operate on the foundation, due to which even the richest framework can be in disrepair.

Unfortunately, avoiding the weakening of the foundation can be extremely rare. Of course, it is worth regularly carrying out repair activities, but after some time the base will still be in disrepair.

Thus, if there is a serious threat associated with the state of the foundation, it should be immediately strengthening.

It is necessary to keep in mind that many owners are trying to strengthen the foundation in ways that may not correspond to one or another design features. Accordingly, you should always qualitatively analyze the situation in order to prevent serious errors.

In this article we will try to disassemble the basic details related to the strengthening of the foundation of the old house, as well as consider some common process features.

The first signs of the need to strengthen the old foundation

It often happens that the foundation of even a very old structure has no signs of weakening. However, they can often be hidden, so it is incredibly important to analyze the situation qualitatively in order to prevent emergency situations. In such situations, contact specialists who will conduct a full amount of work to determine the foundation flaws. It is not recommended that it is not recommended to do so, since the foundations of the old house can already be in a terrible state.

As for the visible signs of the need for repair, it is possible to note the skewing of window openings, as well as doors. In addition, in such conditions, numerous cracks are often formed, which, sometimes, may be simply threatening for the construction. If at least the smallest signs of weakening the foundation are noticed, you should immediately begin to act, otherwise it may be too late.

It is necessary to know that the strengthening of the foundation is most often accompanied by colossal financial costs, so it is serious to approach this process. Often situations occur when the strengthening of the foundation costs more than full-fledged construction work. Accordingly, it is advisable not to carry out repair activities, but to build all over again. Also, do not forget that in some cases the structure may be too old and unreliable, so there can be no speech about any strengthening of the foundation.

Causes of the need to strengthen

It must be remembered that the reasons for weakening the foundation can be a lot. However, some reasons can be defined simply enough. To do this, you need to be attentive and navigate in building business.

Accordingly, the most often we are talking about the following reasons for the low strength of the foundation:

• Ground water level. It so happened that in some locations, the level of groundwater changes periodically, and this may occur quite unexpected. It is desirable, of course, to learn about such troubles at the construction stage, however, if the house is old, then the soil waters could not be taken into account. Accordingly, if in such conditions it is necessary to strengthen the foundation, it is necessary to first hold the drainage of the base, and only then carry out some kind of repair work. It is also worth noting that quite often, for long years, the properties of the soil could change somewhat, so a variety of scenarios associated with groundwater are quite possible.
• Invalid construction technology. It should be borne in mind that many houses that are built by people without experience in building business often have numerous flaws related to technology. Accordingly, one cannot exclude a wide variety of problems associated with the condition of the house. Unfortunately, at the stage of operation, it is almost impossible to determine the inconsistency of the technology, so if some problems associated with the foundation should simply strengthen it.
• Soil movement. Again, most often problems are associated with the soil. Thus, you can face the soil movies, as well as with the heterogeneity of the soil. In the event that we encountered the last case, you need to use a pile foundation, which easily copes with all the available distinguished places. Again, it should be remembered that when building even a small home you need to entrust the relevant services to analyze the soils. This will avoid unpleasant surprises, and maybe save money and nerves in the future.

In addition, we carry out the strengthening of the foundation, it is also necessary to think about additional protection so that no problems arise in the future. Accordingly, if we are dealing with groundwater, it will not work out simple strengthening here. It just needs to be done so that water does not influence negatively on the base of the house. To do this, you need to purchase a waterproofing agent and qualitatively compact the entire area of \u200b\u200bthe foundation. If this is not done, then a little later the foundation, as well as the structure in general, it will not be possible to restore.

Main ways to strengthen the foundation

Of course, for many years of construction, there have been a lot of solutions related to the strengthening of the foundation of the old house. It should be understood that not all solutions may be effective, since much may depend on the type of foundation, and from the scale, and on the specifics of the situation.

First of all, it is necessary to repel from the material on the basis of which the house was erected. It can be a brick, stone or wooden structure. If we are dealing with a wooden foundation, then, most likely, you will have to raise the construction in the air to at least fix the situation.

Ribbon foundation and its strengthening

Obviously, the belt foundation is one of the most common in modern construction. Accordingly, if we are talking about this type of base of the house, then the problems often concern the loads on certain areas of the structure. If such a phenomenon really takes place, then in certain points of the base, you can detect cracks or blocks of foundation.

It is also impossible to exclude bubbly phenomena, because of which the blocking of the building basis often occurs.

If you speak directly about strengthening the foundation, you should know several important steps in this process:

• Most often in such situations, when it is necessary to ensure the strengthening of the house, you just need to increase the area of \u200b\u200bthe ground. Accordingly, for this you should break the trench near one of the walls of the structure.
• It is necessary to break up to such a depth so that the damaged area of \u200b\u200bthe foundation was 1 m above the trench. It is also worth keeping in mind and the width of the updated foundation. Here you need to carry out a full-fledged building calculation, which you need to include the size of the foundation, as well as its strength.
• In the event that damage to the base is too serious, it may be necessary to increase the new base with respect to the old.
• Next follows the preparation of the docking of old and new foundations. This process includes drilling holes for strokers and fittings. It is where a new solution will be poured. After that, you need to create a formwork, as well as bind the reinforcement frame.
• After creating a bundle, which was stated in the last paragraph, one can boldly begin the fill of the created concrete design. The mixture, as already mentioned, should penetrate the shoes, as well as cement the reinforcement.

After the additional base is created, you can boldly bury it. If necessary, you can conduct a similar building process around the perimeter of the structure. This will definitely strengthen the foundation, but it is worth remembering that such work may be too expensive.

Strengthening the foundation with welds

If the situation associated with the strengthening of the foundation is too serious, it is necessary to pay attention to the use of weld. You can use a boronobibonic, screw and pressure methods for strengthening the foundation of pile.

• Burious method of strengthening the foundation. In this case, we will need to break down the wells around the building, the depth of which should be about 2 meters. Such wells need to be filled with reinforcement, as well as pour concrete. The piles themselves must be attached to the construction using anchor bolts.
• Depositable method. If the building is very old, then no drilling can not be allowed, otherwise the house may simply fall apart. Fortunately, the owners in this case do not have to risk, since all the work related to indentation is carried out by trained specialists. This is a great option if the house is in a truly dangerous state.
• Screw method. It is this option of strengthening, as specialists noted, is the most practical and simple for builders. In this case, a special installation will be required, which will screw the screw piles into a weakened foundation. Immediately after installation, such piles take part of the load of the structure on themselves, thereby relevant foundation practically no effect. Obviously, piles need to be placed evenly throughout the area of \u200b\u200bthe base so that the loads are also distributed between these elements.

Creation of "reinforced concrete shirt"

Often, for the excellent fortification of the foundation of the old house, it is enough to create a so-called "reinforced concrete shirt". The essence of this idea is that an additional fortification is created around the foundation, which consists of concrete and reinforcement. Special notches are created in advance at the outside of the foundation, and then the fill of concrete occurs.

If the deformations of the structure are too strong, you can use the brick walls. The essence of their creation is approximately the same as in the case of a "reinforced concrete shirt." A trench is breaking, the width of which should be at least 1 m, after which the old foundation is processed by bitumen. Well, then you can safely create a wall of bricks, which will become a kind of continuation of the main foundation.

For additional strengthening on the wall, anchors can be installed, which will definitely make the design stronger.

The process of broadening the foundation

Most often, the method of broadening the foundation is used in the case when it comes to the formation of cracks at the base. With a similar situation, it is necessary to act immediately, as cracks apply and increase very quickly.

At the very beginning, you need to place the foundation on the invigination. As for marking lengths, it is often about 3 meters. Next, the surface must be carefully cleaned from garbage and various contaminants. Also around a weakened foundation you need to create a small trench, which is later filled with rubble.

Now the opening needs to be pierced in the base, and it is in them that you need to insert metal pins. At the same time, between the wall and the foundation of the house you need to install beams to which a longitudinal metal beam is welded.

Well, at the end you will need to create a high-quality formwork and fill with concrete design.

It becomes clear that this process is very difficult, as it includes not only many stages of work, but also a huge number of tools and materials. Despite this, it was the worsening of the foundation that is the most reliable way that allows at least a little strengthen the foundation of a strictly home. However, it is worth remembering that the choice of a method of strengthening depends on the specific situation, so it is necessary to contact the specialists who will give their assessment of an existing problem.