Maintaining your homes foundation, footings, & floor framing

• Sinking foundations, cracked and buckled walls and uneven floors are problems commonly faced by homeowners. Homes and other structures situated on unstable soils settle when their foundations are subjected to extreme moisture conditions or lack proper drainage. A shifting foundation may result in structural damage to your home and a loss of your investement.

• Here is a homeowners checklist
of foundation failure warning signs:
• Doors that stick and squeak
• Separation of door sills from frames
• Windows that stick
• Cracks in interior walls near corners of doors or windows
• Nails popping out of sheetrock
• Wallpaper that curls and separates
• Curling and tearing of exisiting sheetrock repairs
• Leaks and cracks in and around the fireplace
• Cracks in the exposed concrete grade beam of the house
• Caulking that pulls away from exterior surfaces
• Nails popping out of corner frames
• Obvious cracks in brick and mortar
• Cracks and uneven elevations in structures attached to adjoining patios.

A badly cracked slab repair is a major construction project. Consult your contractor for details.

• Moisture Problems - If you see efflorescence on the crawlspace and your crawlspace is perpetually damp and mildewy, you've got a moisture problem.

A natural spring, a high water table, a broken water or sewer line, poor grading and drainage, excessive irrigation, and poor ventilation are some of the most common reasons for a damp and mildewy crawlspace or basement.

What's a little water under the house going to hurt, you ask? Excess moisture can lead to a glut of problems such as repulsive odors, rotted framing, structural pests, foundation movement, efflorescence, and allergy-irritating mold. We can't stress enough the importance of doing everything you can to keep excess moisture out from this area of your home.

Be sure that the soil around your home slopes away from the foundation. This helps to divert most irrigation and rainwater away from the structure.

The earth within 30 inches of the foundation should slope down and away at a rate of 1/10 of an inch per foot. We think that a 1/4 inch per foot is better. A good rule of thumb is "more slope equals less ponding." Keep in mind that grading should be built up with well-tamped dirt and not loose top soil, which will easily erode.

You can use a measuring tape and a level to help you if you are having a difficult time determining the slope. Rest one end of the level on the soil against the foundation and point the opposite end away in the direction the ground should slope. With the bubble centered between the level lines, use the measuring tape to measure the distance between the bottom of the level and the top of the soil. For example, if you are using a 3- foot level and are establishing a grade of 1/4 inch per foot, the distance between the level and the soil should be at least 3/4 inch.

• Squeaking floors - if access below is available, installing a wood shim shingle between the subfloor and the floor joist is a quick and easy means of preventing the subfloor from flexing and quiets the squeak.

• Piers and Posts - If you have a persistently squeaky floor, it may mean that settlement has occurred in the foundation, and pier post shimming may be required. This is similar to installing a shim shingle as discussed earlier. Instead, the shingle is inserted between the top of the pier post and the bottom of the girder. Coat the end of the shingle with glue and tap it in snuggly using a hammer.

• Out of level floors - Test your floor level with a 6 foot long level, or by rolling a large ball bearing or marble across the floors (this can be difficult on carpeted floors however.)

Many homes which experience this problem probably didn't start out that way. Poorly compacted soil, excessively damp soil, excessively dry soil, and shrinking support posts under the floor are a few of the most common causes of this condition.

San Diego homes constructed on a hillside, on soil which is subject to water saturation, or in earthquake country may fall into a totally different group. While some of the fixes suggested in this section may indeed apply to these homes, chances are that the services of a licensed soils engineer and structural engineer will be required to do the maintenance.

• Leveling your floor - At the locations where your floor is high, place the floor jack over a block of wood directly under the support beam and a couple of feet from the pier. Using a short piece of post material, jack the floor up slightly (just enough to relieve any pressure on the existing support post) and knock out the existing post.Cut a new support post (shorter than the one removed by the amount calculated with your level from above) and place it between the pier and the support beam just like the one that you removed.

To determine the length of the new support post, from above, place one end of the level on the high spot and direct the opposite end to a predetermined level area on the floor. Hold the level so that the bubble is between the centermost lines in the glass vial. Then, measure the distance between the bottom of the level and the level area of flooring. The new post should equal the length of the old post less the measurement taken using the level.

Slowly lower the jack until the support rests firmly on the new support post and toenail the new support post to the pier and the support beam with two 16-penny nails at opposite sides. That's four nails at the top and four nails at the bottom. To toenail, drive nails obliquely through the end of one board into another, when the end of the first board abuts the face of the second. Then re-check the floor from above for a level condition.