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+--- Thread: Anyone concrete block experts? (/showthread.php?tid=295944)
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Anyone concrete block experts? - pdq - 04-22-2025
Our Wisconsin house, built in 1940, is undergoing a big renovation. Some previous owners turned an original tuck-under 1 car garage into living space. The house foundation and garage floor at the original garage opening left concrete in a U shape, with a concrete (slab?) foundation and poured concrete house foundation on either side.
Like this (looking into the opening of the old garage):
Their original plan was to fill the _end_ of the crawl space with framing, sheathing, etc, then cover with siding (which would go lower than the siding on the rest of the side of the house to the right). The plan also called for adjusting the surrounding grade so that it doesn’t slope _toward_ the house, as it does now. But we pointed out that this would leave the bottom of the siding and underlying framing under ground.
So they came up with a plan for this 8 foot wide space involving multiple layers of treated lumber, sheathing, wrap and a waterproof barrier under the siding, additional cost ~$3500. This still leaves the regraded dirt up against the siding. The cost is not a problem, but we asked Couldn’t we just fill this 8 foot opening with maybe two rows of concrete block to match the remaining (house) foundation (to the right)?
They say no, that the old tuck-under garage floor is subject to frost heave so they can’t lay block on it (by code? Or just a bad idea?) We pointed out that this is a 80 year old house, and the garage floor hasn’t heaved yet.
Any opinions?
Re: Anyone concrete block experts? - Acer - 04-22-2025
Could pour the wall instead of block.
A rube goldberg layering of treated wood and sheathing below grade gives me chills.
But any change there is going to cost you, not sure how you could escape it. Just be sure to get what will work.
Re: Anyone concrete block experts? - pdq - 04-22-2025
Acer wrote:
Could pour the wall instead of block.
…But any change there is going to cost you, not sure how you could escape it. Just be sure to get what will work.
Yeah, again, the cost is not the (main) issue. We’re a little irked that we had to point this out to them.
Acer wrote: A rube goldberg layering of treated wood and sheathing below grade gives me chills.
Yeah, makes us uneasy too.
Re: Anyone concrete block experts? - chopper - 04-22-2025
I go thru this every year in the old Craftsman we own.
And most of the time we throw our hands up and realize it would be about the same level of work and $ to just move to a bigger house.
Re: Anyone concrete block experts? - macphanatic - 04-22-2025
Is this design being signed off by an engineer with a PE (Professional Engineer) stamp? If not, no way in you know what would I accept that solution.
Re: Anyone concrete block experts? - special - 04-22-2025
macphanatic wrote:
Is this design being signed off by an engineer with a PE (Professional Engineer) stamp? If not, no way in you know what would I accept that solution.
This... my friend went though something much simpler than this and he insisted to get advice from a Structural Engineer. Apparently not all PE are the same, some are more specialized in some areas than others.
But this is second hand information for me, I never had (yet) to deal with this myself.
Good luck!
Re: Anyone concrete block experts? - Acer - 04-22-2025
Finding a PE willing to mess around with small, one-off custom project like this may not be trivial. I had a PE sign off on a design to reinforce a block wall. He did it, but you could tell he'd rather have not been bothered.
Re: Anyone concrete block experts? - Michael - 04-22-2025
pdq wrote:
[quote=Acer]A rube goldberg layering of treated wood and sheathing below grade gives me chills.
Yeah, makes us uneasy too.
Our next door neighbor had a house built 30 years ago. There is a roof section that slopes to a vertical wall. There is a slight downward slope along the wall, as well. When he was building the house I chatted with him and he told me the builder insisted that a roof full of water ending at a vertical wall would be fine as long as he sealed it correctly. I guess he didn't do that because it was repaired about 10 years later. Then again 10 years ago the vertical wall was stripped inside and out and replaced along with the lower part of the roof that sloped to it. It all still slopes in the original fashion just with new studs and roof rafters and so on. I figure it will happen again in another year or two.
My basic model is that if it looks like it's a dumb thing to do, I wouldn't do it, even if an "expert" says it will be fine. And, "multiple layers of treated lumber, sheathing, wrap and a waterproof barrier under the siding" just sounds like a dumb thing, to me.
Re: Anyone concrete block experts? - pdq - 04-22-2025
Maybe I’ll see what my neighbor (who is in the business) has to say about this.
Re: Anyone concrete block experts? - Tiki2000 - 04-22-2025
There are differences in PE's. You probably want to stay away from Mech, Ag, Chem or Petro for this...
For residential work like this, the price you would think would be reasonable to charge, I wouldn't cross the street to get the work. Dealing with homeowners has a high pain to low fee dynamic.
For the drainage problem, I would install drainage tile along the wall & move the water to a lower place on site. The faster you move the water away, the better...
For the concrete floor & masonry block question, the problem is the floor should be separated from the foundation under the walls. As such, it is subject to the movement of the soil with the change in seasons (frost heave). Such movement isn't good for the long-term performance of the block if PLACED ON TOP of the slab. If you cut back the slab and put a proper foundation under the block, you will have a better chance for success.
That's my 5 min assessment. I have a PE in both Civil & Structural Engineering and my advice is worth exactly what you paid for it.