Should I be worried?

10 years ago

I'm having my attached garage replaced. My house was built in 1921 and in 1938 an attached garage was added. Problem is it was too small to fit a car and the building was pulling away from the house because no concrete footers where used. Just wood on ground. Lots of dry and wet rot. In the end it was cheaper to replace the whole garage than repair it.
Problem - when excravating for the new foundation the excravator seems to have hit into my home's stone foundation (I didn't see him do it) and now there is a huge whole where the foundation once was. My foundation is a stone foundation (like cobblestone) with bluestone slabs over that. The contractor doesn't seemed to be concerned and neither did the building inspector who came to examine the first set of footings. The contractor has a wood form placed around the area and told me that the hole will be filled with concrete and the bluestone replaced over that.

Questions - doesn't concrete shrink? Shouldn't the wall be rebuilt with stone? I'm panicking here because this is near the area where my sewer line runs out ( a few feet away).
I didn't think to take pictures but will tomorrow. Anyone have any idea about this? Thanks for any info you can offer.

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Comments (4)

snoonyb
10 years ago
Concrete shrinkage has to do with water content and ambient temperature.
So, if the mix doesn't resemble broth, it's not 120 degrees and the hole is less than 4sq.ft., you have little to worry about.
lovetogarden
Original Author
10 years ago
I guess this is the first repair. I really need to talk to this guy because there is no way that he could expect this to support the house as it is now.

Snooby, this looks to be about 4 foot square.
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snoonyb
10 years ago
There are several things missing here.
"(I didn't see him do it)"
How did you discover this and was the discussion open and above board?
The photo doesn't show an interior form or if the sole plate remains.
A common practice is to leave sufficient room at the top of the form, which allows the concrete to be inserted and when it has set, the forms pulled, the space is then dry packed, of which, there are several versions.
lovetogarden
Original Author
10 years ago
Hi snoonyb, thanks for responding to me. One thing I can say about this guy is that he has been honest with me up to date. He told me about it up front. I didn't stumble upon it. I still freaked out, nonetheless. LOL. He said that when they were cleaning the site after the excravation (with shovels) a whole chunk of it broke off and fell out. He thinks that since the last garage was so poorly built and was actually leaning in the direction of the house, that it put unnecessary pressure against the foundation and caused that area to fail. I know my foundation needs pointing but I guess it must need more work than even that if something like this is happening. I've since inspected the foundation and found some other holes, though not as big as this one. Actually, what I am showing you is what I am seeing all over the foundation, where the grout has fallen out of the exterior bluestone. Though you can't see it in this picture, the hole is quite deep (7"). He told me when he points the foundation with mortar mix he will also use a pastry type bag to make sure he gets it in deep.
I have been doing some research on my own and found a product called Rockite, an expansion cement. I understand that it is for interior use but can it also be used to go into the deep holes first and then covered over with the mortar mix?