concrete block foundation repair near me

#Concrete block foundation repair near me cracker#
#Concrete block foundation repair near me free#

It's best if this steel has a connection to the poured concrete footing. Insert a 1/2-inch piece of rebar down into the wet concrete every 24 inches on center to get the strongest possible wall. If you can do this building new, you want to fill all the void spaces with the pea gravel concrete.ĭoing this, your concrete block wall now is as close as possible to a poured or cast concrete wall. It's easy to fill the voids and it doesn't take long if you can spot a ready mix concrete truck around the foundation. It could have been called jaw breaker concrete too as that hard candy I remember as a kid was about the size of a larger green pea. This gravel is commonly called pea gravel for the obvious reason. In addition the concrete must contain small stones no bigger than a green pea. The easiest thing to do is to fill the void spaces with concrete when a new block foundation is being built. Copyright 2017 Tim Carter Block Foundation Repair Using Peas

#Concrete block foundation repair near me cracker#

The result is a bending force much as you'd snap a twig or thin saltine cracker in two.

Pressure on the other side of the wall from the soil is pushing the wall inwards. The red arrow is pointing at a crack in the horizontal bed mortar joint between two courses of block. Here's a typical block foundation wall in the early stages of failure. To repair a hollow concrete block foundation, one of your options is to transform it into a solid wall every 24 inches on center. It takes far more horizontal pressure to crack or snap a wall like this.

#Concrete block foundation repair near me free#

If you’re interested in learning more about cost estimates for foundation repair I have an article here.ĬLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local concrete block contractors who can do the repair I show in this column.Ī cast or poured concrete foundation wall is solid. The bottom line is the mortar is the weakest link and you only have a narrow 1-inch strip of it to resist horizontal pressure from the soil pressing against the wall. mortar was re-tempered by adding water weakening it.mortar partially set up before being used.While the concrete block may have been made well and is very strong if cured and there's enough Portland cement in the mix, you can't say the same thing for the mortar the block masons used. It's a far cry from a poured concrete wall! Copyright 2017 Tim CarterĪnother key point is the only thing holding the block together is a thin 3/8-inch mortar joint. You can see the hollow cores of concrete block under the horizontal PVC drain pipe.