digging commenced in the crawl space under my home several years ago. dirt was removed in wheel barrows and dumped into the back yard. eventually the 3' crawl space became a 6-7' "basement". no jacks were used. the upright supports were left in place and simply were dug out around them.

the composition of the dirt under the house is primarily sandy.

the dumped dirt altered the rain water path and drain field which now runs into and under the house. the dirt walls continue to errode.

portions of the foundation footings are now suspended in mid-air. dirt is caving in on the foundation walls. some of the upright supports are hanging with nothing underneath them.

what can be done to remedy this? i have had someone suggest a lam or steel beam to run the length of the house but there is no way to physically put it in place.

another suggested pouring concrete between the existing sandy walls and a foam wall, to be installed.

the floor is unstable above this area. leaves on plants vibrate when my dog walks across the floor. settling cracks have appeared rapidly. i've been told the entire house is now structurally unsound.

(so there is no need to ask how this happened, allow me two words..... ex husband. that should explain it in a nut shell.)

suggestions? advice? solutions? i'm at a total loss and could use all the help i can get.

thanks in advance!!!!!

No need to dwell on the past BUT its time to get a foundation contractor out there to check it out first hand and quickly. It sound to me like your going to have to have you house shored up and a new foundation poured before it falls into the hole your husband dug. Good luck

What you need is a process called "underpinning", and any good concrete or masonry contractor should know how to do it. Basically what they do is remove a small section of soil below your foundation wall (two or three feet at most) and fill it with concrete from the bottom of the existing foundation to 8 inches below the new basement floor level. They do alternating sections, leaving twice the width of the dug-out part between excavations.

Your support posts need to have new footings below the new basement floor, and the posts themselves need to be replaced. What they will do is install temporary posts on each side of the existing posts, maybe 3 feet away, and then remove the posts, footings, and soil, down to 8 inches below the new basement floor.
Then they will pour new footings, and replace the posts with new posts.

Other than maybe some leveling, you won't need to replace the beam, unless it is damaged somehow. If the outside walls have settled, you may need to jack the house up to level it, which can be done after the underpinning is in to stabilize the foundation.

It sounds more complicated than it is, but it is labor-intensive, and therefore a bit expensive.

thank you both for your rapid responses.

i haven't been able to find a contractor yet who is willing to tackle the project or they may work the project but will offer no warranty and that worries me.

i've tried general contractors and foundation specialists. i'll now try concrete and masonry specialists.

i haven't been able to locate anyone close who does house jacking. i will continue to search.

again, thanks!!

Almost anyone can do house jacking of the sort you need...they can rent as many two-ton jacks as they need. You will probably only have to lift parts of the house and probably for less than an inch in most cases.

Hi.. what state are you in???

I would contact a house move and a mason... and have the house mover support and raise the home and then have the mason finish what you started. You may need a second mortgage but it better than a condemned home for sure...
Bill in Rochester, NY