Wooden structures - private houses and summer cottages - inevitably lean over time. Specialists will help to solve this problem with minimal losses and will lift the problem area with the subsequent consolidation of the result.
Preparatory measures and calculations
It is necessary to carefully study the features of the log house, measure all its parameters and estimate the approximate weight - with the help of these data it will be easier to correct a lopsided corner or side. Log houses are usually lifted on one side and placed on a support, then slightly lifted on the other side, thus leveling the structure. It is best to entrust this work to professionals, since in the process, by negligence, you can even more warp the house.
The main tools here are jacks, with the help of which the required level change occurs. Usually craftsmen pre-strengthen the walls with boards, nails and screws. The jacking point also needs to be protected from destruction, and, as a rule, a piece has to be cut out in the log so that the upper limit of the unit fits perfectly into this hole. A channel can serve as a stand for a jack; corners or metal strips of sufficient width are often used. Specialists on site decide how best to adjust the base of the house so that it is firmly fixed in a leveled position.
Features of finishing works
The most common cause of the curvature of the walls, the slope of the house is the subsidence of corners, and this problem is most acute for the owners of structures made of chopped logs. If the construction of wooden houses (http://stroyluga.ru) is carried out by a conscientious company, the likelihood of such a phenomenon is minimized, and usually such organizations undertake to repair housing that has lost its original evenness of the base and walls.
The cheapest option for finishing the walls of a leveled house is chipboard, this material is fixed with the help of bars. You should work closely with a plumb line so that all surfaces are as smooth as possible in the end. The bars are nailed every meter, then the finish is installed - fiberboard, for example, or drywall. In this case, the sheathing should be 5-8 cm shorter than the walls themselves. The indent should be formed exactly near the floor covering, then it will be masked by the plinth. The fastening of sheets and beams is carried out using self-tapping screws for wood.
Specialists do not set restrictions on further interior and exterior decoration, everything can be done to the taste of the residents. The main thing is that the foundation of the house is securely strengthened, otherwise all the leveling work will be useless.
Every person who has his own house will sooner or later face the problems of cracks on the walls of the building, the curvature of the foundation, and distortions. First of all, these problems come from damage to the base of the foundation, which, even if it is properly constructed, can be greatly reduced over a long period of time.
Of course, these problems must be addressed without the slightest delay. This will save you time and money, and will not let your house deteriorate further. Therefore, the main ways of how you can fix it will be described below.
There are 3 main options for solving this problem: the foundation can be strengthened, raised or replaced completely or partially.
Method one: strengthening the foundation
Let's start with the simplest: . Usually, reinforcement is produced in case of the beginning of subsidence of the base. If you can’t fix the foundation of your house in time with the help of reinforcement, then it can result in a large amount of money with the complete replacement of expensive parts of both the foundation itself and the entire building.
First you will need to dig a trench around the entire perimeter of the house. It is better to make the trench as deep as possible. At the same time, its width should be such that it is most comfortable for you to work with the underground part of the foundation while in the trench.
Now carefully clean the surface of the foundation of the whole house from dirt and debris with a trowel, after which you can start strengthening. To be reliable, you will need stiff reinforcing wire. Take it and nail it firmly to the foundation to its fullest possible height. The other end of the wire is then lowered and fixed on the other side to the ground.
In order for this whole structure to remain strong, you need to make a formwork across the width of the trench and pour the whole thing with concrete. The solution must be made as thick as possible. It is also advisable to add small pieces of reinforcement to it.
Pour the trench with mortar so that approximately 15 cm remains to the surface of the earth. After the concrete has hardened to this height, it will be necessary to add earth with sand and compact everything well. If there are places with very large cracks on your foundation, it is necessary to make through anchoring on them and connect it with an additional row of bricks or cinder blocks laid out. This will ensure in the future a uniform load on all parts of the building.
Back to index
Method two: raising the foundation
The next option is to raise the base of the foundation. This is an ideal option on how to fix the foundation under the house, if it sank too much, thereby giving large cracks on the walls of the house and distortions of door and window openings.
To raise the foundation, you will need a very strong pad on which the foundation can be supported, and two fairly powerful jacks. Start by raising the most damaged corner of the house with jacks. Under the raised part, carefully place the gasket and immediately take on the next corners.
There are two main points to consider when jacking corners. The first is the elevation. The most damaged place should be raised first and above the other corners. But with all this, the maximum lifting height should not exceed two cm. The second is a possible skew of the log house. Therefore, in the process of raising the corners, it is necessary to carefully monitor so that the log house does not warp. Otherwise, it can lead to even more destruction.
After raising all the corners, check that in the end all the corners are raised exactly the same distance. If you have made a check and all the lifting heights turned out to be the same, take the process of amending the foundation itself directly. To do this, near the corners and in the middle of each of the walls we make recesses for pillars, the height of which is approximately 1 m.
After that, very strong reinforcement is pushed into the recesses. Try to squeeze the reinforcement so that it rests well against the walls of the recesses. When you are done with the reinforcement, install the formwork. But after that, knead a thick solution with pieces of reinforcing wire and fill them with recesses with reinforcement. As a result, you should get the so-called reinforcing columns, which in the future will not allow the foundation to sag. After the solution has hardened, you can sprinkle the flooded areas on top with soil, tamping it well with a roller.
During the whole process of work, it is very important not to forget about safety precautions. To avoid damage, be sure to install the jack securely so that it has good support. And between the log house and the support for the jack, it is necessary to put non-slip boards.
Back to index
Method three: replacing the foundation
And now with regard to partial or complete. In the case of a complete replacement, everything is very clear. This is tantamount to rebuilding a building with a large financial investment and a significant time investment. Therefore, it is undesirable to allow this to happen. It is better to correct individual parts of the foundation in time.
To partially replace the foundation, it is most convenient to use the old, but well-proven method. This is a partial replacement of the base. To do this, the sole should not be deepened. For this, it is best to make cells in the ground about 1 m deep in places where the foundation and wall of the house are damaged. Opposite each of the cells in the foundation wall, notches are made with a perforator for future fastening.
Now, using a powerful jet of water, wash the foundation near the dug cells and bring reinforcing beams under them, which must be hooked with anchors to the notches made in the wall. Then knead a thick solution and fill all the cells with it.
After that, it is imperative to strengthen the openings for doors and windows. To do this, knock out openings in loose places and check them with a level. Only they must first be carefully aligned, even if slight distortions have already formed.
This method will make it possible not only to partially restore individual parts of your foundation, but also to increase the overall bearing capacity of the foundation for the entire house. In this regard, the risk of new cracks will be greatly reduced.
Thus, three main ways were considered on how to fix the foundation of a house. These methods are the simplest and most effective if the deformation of the foundation has not yet reached too significant a scale. Corrected defects in time will not allow the problem to develop into a more serious scale.
Probably, everyone noticed that when a wooden house stands without tenants for a long time, it begins to collapse. Not only the roof and walls, which bear the main load from wind and precipitation, are deteriorating. Due to the absence of human activity, the microclimate inside changes, humidity and temperature drop, there are no vibrations from the movement of bodies and the operation of household appliances. The microclimate inside begins to contrast sharply with what is happening outside the house, and, of course, loses to the elements. Nature “undermines” the house even from underground: heaving soils cause the structure to be pushed out of the ground, peat soils cause subsidence, etc. Freezing, the soil pushes foreign bodies out, while thawing, soft, moist soil, on the contrary, tends to absorb heavy objects.
As a result, every now and then in the countryside we come across rickety huts, sagging fences and walls. As often happens, when making the first spring outing to the dacha to prepare the gardening season, the owners find that their house has slanted or even begun to collapse ... What to do?
Causes
By the way, any wooden house, even just built, can squint. And in order to understand what should be done in each specific case, first of all, you need to find the reasons for what is happening.
Any wooden house can squint under the influence of one or more reasons:
- The old house has not been lived in for a long time;
- Violation of the foundation pouring technology, destruction or its absence;
- Soil features;
- Poor functioning or lack of drainage system;
- Flooding;
- Destruction of the lower crowns;
- Shrinkage of logs and timber in the walls of a new house.
What to do?
In the event that a new wooden house has “led”, there is no reason for concern: most likely, the observed phenomenon is not critical, and it is enough to wait for some more time until all the material dries out, and then caulk the cracks formed and seal them with sealant (with the exception of cases with violations when laying the foundation). In other cases, you will have to work harder.
Flooding is when groundwater rises and begins to destroy the foundation, or when, as a result of a flood, reservoirs and rivers overflow their banks. If the situation repeats itself from year to year, it is necessary to build an embankment (dam) that will prevent high water from approaching houses, and also to strengthen the coastal strip. Then the house must be raised and the height of the corners should be leveled with durable additional elements.
Similar work on leveling the corners will have to be done if the skew occurred due to the characteristics of the soil (raise and lower the corners until the landscape change is compensated), and also if the owners were absent from the house for a long time. Subsequent repairs from the inside and outside will restore the microclimate and the house will serve for another ten or two years.
Destruction of the lower rims - this is unlikely to happen with a new house, although this also happens when choosing low-quality materials. Usually during operation, the lower 2 rims require protection from dampness and cold emanating from the ground. The lower rows of logs or timber should be covered 1-2 times a year with special water-repellent compounds, as well as antiseptics to protect against rot, mold, and insects.
In this case, the rickety house is leveled by replacing worn-out crowns. On levers (as a rule, also logs or jacks), they lift the house, prying on the whole crowns on one side, lay temporary supports from below, and then carefully repeat the operation with the rest of the walls. Decayed rows of wood must be replaced with new ones. Then gently lower the walls onto a new, now whole, base. Such work is extremely difficult, and one person cannot do it. And in general, it is better to entrust any operations to shift the box at home to professionals so as not to cause even more destruction.
If the clarification of the reasons showed violations in the drainage system, due to which moisture began to accumulate at the foot of the house, then it will have to be restored first.
The house squinted due to the destruction of the foundation? Just as a house is moved to temporary supports to replace the crowns, it will also need to be lifted and moved to repair the foundation.
How to raise a house with a jack? At first glance, this may seem like a rather difficult task, in fact, the technology is quite simple. The main thing is to take into account all the requirements and act in accordance with a certain sequence. It is necessary to carefully prepare for the process of raising a house with a jack, to learn all the subtleties of the technology. It is very important to act slowly, gradually.
Two jacks will be quite enough, in the process they will need to be installed alternately, from different sides of the house. The use of four jacks (for each corner of the house) is not recommended, as this approach to work can cause the house to move sideways. Before you raise the house with a jack, you need to calculate the approximate load that falls on each corner. Thus, you can choose the optimal material of a suitable size, which can be used as a temporary support for the house.
Necessary materials and tools
Before you raise the house with a jack, you should take care of the availability of the necessary materials and tools:
- slats;
- steel plate (metal corner of a suitable size);
- metal pipe (for its use as a skating rink under the house);
- material to support a raised house (a wooden beam is perfect);
- hydraulic level;
- funnel.
In this case, jacks designed for trucks (the carrying capacity of which is 10 tons) are perfect.
Back to index
The stage of preparatory work for raising the house with a jack
Before you start lifting the house, you need to perform a number of preparatory work. First of all, two slats are driven into the ground at each corner of the house. You will need to use a hydraulic level to perform the following steps. A feature of this device is a rubber hose, the ends of which are connected to glass tubes, their length is about 200 - 250 mm. To work with a level of this type, water is poured into the hose using a funnel (for convenience, the liquid can be tinted using ordinary potassium permanganate). The water level in the tubes must be the same.
With the help of a hydraulic level on each of the rails, the height to which the house will be raised will be marked. For this purpose, one tube is attached (tied) to the rail. Meanwhile, the second tube is applied to the rest of the rails, after which marks are made. In this case, it is necessary to return to the tube, which is in a stationary position, and check the liquid level. If the levels do not match, it can be concluded that the hose contains air bubbles. As you understand, such a device is unsuitable for work.
The scheme of lifting the house with the help of two jacks: 1 - a rail with a mark of the lifting height; 2 - foundation.
In order to correct the current situation, you will need a flat area with a slight slope. After the device is again filled with water (again with the help of a funnel), go around the house, putting marks on the rails driven into the ground. Then return to the fixed tube. In this case, checking the coincidence of the levels of the rails is a prerequisite. If you accidentally spill liquid from the tube, the process must be continued. Otherwise, all subsequent work related to lifting the house may not be performed correctly.
Back to index
Stage of lifting at home, or work with a jack
Before lifting the house with your own hands, it is very important to prepare the areas on which the jacks will be installed. Boards, boards or other material should be placed on each horizontal platform. It is desirable to make the reference area as large as possible. From the patch of the jack to the lower crown of the dwelling, a steel plate is laid (which can be replaced with a corner of a suitable size). This will avoid damage to the log on the patch. Next, try to perform a lift, which will be a test. If at the same time there was a shift (from the vertical) of the jacks, the support platform is corrected under the device (jack).
The house should be raised so that the height is from 30 to 40 mm. To lift houses, as a rule, two jacks are used at once. At least 2 people must be involved in the process. The next step is to lay lining under the house, with which it will be possible to release the jacks. After that, the rise of the same side is performed. The lifting height of the house this time should be about 80 mm. Next, you should install the lining under the house.
After the lifting of the first side of the house is completed, you should proceed with the installation of jacks on the opposite side of the dwelling. The next steps are the same as the previous ones. Next, return to the right side of the house again. After installing the jacks, lower the curtains, otherwise the tool may wriggle out from under the dwelling. The actions already familiar to you are repeated in the same sequence until the house is lifted.
When lifting houses, it is very important to consider the following rules:
- If you doubt the correct installation of the jack, the process of raising the housing should be stopped and the tool should be installed correctly.
- When lifting a house with a jack, in no case should you crawl under the housing. This also applies to hands and feet, no matter how secure temporary pads may seem. Particular care should be taken if you have to raise the house after it has rained, as temporarily installed stands may settle unevenly.
If the house shifted to the side during lifting, install the jacks on the side that turned out to be lower. In this case, the installation of jacks will be somewhat different, their position should not be vertical, but inclined. The slope should be directed to the desired position in which the house should be (the angle should be approximately 60 degrees). With the help of jacks, it is necessary to support the crown of the dwelling; for this, a stubborn board nailed to a log is perfect.
Thus, the house will stand more securely and will not start to slide further. The other two jacks are used to raise the opposite side of the house (by 30 mm). Place crowns under the logs along the length of the pipe, the diameter of which is from ½ to ¾ inch. After you managed to raise the house, lower it onto the previously prepared rollers. Your next actions (with the help of tilted jacks) should be aimed at not only lifting the house, but also moving it horizontally.
In the event that it was possible to raise the house, but at the same time it cannot be moved horizontally, install the jacks at a smaller angle (between the axis of the tool and the ground from 45 to 60 degrees).
Work with jacks should be done slowly, performing several strokes in turn with each tool. Otherwise (when working for a long time with only one of the tools exposed under the house), the housing may gradually slide and spin around a pole installed on the foundation. It is necessary to raise the house strictly in the specified sequence.
Svarog (Expert Builderclub)
You are right about the trench. Just check in which direction the water is then discharged from it. And most importantly, how fast. If the water does not leave from there immediately. A trench can play a negative role - water collects in it from the surrounding area, stands, absorbs and flows under the house already inside the ground.
Apparently you have a frame house. The frame is quite mobile and forgives large drawdowns and distortions. True, panels can diverge in the corners. But when returning to their original position, they should almost completely close.
It is better, of course, to raise the collapsed corner. In order not to wait for the floors to rise a lot, the lining will disperse, etc. But if the drawdowns continue, then you don’t want to give 10k every two years. Therefore, as an option - raise the house yourself with the help of wedges.
Wedges are best made from the cheapest wood. The main thing is that it should not be rotten. As a rule, such wood is soft (not construction). I don’t know what kind of wood you sell, so I won’t tell you. The wedge becomes gentle. Don't make the wedge very sharp. Look at the attached picture, I think it will be clearer. The figure shows the lining - it is temporary, not the permanent one that is indicated below, and is needed only at corners and intersections of walls, as a safety.
The order of work is this:
1) It is necessary to get access under all external walls (on the side where the drawdown is) and under all internal walls at least from 1 side. Those. make room for work.
2) Take the first wedges that are 10-15mm thicker than the gaps. You drive in 3 wedges at each corner in increments of 500-1000mm (the first in the corner, and 2 and 3 on one and the other side of the corner, respectively. You do the same for the interior walls. As a matter of fact, on the plan of the house that you showed in red the arrows just mark all the right places. Drive the wedges evenly. That is, you do not need to hit each wedge to the stop. Knocked out half 1, then 2, etc. Finish off in the second pass.
3) Prepare new wedges (better of course in advance), which are 15 mm thicker than the previous ones and drive them in next to the previous ones. Thus, you gradually align the entire wall to the desired mark.
4) It is necessary to raise all the walls a little more than necessary - by 2-3mm. This is necessary in order to lay the main (permanent) gaskets. The main pads are already made from construction wood (pine, for example) impregnated with antiseptics. Lay the gaskets, and carefully knock out the wedges. So that the strapping beam of the house fits snugly on the gaskets.
What you need to properly prepare gaskets and wedges. Firstly, as accurately as possible, determine how much each part of the house sank (your drawdowns seem to be uneven). Prepare your wedges for each corner and wall. Lay them out near the place where you will put them. If you dump it in a heap, you will confuse it later. During work, it is necessary to constantly monitor the position of the strapping beams with the building level so as not to warp them in the other direction :). It would not be bad if someone inside the house looked at how the floors were leveled and if any cracks appeared.
Work can be stopped and continued at your convenience. But at the same time, wedges under all walls should be knocked out approximately the same.
If something is not clear - clarify.