Wooden structures - private houses and summer cottages - inevitably tilt over time. Experts 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 of its parameters and estimate the approximate weight - with the help of these data it will be easier to correct the sloping corner or side. Log houses are usually raised on one side and supported, then slightly raised on the other side, thus leveling the structure. It is best to entrust this work to professionals, since in the process you can inadvertently distort the house even more.
The main tools here are jacks, with the help of which the required level change occurs. Usually, craftsmen pre-strengthen the walls with planks, nails and screws. The jack installation 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 support for the jack; corners or metal strips of sufficient width are often used. On-site specialists decide how best to correct the base of the house so that it is firmly fixed in an aligned position.
Features of finishing works
The most common reason for the curvature of the walls, the tilt of the house is the subsidence of the 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 take on the repair of housing that has lost the 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 bars. You should work closely with a plumb line so that all surfaces are ultimately as flat as possible. The bars are nailed every meter, then the finish is installed - fiberboard, for example, or drywall. In this case, the cladding should be 5-8 cm shorter than the walls themselves. The indentation should be formed exactly near the floor covering, then it will be masked by the baseboard. Fastening of sheets and beams is carried out using self-tapping screws for wood.
Experts 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 should be reliably strengthened, otherwise all 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, curvature of the foundation, distortions. First of all, these problems come from damage to the base of the foundation, which, even with its correct arrangement, can significantly decrease after 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 prevent the house from deteriorating further. Therefore, below will be described the main ways of how you can fix it.
There are 3 main options for solving this problem: the foundation can be strengthened, raised, or replaced in whole or in part.
Method one: strengthening the foundation
Let's start with the simplest:. Usually, reinforcement is made in the event of the beginning of the base subsidence. If, with the help of reinforcement, you cannot fix the foundation of your house in time, then this can result in a large amount of money with a complete replacement of expensive parts of both the foundation itself and the building completely.
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 would be as comfortable for you to work with the underground part of the foundation while in the trench.
Now thoroughly 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 a reinforcing rigid wire. Take it and nail it firmly to the foundation as far as possible. At the same time, the other end of the wire is lowered and fixed on the other side to the ground.
To keep this whole structure strong, you need to make a formwork along the width of the trench and fill 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.
Fill the trench with mortar so that about 15 cm remains to the surface of the earth. After the concrete has set, it will be necessary to fill up the earth with sand at this height and tamp everything well. If there are places with very large cracks on your foundation, it is necessary to make a through anchoring on them and tie it to an additional row of bricks or cinder block laid out. This will subsequently provide an even load on all parts of the building.
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Method two: raising the foundation
The next option is to raise the base of the foundation. This is an ideal way to fix the foundation for a house, in the event that it sagged too much, thereby giving large cracks on the walls of the house and distortions of the openings of doors and windows.
To raise the foundation, you will need a very sturdy pad to support the foundation and two jacks that are strong enough. Begin by lifting the most damaged corner of the house with jacks. Carefully place a spacer under the raised part and immediately tackle the following corners.
There are two main points to consider when jacking up corners. The first is the height of the rise. The most damaged area should be lifted first and above the rest of the corners. But with all this, the maximum lifting height should not exceed two cm. The second is a possible distortion of the frame. Therefore, in the process of raising the corners, it is necessary to carefully monitor so that the frame is not skewed. Otherwise, it can lead to even greater destruction.
After raising all the corners, check to make sure that all corners are raised exactly the same distance. If you made a check and all the heights of the rise turned out to be the same, start directly with the process of correcting the foundation. To do this, near the corners and in the middle of each of the walls, we make recesses for the pillars, the height of which is about 1 m.
After that, a 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 finished with the reinforcement, install the formwork. But after that, knead a thick solution with pieces of reinforcing wire and pour it into the recesses with reinforcement. As a result, you should get the so-called reinforcing posts, which in the future will not allow the foundation to sink. After the solution has solidified, you can sprinkle the poured areas on top with soil, compacting 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 is well supported. And between the frame and the support for the jack, it is necessary to put non-slip boards.
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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 investment and significant time. Therefore, it is undesirable to allow this to happen. It is better to fix individual parts of the foundation in time.
For partial replacement of the foundation, it is most convenient to use the old, but well-proven method. This is a partial replacement of the base. For this, the sole should not be deepened. It is best to make cells about 1 m deep in the ground in places where the foundation and walls of the house are damaged. Opposite each of the cells in the wall of the foundation, notches are made with a perforator for future fastening.
Now, with the help of 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 the 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, tap openings in loosened places and check them with a level. Only they must first be carefully aligned, even if even 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 appearing will be much 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 prevent the problem from escalating to a more serious scale.
Probably everyone noticed that when a wooden house stands without tenants for a long time, it begins to collapse. It is not only the roof and walls that are decaying, which bear the main load from wind and precipitation. Due to the lack of human activity, the microclimate inside changes, humidity, temperature drops, there are no vibrations from the movement of bodies and the work of household appliances. The microclimate inside begins to contrast sharply with what is happening outside the house, and, of course, loses the elements. Nature "undermines" the house even from the ground: heaving soils cause the structure to be pushed out of the ground, peat soils - subsidence, etc. Freezing, the soil pushes foreign bodies outward, 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 trip to the country house to prepare the gardening season, the owners find that their house has become askew or even began to collapse ... What to do?
Causes
By the way, any wooden house, even a newly built one, 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 lurch under the influence of one or several reasons:
- They haven't lived in the old house for a long time;
- Violation of the foundation pouring technology, destruction or its absence;
- Features of the soil;
- Poor functioning or lack of drainage system;
- Flooding;
- Destruction of the lower rims;
- Shrinkage of logs and beams within the walls of a new house.
What to do?
If 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 some more time until all the material dries out, and then seal the formed cracks and seal with a sealant (except cases with violations when laying the foundation). In other cases, you will have to work harder.
Flooding is when groundwater rises and begins to erode the foundation, or when water bodies and rivers overflow their banks as a result of flooding. If the situation repeats from year to year, it is necessary to build an embankment (dam), which will prevent high water from reaching houses, and also to strengthen the coastal strip. Then the house must be raised and the height of the corners must be leveled with strong additional elements.
Similar work on aligning the corners will have to be done if the skew has occurred due to the peculiarities of the soil (raise and lower the corners until the change in the landscape is compensated), as well as if the owners were absent from the house for a long time. Subsequent repairs inside and out will restore the microclimate and the house will serve for another ten or two years.
Destruction of the lower rims - this can hardly happen with a new house, although this also happens when choosing low-quality materials. Usually during operation, the bottom 2 crowns need protection from dampness and cold coming from the ground. The lower rows of logs or beams need to be covered 1-2 times a year with special water-repellent compounds, as well as antiseptics to protect against rot, mold, and insects.
The rickety house in this case is leveled by replacing the worn out crowns. On levers (as a rule, also logs, or jacks), the house is raised, prying on the whole crowns on one side, temporary supports are laid from below, and then the operation is carefully repeated with the rest of the walls. Rotted rows of wood must be replaced with new ones. After that, delicately lower the walls onto a new, now whole, foundation. Such work is extremely difficult, and one person cannot do it. Anyway, it is better to entrust any operations to displace the box at home to professionals, so as not to cause even more destruction.
If finding out the reasons showed violations in the drainage system, due to which moisture began to accumulate at the foot of the house, then you will have to restore it first.
The house is lopsided 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 jack up a house? At first glance, this may seem like a rather complicated 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 lifting a house with a jack, to learn all the subtleties of technology. It is very important here 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 jacking up the jack, it is necessary to calculate the approximate load that falls on each corner. Thus, you can choose the optimal material of the appropriate size, which can be used as a temporary support for the house.
Required materials and tools
Before lifting the jack 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 roller under the house);
- material for supporting a raised house (a wooden bar is perfect);
- hydraulic level;
- funnel.
In this case, jacks designed for trucks (with a lifting capacity of 10 tons) are perfect.
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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 hammered into the ground at each corner of the house. To complete the following steps, you will need to apply a hydraulic level. 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 pipes must be the same.
With the help of a hydraulic level, on each of the rails, the height to which the house will be lifted is marked. For this purpose, one tube is attached (tied) to the rail. In the meantime, the second tube is applied to the rest of the slats, after which the 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 using two jacks: 1 - rail with a mark of the lifting height; 2 - foundation.
In order to correct this situation, you will need a flat platform with a slight slope. After the device is again filled with water (again with the help of a funnel), go around the house, setting marks on the slats hammered 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 raising the house may be performed incorrectly.
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The stage of lifting the house, or working 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. Shields, boards or other material should be placed on each horizontal platform. It is desirable to make the support area as large as possible. A steel plate is laid from the jack point to the lower crown of the dwelling (which can be replaced with a corner of a suitable size). This will avoid damaging the log on the patch. Next, try doing the ascent, which will be a trial one. If at the same time there was a shift (from the vertical) of the jacks, the support platform gets better 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. In the process of work, at least 2 people must take part. The next step will be laying pads under the house, with the help of which it will be possible to release the jacks. After that, the lifting of the same side is performed. The lifting height of the house this time should be about 80 mm. Next, you should install the linings under the house.
After the lifting of the first side of the house is completed, you should start installing jacks on the opposite side of the dwelling. The subsequent actions are similar to the previous ones. Then return again to the right side of the house. After installing the jacks, lower the curtains, otherwise the tool may turn out from under the house. The actions already familiar to you are repeated in the same sequence until the moment when 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 lifting the housing should be stopped and the tool should be installed correctly.
- Lifting the house with a jack, in no case should you crawl under the housing. This also applies to arms and legs, no matter how durable the temporary pads may seem. Be very careful when lifting the house after the rain has passed, as temporarily installed stands may settle unevenly.
If the house has shifted to the side while lifting, install the jacks on the side that turned out to be lower. In this case, the installation of jacks will be slightly different, their position should not be vertical, but inclined. The slope should be directed towards the desired position in which the house should be located (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 persistent board nailed to the log is perfect.
Thus, the house will stand more securely and will not begin to slide further. The other two jacks are used to raise the opposite part of the house (30 mm). Place crowns under the logs along a line from a pipe that is ½ to ¾ in. In diameter. After you managed to raise the house, lower it onto the previously prepared rollers. Your next actions (with the help of jacks set at an angle) 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 is not possible to move it horizontally, install the jacks at a lower angle (between the axis of the tool and the ground from 45 to 60 degrees).
Work with jacks should be done slowly, performing several rolls in turn with each tool. Otherwise (with long-term work with only one of the tools exposed under the house), the housing may gradually slide and twist around the pillar installed on the foundation. It is necessary to raise the house strictly in the specified sequence.
Svarog (Builderclub expert)
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. Too a trench can play a negative role - water is collected in it from the surrounding area, stands, is absorbed and flows under the house already inside the soil.
Apparently you have a frame house. The frame is quite flexible and forgives large drawdowns and distortions. True, the panels may disperse in the corners. But when they return to their original position, they should close almost completely.
Better, of course, to raise the falling corner. In order not to wait for the floors to rise strongly, the sheathing will disperse, etc. But if the drawdown continues, 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 is not 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 is made flat. Do not 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 the corners and intersections of the walls, as a safety one.
The order of work is as follows:
1) It is necessary to gain access under all external walls (on the side where the subsidence is) and under all internal walls at least from 1 side. Those. make room for work.
2) Take the first wedges, which are 10-15mm thicker than the gaps. Drive in at each corner 3 wedges with a step of 500-1000mm (the first in the corner, and 2 and 3 on one and the other side of the corner, respectively. Do the same for the interior walls. the arrows mark all the necessary places. Drive the wedges evenly. That is, you do not need to hit each wedge all the way. Knock in half 1, then 2, etc. For the second pass, finish off.
3) Prepare new wedges (better of course in advance), which are 15mm thicker than the previous ones and drive them in next to the previous ones. In this way, 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 gaskets are already made of construction wood (pine, for example) impregnated with antiseptics. Lay the gaskets and gently 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. First, determine as accurately as possible how much each part of the house has sagged (your drawdowns seem to be uneven). Prepare wedges for each corner and wall. Lay them out next to the place where you will put them. If you dump it in a heap, you will mess it up later. During work, it is necessary to constantly monitor the position of the strapping beams with a building level, so as not to skew them in the other direction :). It would not be bad for someone inside the house to watch how the floors are leveled and whether any cracks appear.
Work can be stopped and continued at your convenience. But the wedges under all the walls should be lined with approximately the same.
If something is not clear - check it out.