Okay /diy/ I hope you can give some advice. Someone messed up and I need to get it fixed, correctly. (This is my aunt's house, I'm the nephew trying to help.)
Initial set up: Most are familiar with evolution of a porch: someone wants a patio, so a thin cement slap is poured, later someone wants a covered porch, so walls are built, a roof, and sunroom exist. Original patio is shallow (3 or 4 inch) and at a slight slant, as it was an outdoor patio.
Initial problem: Skunks dug under the shallow foundation of that sunroom. As time goes by, the dirt under the cement settles and the foundation and said room sink. (Okay, that happens, should be relatively simple fix.)
Fixed it (sorta): Hire a professional foundation repair company, they come in, do their thing. They raised the foundation an inch, maybe more, said "It's the best we can do without causing more damage". Raising it anymore would worsen a crack in foundation or do damage to the house.
Okay, perhaps not ideal, but they did what they were supposed to. The room should no longer being sinking and the back door closed properly. (At one point it shifted so much the door no longer latched.) I accepted what they did and wanted to move on, replace the flooring and return the furniture.
My aunt, though, not happy. She didn't like how much they charged for what little they did. Her boyfriend was furious. He was determined to do it "right" himself and his buddies. Keep in mind, the boyfriend is a part-time contractor and a bad one. His buddies are even worse, unreliable, and probably high on something or dunk when they did show up.
Fixing it, they're way: So the boyfriend digs under the room, gets out a bumper jack, and jacks the room himself, lifting it another 2 or 3 inches. Mean while the crack in the foundation is worse, then a crack forms on the wall. They pour cement under the east and west wall. The south wall gets no treatment, so it is actually hanging with a 2 inch gap underneath it. They pulled the threshhold from under the door, so there's a 5 inch gap under the door. This was back in October/November, just before it starts getting cold, and we have a literal hole in the wall, 2 inches high and 18 feet long! (I stuffed some fiberglass insulation and expanding foam in the hole to minimize the heat loss.)
So, this was done like four months ago, the boyfriend said he'd fix it, but has made no attempt to. My aunt finally comes to me and asks me to find a good company to fix it. But before I find someone willing to do it, I need to find what "it" is that should be done.
Boyfriends plan: Pour more concrete on patio to level of floor, then put tile directly down on concrete.
My plan: Fix the hanging wall so that's done properly. Leave the slanted foundation as is. Build a level subfloor with 2x10's, plywood, and lay down engineered flooring to match the rest of the house.
I'm not contractor, so I want to make sure this is done right. I don't think adding more concrete is the best option and tile would just look cheap. Do I need to have an inspector come look at the house and get a professional (hopefully objective) opinion?
(I could probably do the floor joists, subfloor, and flooring myself. It's all the other stuff, like securing a load baring wall, that I need help with.)
(bump)
>>961497
You know that if the boyfriend has enough pull to already have done work on it, and he's still around, your work will be pretty much futile, right? At best he'll downtalk it ad nauseum and make it a total pain in the ass for you, then he just might rip it out and do it his way anyway.
Anywho, your plan seems okay, as long as the sinking has actually stopped. Not sure which load bearing wall you're having issues securing, and what crack in what foundation? If the house foundation is the issue, stay the hell out of the picture! If you mean the original concrete patio is cracked it could be negligible once you cover it with the framing, or it could bite you in the ass later. No way to tell without pics.
>>961498
Your plan looks good. Tear out that hanging wall and dig in some pyramid footing blocks for a post and beam load bearing wall. At least that way you have something solid to put your header on for your joists.
Putting more concrete in is going to cause problems. If you have sinking problems the best you could do is dig in some piles or put in gravel and a vaporbarrier with a wire mesh for the slab. Otherwise, all you'll get is sunken, cracked concrete all over again.
Don't help your aunt, tell her to go fuck herself for being such an ungrateful little bitch and that she can have her boyfriend fix it however the fuck she wants until the goddamn house falls on her.
