7 Pro mason tips for foundation footings
- Foundation footings that are sinking in your crawlspace can be the cause of sloping floors and/or doors that close too tight at the top or bottom. Consider these important tips for the health of your foundation.
Spot footings support the post beam structure of your home. Hire a professional mason contractor with drainage experience to review the health of your interior crawlspace spot footings, and the post and beam structure of your home, as well as the entire foundation and drainage of your home. The spot footings should be a solid concrete, poured block, with a minimum depth of 8″ and at least 18″ square. Many times I see deck piers and cinder blocks used for spot footings. These attempts are not to code, and must be replaced by spot footings as described above. The lender will most likely have a problem with these crawlspace footings when you sell the home if they are cinder block or deck piers. When a buyer makes an application for a loan, the pest-dryrot and structural inspection will most likely identify these as a repair issue, and demand correction of this situation as a contingency of the loan being given to the buyer.
I have seen many cases where a home was bought and sold under different types of purchase and financing many times, and over and over, the lenders did not find and report the problem. Most often an experienced pest, dryrot and structural inspector, and/or buyer, will know the difference. The deck piers and cinder blocks do not have enough strength to support the home in most cases, and will cause settling and sloping of the homes’ floors, jammed doors, tight or stuck windows, and buckled floors.
- When the new spot footings are poured, it is a great idea to place a square of composition asphalt shingle under the new post to assure there is something between the post and the pad, so the post beam structure lasts as long as possible. If this is not done, the post will eventually start to dryrot where it meets the concrete spot footing, as moisture affects the bottom of the post.
- You do not want to use pressure treated lumber in a crawlspace, because of the chemical nature of this lumber. Yes, pressure treated lumber will rot less, but also the smell and chemicals invade through the floors into your home and this is not good to breathe. Not to mention the toxic environment created within the crawlspace for anyone to work in.
- I suggest using #1 douglas fir posts, eighter 6″x 6″, or 4″x 6″.
- Gusset the posts to the beams with plywood squares that are screwed or nailed to attach the post to the beam, creating an added insurance that in the event of a earthquake, the post will not jump off the pad, or away from the beam. This is what a gusset is: a piece of lumber or plywood that secures the post to the beam. This is the best way to protect your homes’ spot footings and post-beam structure during the unexpected “shaker”.
- Pull the moisture barrier over the top of the pad to further protect the spot footing and post from moisture.
- Open your foundation vents located in the outside foundation stem wall in the summer, to allow air to pass through the foundation crawlspace area. This will help to remove moisture from winter wetness in your crawlspace. Close the foundation vents before the end of fall, prior to the winter snow and/or rain. Install hand excavated french drain groundwater removal systems on the outside of the homes’ foundation wall, approximately 18″-24″ away from a compacted and raised splash block of clay type soil. Do not put soil or barkdust on your siding. Code will usually mandate 6″ space from the bottom of the siding to the dirt or any cellulose debris.