Shifting house - shower ideas requested

[bbbass]

@MG,

Also, houses today are often built with green(ish) wood studs and floor joists. Particularly the wall studs tend to warp as they dry out, resulting in door problems and wall bowing or deflection. After a few years, this stops and any repairs can be considered permanent.

 

[popsgarland]

In my 50+ years in construction, I have leveled several houses and replaced several showers. I have built several now homes, 18 Applebees, 6 Discount Tires, plus other businesses. It the lot has clay, it is removed and select fill, dirt, used. Clay will not absorb water. It'll just run off of it. Dirt will absorb water and, mostly, stay packed against the foundation and restrict movement of the house.

As already stated in several post, get a few foundation companies out to give you a price on leveling your foundation. They will dig down below the clay, put in some concrete piers and make sure they fill the rest of the holes with dirt, not clay.You will need the dirt to absorb the water and keep it packed against your house to stop, restrict, the foundation movement. Where your exterior wall meets your concrete, they will remove only the concrete where they put the piers and replace the concrete as needed.

If you want,need to talk about this on the phone. PM me and I'll give you my phone number.

 

[MountainGirl]

What kind of piers? Bell? What kind of soil do you have? What has your weather been like recently? You really need an expert to look into this. I live in a very old house, probably built in the late 1940's, the pier and beam system is fairly simple, pad and block type. Summer, when it gets really dry and the soil shrinks, I get a little movement, but since the house "floats" it is not a lot. I will get one door, the rear, start rubbing at the top of the jamb. But, I am on a sandy, loamy type of soil which is about 4-5 feet deep above clay.

Pretty much like this pic - there's a footing all around the perimeter, and 4 long concrete runs under the house that the posts sit on, rather than individual piers. Unknown how deep the footings and runs are.
It all looks good under there to me, but what do I know. Nada.

The soil is very sandy, some even at the surface including under the house. It's been very dry these last 5 months; the first year here was a lot of rain - and I dug trenches to divert the streams that were going under the house. The non-sandy areas of the two cleared acres are 8-10" of loam over a loam/sand mix. No clay anywhere (that I've found)

We need to give this some serious thought.

 

[jrbfishn]

You need to talk to someone familiar with footings in different types of soils.
I used to level and set mobile homes. In southeast Texas. Lots of sand. Much easier to level one if the ground was at least damp than when bone dry. Dry sandy soil shifts, like in a sandbox or beack. Wet sand packs better. Draining away water may be part of the problem if the footings and piers were engineered for wet sand and not dry sand.
I don't know about now but when I did mobile homes back then, in Galveston County, all mobile home set ups had to be approved by an engineer. Too many variations in sand/water/soil mixtures. I have seen setups that took all day because sand kept shifting. Usually we could level and set one in about 1-2 hours.

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[2ManyGuns]

You need to talk to someone familiar with footings in different types of soils.
I used to level and set mobile homes. In southeast Texas. Lots of sand. Much easier to level one if the ground was at least damp than when bone dry. Dry sandy soil shifts, like in a sandbox or beack. Wet sand packs better. Draining away water may be part of the problem if the footings and piers were engineered for wet sand and not dry sand.
I don't know about now but when I did mobile homes back then, in Galveston County, all mobile home set ups had to be approved by an engineer. Too many variations in sand/water/soil mixtures. I have seen setups that took all day because sand kept shifting. Usually we could level and set one in about 1-2 hours.

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Since water was diverted away from the structure, I am leaning to the shifting sand issue.

 

[2ManyGuns]

Another thought, if the outside perimeter is more "stable", maybe a simple fix would be larger pads at the supports at the bath area, or more support at that area depending on the spacing of the supports. If the picture you posted is "accurate", spreading the weight of the structure over a larger area at the bath, larger pads, may work.

 

[jrbfishn]

Short term, I have seen that work on mobile homes. The trouble is, when you have piers, there is always vibration in the house and piers. You can add piers and multiple tie downs to minimize vibrations and their effects but it will continue without stabile soil for them to sit on.
Popsgarland probably knows more tjan me on that. Who to talk to about for sure. I have been out of it for too many years.

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[2ManyGuns]

I am a layman at best.

 

[jrbfishn]

Most of us are.

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[MountainGirl]

Well, I sure appreciate all you guys' input. This type of foundation is all new to me; much different methods on the mountain, and no sand up there whatsoever. The water diversion was at the other end (70' away from the bathroom) of the house, but that might not matter to a dryness issue.

I think the thing to do right now is to wait until Thursday, when we get everything opened up so we can see what's going on - and then talk about our next step.

IF need be, I can just hang a shower curtain over the exposed area - and we do have a second bathroom with a shower over a big garden tub (that's kinda scary to climb into) we can use. God it sux getting old.

Thanks again -

 

[jrbfishn]

I set or tore down 100s of mobile homes from Comanche east into Louisianna and from Lufkin to Galveston. Me and the 2 Mexicans I worked with, one of them was in charge and made the decisions, would set set from 2-5 a day. Sometimes 7 days a week. And I am an amatuer at guessing what kind of footings will work. Except on solid rock. But that one is easy.

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[popsgarland]

@MountainGirl, always remember to water around your foundation every 2 - 3 days during dry weather. You need to keep the soil,if not wet, at least damp to keep it packed. Water from your foundation out to around 3 feet. At this point, it might keep your foundation from moving any more until it's repaired. Even after the repair, continue watering especially during real dry weather.

 

[jimbo]

Well, I sure appreciate all you guys' input. This type of foundation is all new to me; much different methods on the mountain, and no sand up there whatsoever. The water diversion was at the other end (70' away from the bathroom) of the house, but that might not matter to a dryness issue.

I think the thing to do right now is to wait until Thursday, when we get everything opened up so we can see what's going on - and then talk about our next step.

IF need be, I can just hang a shower curtain over the exposed area - and we do have a second bathroom with a shower over a big garden tub (that's kinda scary to climb into) we can use. God it sux getting old.

Thanks again -

I can relate to your statement "God it sux getting old."

 

[Tnhawk]

I can relate to your statement "God it sux getting old."

So far, it still beats the alternative!

 

[MountainGirl]

So far, it still beats the alternative!

So far.

 

[MountainGirl]

Well, some good news.

The house may be settling some, but that's NOT what caused this problem.

Water got behind the tile on the added box/ledge, through gaps in the new tiles' grouts likely, and part of that area expanded and bowed, dropped tiles.

After they got all the tile removed from the box, it was found that the thin-set failed with the water on it and over time put enough pressure on the tile for it to eventually bow out. The cement board backing was not bowed at all and looks to be fine; no bowing, gaps or movement above the box whatsoever - and it's tiled up to the ceiling. The side tiled walls are fine also.

No more tile on the box. What we're gonna do - is have one single piece of granite/quartzite/etc run the length of the ledge top, and another below it across the front face.

As far as the other settling issues - I'm going to take your suggestions and keep an eye on the dryness around the house, and have it looked at this fall. Some settling is expected with a 3yr old house I guess, and whatever comes we'll find a way to deal with it.

Thanks everyone, very much. ((hugs to all))

 

[TexasRedneck]

That "box" was NOT built properly - period. It should have been water-tight so that no water could get at it, with a slight slope to the edges to promote water runoff. It also should have been constructed of non-organic material so that any water that DID infiltrate couldn't affect it. Bottom line - whoever built it should NEVER be trusted to build something for you again. I'm a layman, and even I know better.

 

[MountainGirl]

That "box" was NOT built properly - period. It should have been water-tight so that no water could get at it, with a slight slope to the edges to promote water runoff. It also should have been constructed of non-organic material so that any water that DID infiltrate couldn't affect it. Bottom line - whoever built it should NEVER be trusted to build something for you again. I'm a layman, and even I know better.

Thanks. The 'box' was built water-tight; all the water damage was outside the box. The tile job was bad, and next time will be done by someone who knows what they're doing. Actually, there wont be a next time for tile and pro's will be installing the slabs.

Edit to @TexasRedneck : I see in my post #36 that I said water got in the box. That was wrong wording, and I fixed it. Thanks, friend.

 

[popsgarland]

Well, some good news.

The house may be settling some, but that's NOT what caused this problem.

Water got inside the added box/ledge, through gaps in the new tiles' grouts likely, and part of that area expanded and bowed, dropped tiles.

View attachment 392979

After they got all the tile removed from the box, it was found that the thin-set failed with the water on it and over time put enough pressure on the tile for it to eventually bow out. The cement board backing was not bowed at all and looks to be fine; no bowing, gaps or movement above the box whatsoever - and it's tiled up to the ceiling. The side tiled walls are fine also.

No more tile on the box. What we're gonna do - is have one single piece of granite/quartzite/etc run the length of the ledge top, and another below it across the front face.

As far as the other settling issues - I'm going to take your suggestions and keep an eye on the dryness around the house, and have it looked at this fall. Some settling is expected with a 3yr old house I guess, and whatever comes we'll find a way to deal with it.

Thanks everyone, very much. ((hugs to all))

That's some great news.

 

[Byrd666]

To alleviate all possibilities of leaks and improper construction, you can always use a stand alone shower bench/chair.