I tried to look this up but everything seems to be related to exterior load bearing walls…
A month or so ago, we noticed a good amount of water coming through the concrete porch into our basement. This portion of the 1940’s basement below the porch used to be a garage, and sometime in the 90’s (according to dates on portions of the sheetrock) they put in a wall where the garage entry was to expand the living space. I don’t think this was load bearing when they put in the wall.
It seems like this leak was happening in 2017 as well, since new sheetrock was added and they tried to fix it with spray foam (which is obviously not water tight and did not fix the problem).
Anyway, I ended up ripping off the sheetrock to see the damage. All four sides of the framed wall are at least partially rotted, with the top and bottom plates completely compromised on the corners. This means that I should probably replace the entire wall, which would be “easy” if it wasn’t load bearing…
However, over time and possibly accelerated with water intrusion, the concrete above has a long, horizontal crack which may go through both sides. The crack doesn’t line up perfectly on both sides, but it’s definitely possible that it’s cracked all the way through. If that’s the case, it means that this wall has now become load bearing, possibly holding up a portion of the porch above.
My thinking is that I could get a jack post (or a bottle jack and 4x4 post), put it in the middle, and then build framing on both sides with pressure treated 2x6s. Then I could remove the jack, and attach blocking between the two portions of new framing.
The other, more expensive but safer option would include talking to a structural engineer. I got a quote from one, and he wanted $900 to come take a look. I can afford it, I suppose, although I’m worried that he’ll end up telling me what I already know.
Pictures below. Note that this is concrete on all 4 sides, and that the drywall has now been removed from both sides.
Here’s the wall:
And here’s the crack on one side:
I could be wrong, but I don’t think that long concrete run was ever intended to be load bearing without support in the first place (but I am not an engineer).
Getting the engineer’s advice is worth cost.
My guess is he’ll say put in a proper top plate, either engineered or at least with 2x6/8 set on edge, not flat. With plenty of vertical support, 2x6 if theres room. Perhaps he’ll say doubled 2x4 because of wall thickness.
This is how plates over house windows are done these days, for even single story.
But I’d spend the money.
Yeah, that’s kind of where I’m at, too. I’ll probably talk to an engineer, but this was definitely never intended to be load bearing.
First I would get two steel supports to put in now, posts that are strong enough to carry the weight for the interim; you can probably rent them or buy them relatively cheaply. Check that they can carry a few thousand kgs. Put these in place. Next, I would remove the wood work, and order steel beams that fit into either side of the hole. I would plan on inserting a horizontal steel carrier beam. Mind, if you do not feel comfortable to do this by yourself, you will have to get a professional to do it, after all, you don’t want the floor above to collapse.
While I do agree, jacking it up and replacing the wall is probably going to be part of the solution, I also have two other observations:
- Get a structural engineer, or carpenter with construction expertise, to take on the responsibility. If you’re doing this yourself and it fails, good luck convincing your insurance company that you did everything right.
- Is the water coming through the porch and is dripping into your basement? And the seller didn’t disclose this, even though they provably knew? Oh boy! I don’t know the terms of your house purchase, nor the laws where you live, and I’m not a lawyer, but you may not have to pay for that engineer all by yourself.
Absolutely, I’ll have a structural engineer tell me what to do at the very least, and if not too expensive and I can afford it, have them do it.
I unfortunately don’t think the sellers I bought it from knew about it either. It seems that the attempted “repair” was in 2017, when the seller they bought it from still owned the house. So I don’t think I have much recourse there.
