# Foundation issues - floor heaving and buckling - photos attached



## irev210 (Jan 5, 2012)

Any idea what is causing this?

Kitchen tile is lifting, concrete outside the kitchen (sliding door to the kitchen) is lifting

A little further away it is sinking (the brick photo)


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## Jdmrenovations (Jan 5, 2012)

Need a little more info...construction style, drainage system, grading...etc.

Really tough to say from those pics...I mentioned the drainage because in 3 of 4 I see a way for water to get where it doesn't belong.


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## nealtw (Jan 5, 2012)

The outside looks like fairly new concrete set on none campacted fill where it has settled on the outside lifting near the house. The tile on the inside is a totally different thing unless the whole house has shifted. If this were the case you should be seeing drywall cracks also.


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## BridgeMan (Jan 6, 2012)

Problems appear to be the result of poor workmanship in a number of different areas, including improper compaction of subgrade below concrete slabs, use of incorrect subbase material, lack of an adequate expansion joint/bond breaker between slabs and house, improper drainage away from exterior walls of house, etc.

You might consider hiring someone (who knows something about good construction practices) to "watch the fort" the next time you have future work done, or all of this mess corrected.  It would be money well-spent.


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## irev210 (Jan 6, 2012)

so this doesn't look like a slab leak or anything like that?

Just poor construction?


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## nealtw (Jan 6, 2012)

How old is the concrete slab outside?
Over what period of time did this move?
Did the floor tile move at the same time?
Is the floor inside also a concrete slab?


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## irev210 (Jan 6, 2012)

nealtw said:


> How old is the concrete slab outside?
> Over what period of time did this move?
> Did the floor tile move at the same time?
> Is the floor inside also a concrete slab?



The concrete slab outside is about 8 or 9 years old.

The heaving happened over the span of years but it seems to have gotten much worse and more amplified in the past couple of years.

The floor tile has also been moving over a span of years but also have gotten much worse in the past couple of years

The floor inside is also a concrete slab.   There is no visible buckling in the inside where there is wooden  flooring.  There is visible buckling in the kitchen area (tile pictured).

Thanks for the help.  Sorry I don't know more about this stuff, I am glad you guys do!


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## nealtw (Jan 6, 2012)

The outside concrete MAY be able to be fixed, mud jacking or foam lifting the outside edge. The inside dosn't make any sense, if there is a hollow sound when you tap on it, you may be able to remove grout and stick them back down.


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## inspectorD (Jan 7, 2012)

I think you have settlement issues under your slab. 
This looks just like a job we had 2 years ago on a house where the uncompacted soil underneath, sank 16 inches in some areas. 
We discovered voids underneath after we picked some areas and drilled 3 inch holes into the slab. Sure enough, there where voids up to 8 inches underneath. 
Only after we brought in the concrete saw cutters and removed the 3 foot pieces did we discover the larger voids.
The next step was to compact the existing soil before we poured the new concrete. The next problem came when we lost the compacter into a 4 foot deep hole in the center of the floor area, I mean , it just disappeared and we had to dig it out. Turns out, we dicovered lots of nails and debrie as we dug it out....looks like this was where they buried the trash for the job.

Get an expert out there, the shotgun effect as we call it, is only guess work at best. You could also have water issues under there that will never go away until you divert it or control it.
Good luck, and keep us in the loop.


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## irev210 (Jan 11, 2012)

So what type of contractor would be best for fixing this?

Seems like it is going to be expensive 

I really appreciate all of the feedback and help - I was totally clueless as what would cause this.


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## nealtw (Jan 11, 2012)

URETEK USA - Contact Information
We have used these guys and where happy with the job but nobody has figured or evan suggested what's going on with the tile inside.


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## joecaption (Jan 14, 2012)

And anyone here can only guess.
What is see is someone messed up big time by putting that slab so high.
It's a guaranteed way to end up with water inside the house.
It never should have been pored to within 4" of the threshold. 
If they messed up on that then I'm sure the prep work was not done under that slab.
To me it looks like someone tryed to tie the slab into the slab on the house with rebar to connect the two. That's why when the slab lifted it took out the slab on the house.
Big no no, there should have been an expantion strip to sepperat the two.
When the outside edges fail it's a sure sign they did not dig a berm so the slab would be thicker on the edges.
Unless someone removed the tiles to see what's going on under it there only going to be able to guess.
Is the slab graded wrong and it's acting like a funnel poring water under the house slab?
Is the plumbing run through the slab, it's leaking and forming a void under the slab.
Is water getting in under the tile from the water leaking in under the threshold?
There needs to be gutters over this deck area at the least.


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