# concrete porch is falling down ??



## baconboy59 (May 23, 2010)

I noticed my front porch is starting to crack and seperate from the front of my home. Is this a sign that my house has a foundation issue ? Can this be repaired, or do I have to have a new concrete block porch installed. 

There are three pillars that run from my roof to the porch, but I am not sure if they are anchored beneath the concrete block or on top of it, causing it to be pushed down farther. . I attatched some pics for your viewing.


----------



## inspectorD (May 24, 2010)

The concrete is heavy and settling. The culprit is right there too. The raingutter downspout needs to be routed away from the porch area. get it at least 4 feet away with an extention, this will cut down on the settling. 
The porch may not have any footings underneath also to carry the load above. If it gets worse, contact a really reputable concrete company or slab lifter. Or an engineer, They can help for recommendations on a permanent fix with pilings or "helical ground screws".

Happens all the time, looks early on as far as being an issue.


----------



## TxBuilder (May 24, 2010)

I'm with inspector on this one. A lot of foundation issues can be helped out by proper water draining. Putting it right on the slab, like it's doing now, can cause some pretty crazy fluctuations.


----------



## baconboy59 (May 24, 2010)

TxBuilder and InspectorD, Thank you both so much for the advice. I will definatly get an rain gutter downspout extension to have the water routed away from the house.


----------



## TxBuilder (May 25, 2010)

You might also want to look into a crack sealer of some sort. It's difficult to tell what you would need from those pics alone, but a decent water proof crack filler would definitely help.


----------



## itsreallyconc (May 26, 2010)

evidently i'm seeing different pictures as it doesn't look that bad to me,,, hazard a guess that IF the caulk had been installed correctly, it would still be good,,, btw, ' caulk ' isn't the right mtl - you need a ' joint sealant '... sika has a polyurethane avail ( even in colors ) however it needs to be installed over backer rod then tooled for it to work correctly,,, what's the pitch of the slab front to back using a 4' level ? ? ?


----------



## frozenstar (May 27, 2010)

TxBuilder said:


> I'm with inspector on this one. A lot of foundation issues can be helped out by proper water draining. Putting it right on the slab, like it's doing now, can cause some pretty crazy fluctuations.



Totally agree with you on that TxBuilder...


----------



## itsreallyconc (May 30, 2010)

ps - i don't think your front porch IS part of your home,,, it would be VERY unusual to build a supporting wall back from a slab's edge UNLESS there's a thicken'd edge or addl grade beam you can't see,,, slean & seal properly & monitor,,, it could just be the sealant ( caulk ) used has reached its life


----------



## oldognewtrick (May 30, 2010)

And another thing to look at is the support posts. Are they still plumb? Are they still anchored tightly to the porch beam above and slab below? Do you see any deflection on the roof slope that those posts are supporting?

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, if the porch has settled you should see evidence in the roof area supported by the columns or they will not be secured at the top.


----------

