Creating a New Foundation for an Old HouseCreating a New Foundation for an Old House

Our design/build company performs a wide variety of building services. We're equipped to handle every aspect of new construction and remodeling, including house-lifting and foundation and septic-system installation, as well as framing and finish carpentry, all in-house.

In September we undertook the restoration and remodel of a two-story early-1800s residence in the historic village center of Wellfleet, Mass. We began by lifting the house off its failing foundation and setting it back down on a full poured-concrete basement. This article will look at that process. As of this writing, we've moved on to a gut-remodel of the building.

Existing Conditions

The house was built on a lot that sloped immediately down from street level, which set the front door sill about 9 inches lower than the sidewalk. Because no attempt had been made to adjust the grade to deflect runoff, water ponded against the foundation, eventually rotting the front sill beam. Also, the oldest part of the foundation consisted of a single thickness of mortared brick (common in the area's sandy soils) set barely below grade without any footings. Consequently, the building had settled unevenly, stressing its timber frame to near failure. When we started work, the building department had already ordered the house vacated.

At the back of the original building was an extension that had been built in the 1920s on a full foundation of hand-mixed concrete interlaced with bricks and rubble. This part of the foundation was accessible through a door in the rear and allowed about 6 feet of headroom. Under the original structure, the builders had expanded the basement area by excavating to within a few feet of the older brick foundation, shoring it with small-diameter logs driven vertically, stockade-style. This innovative approach may have destabilized the grade, and a small forest of teleposts suggested a history of nerve-racking creaks and pops as the building settled.

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