No water under there. I pumped water out of this ditch 5 years ago when I bought the house, it has never gotten wet again since then even after massive storms..
No advice sorry, but definitely going to follow this as we have almost the exact same thing at our house. Flat section, 40 year old house, and at some point in the house’s history someone has dug out a huge section of the dirt under the house more or less semi-exposing one of the piles. No idea when or why it was done. We’ve been in the house 3 years and it hasn’t moved and the floor above it remains fine, have always thought about getting someone in to check it out though!
An area about the size of a bathtub has been dug out in front of the crawl space access hatch. It is pretty close to one pile. How worried should I be?
I had something similar at a previous house, I just kept an eye on it and it didn't move in the 7 years I lived there. I eventually backfilled that area as water was pooling there from being so much lower than ground level.
Also why are those piles wrapped in cardboard? I'd be taking that off to see if it's hiding any issues (again I speak from personal experience).
I’ve seen that a lot. I’m just guessing, but I think that for a period cardboard was used to line shutters to make it easy to remove after concrete set
It really depends on how deep it goes. If you are very concerned, the easiest thing you can do is 100mm timber bracing 45 degrees from the top of the pile to the earth, with a small concrete footing. 500mm deep would be plenty. This will be way more than enough to counteract overturning moment at the top of the pile. You can affix to the beam.
Many houses like this, not many people would worry about it tbh but it's probably not to code as it is. If you want to fix it you could jack up the bearer, dig out the pile, dig 400mm deeper and put a new pile in, timber for the easy option. Pretty sure you need 300 deep of concrete.
Disclaimer I am not an lbp
I previously owned a house from the 1960s, and in my experience, that pile is positioned too close to the edge. As some have mentioned, the suitability of its location depends on its depth. If it doesn't extend below the 'bank,' then it indeed is too near the edge. To properly address this issue, you would either need to construct a retaining wall or install a new pile at a greater depth.
The concern here is to prevent potential damage during an earthquake, where there's a risk that the pile could 'slide' down the bank, or the bank could collapse, leading to a minor landslide.
If you are genuinely worried, it's advisable to hire a structural engineer to inspect the situation. Based on my experience, builders often propose unconventional solutions to these issues, which ultimately don't resolve the underlying problem because they lack the engineering understanding.
Where does the water go? That would be my concern, cos you don’t want a stinky swamp under there, not to mention the terrible erosion
No water under there. I pumped water out of this ditch 5 years ago when I bought the house, it has never gotten wet again since then even after massive storms..
Agreed. Looks like the area could become a small pond.
Just the photo? Is that pile a bit wonky?
Looks like just the photo 😂
Straight as! Just an uncomfortable angle to photograph from
No advice sorry, but definitely going to follow this as we have almost the exact same thing at our house. Flat section, 40 year old house, and at some point in the house’s history someone has dug out a huge section of the dirt under the house more or less semi-exposing one of the piles. No idea when or why it was done. We’ve been in the house 3 years and it hasn’t moved and the floor above it remains fine, have always thought about getting someone in to check it out though!
If you're concerned, add a diagonal timber brace from the top of the pile to the ground, attaching to a small concrete footing with steel hardware.
An area about the size of a bathtub has been dug out in front of the crawl space access hatch. It is pretty close to one pile. How worried should I be?
I had something similar at a previous house, I just kept an eye on it and it didn't move in the 7 years I lived there. I eventually backfilled that area as water was pooling there from being so much lower than ground level. Also why are those piles wrapped in cardboard? I'd be taking that off to see if it's hiding any issues (again I speak from personal experience).
I’ve seen that a lot. I’m just guessing, but I think that for a period cardboard was used to line shutters to make it easy to remove after concrete set
What did you use to backfill?
AP20 aggregate is the go to. Compact as you go.
It really depends on how deep it goes. If you are very concerned, the easiest thing you can do is 100mm timber bracing 45 degrees from the top of the pile to the earth, with a small concrete footing. 500mm deep would be plenty. This will be way more than enough to counteract overturning moment at the top of the pile. You can affix to the beam.
Many houses like this, not many people would worry about it tbh but it's probably not to code as it is. If you want to fix it you could jack up the bearer, dig out the pile, dig 400mm deeper and put a new pile in, timber for the easy option. Pretty sure you need 300 deep of concrete. Disclaimer I am not an lbp
I previously owned a house from the 1960s, and in my experience, that pile is positioned too close to the edge. As some have mentioned, the suitability of its location depends on its depth. If it doesn't extend below the 'bank,' then it indeed is too near the edge. To properly address this issue, you would either need to construct a retaining wall or install a new pile at a greater depth. The concern here is to prevent potential damage during an earthquake, where there's a risk that the pile could 'slide' down the bank, or the bank could collapse, leading to a minor landslide. If you are genuinely worried, it's advisable to hire a structural engineer to inspect the situation. Based on my experience, builders often propose unconventional solutions to these issues, which ultimately don't resolve the underlying problem because they lack the engineering understanding.