2012 StettoProjeck #1

[stetto]

I'd appreciate a little out-of-the-box engineering advice, and Fubar just seemed the place to start.

I'm sneaking behind Mama's back a little on this, so hush, ok? There's a 20'X20' shed next to the house, framed in good, stout, old fashioned 2x4 tamarack rough-sawn that I'm fixin' to fix and turn into a workshop. It needs windows replaced, resided and a new roof, but not before I straighten out the floor plate and square the building up...That's where I need the input:

The footer of this shed was your typical drunk farmer trench-n-pour type, only formed on the outside perimeter. Sometime after the building was already done did someone think to pour a slab on the inside. The problem is two-fold: The 2X10 plate has slid out on the footer, AND the footer has fallen away from the building, a crescent sag with the center of each wall the furthest out, and the corners very close to right. One side is not too bad, out of plumb no more than two inches, and there are only two concrete anchors, about three feet in from both corners. One of the anchors has failed and busted through the outside of the footer, easy to cut off. The other is solid, but that part of the wall is a mere 1/4" off, not to sweat over. I decided to chisel the high inside edge of the footer flat, trowel in some hydraulic cement and high-tension concrete mix and simply pull the plate back to plumb and set a half dozen new anchors.

The other side is the problem: The footer has fallen far more than the "good" side and the plate slid over the outside edge, total away from plumb @ center perhaps 12 inches. The plate on this side is rotted in places and has been "spliced"  with Mickey Mouse engineering, and a great bulk of the footer itself has crumbled away. This may seem like a no-brainer, just do the same process, but I'd sincerely like to not screw this up. If I had a working camera (yes, I checked the bumper of the truck  ) I'd post some shots. My plan is to prep BOTH sides and use a come-along, through the center of each wall @ just above the floor plates, with 3 or so 12-foot 2X12s laid outside against the wall to equalize the pull, thus squaring both sides at once. Fortunately the roof does NOT have the usual sag that occurs when the walls fall out of plumb like this, so I consider myself lucky.

Anyone have any experience with stuff like this? And yes, I thought about setting a hay feeder in the center of the shed and nail an airplane to each outside wall and let the magnetic force draw the two walls in, but there would be little control of how far inward the walls would come... 

[Onepoint]

Come along would work most likely, if its too much and starts to pull the good side in too far, bury a post on the outside next to the opposite side footer to pull against, drilling through the wall for a cable to tie to.
The problem will be holding it there once done unless you have the footing flat so you can anchor it.  And if Its crumbling that may be a problem from the get go.

[balsum fractus]

Can you lift the building a bit and pour a proper footing over top of the old one...y'know..one that is flat and square... ?

[stetto]

Yeah, the concrete is crumbling in places. You can tell they mixed a bag at a time, one 5 foot section as solid as granite, the next softer than sandstone. I was hoping to do concrete repairs from the outside after the walls were set plumb. The slab inside was poured a full inch higher than the footer, so there's a stop where the walls won't move too far. The problem with that is what I said in the first post about how they poured the footer; It was formed on the outside and the inside is uneven and bulks under the slab. So to get the most stout for my labors I'm going to have to cut a good couple inches of the slab away and dig the sediment out to create a better foundation and something to anchor the plates to. I figure I'll be running back and forth with a level (or just hang plumb-bobs from the truss plate) and the first wall to reach plumb I'll anchor down, then continue. So yeah, I plan to have something there to anchor to before the pulling party begins.

I actually measured the east wall this morning--It's not off by a foot, only 7 inches. A farmer friend of mine who has had to do this with some of his sheds is coming by on Monday or Tuesday to laugh at me and make sure I'm not trying to kill myself. He says he's bringing a friend along who's a general contractor. Good for that, I need bids on a new roof. Terrin wants to go with steel, but I'm not sold on the stuff yet. We do see a lot of steel going on houses around here, but those are BIG pricey homes...

I was told the building may need lifted, we'll see this coming week. There's a smaller wellhouse attached at the north end that I plan to make into a garden shed, and that might make jacking the building a problem. I think regardless I'm going to have to incorporate the old footings, there's just too much to remove and I'm hoping to not make a major build out of it.

Thanks for the input guys. I'll let you know how it goes.

BTW, there was an air parade of three Cessna 188 Aggies and an Air Tractor flew over the house today. What wonderful little gitchmo's they are!

[balsum fractus]

Sounds like you need a propa shed guy like Don Incoll.......

[stetto]

Huh, I'm posting this from a Kindle, so no spelling Nazis, ok?

My buddy hasn't called yet, and I'm getting a little impatient. My rehab "tech" sez I may be released from care next week, long before they thought. I think I'm wearing thin on them.

I'd rather not do this heavy lifting on my own, but there's a lot of prep yet to do. The contractor doesn't want me to bust up any more concrete til he gets a look at it, but it's pretty plain to me what needs done. So I wait........

[Onepoint]

Be nice if they could figure out how to rebuild bodies with off the shelf parts  rather than make books fit in a little slab of silicon eh? 

[stetto]

Hey man, I'm swingin' 5 lb. free weights around my head! I don't remember being able to swing anything over my head with that arm. Gonna buy the surgeon's brother (he won't admit he inbibes) a really good cigar next week.

[stetto]

So they dropped in yesterday afternoon, and after about 3 minutes of glancing around the perimeter the guy says "Yeah, I'd do it your way." After which I spent an hour and a half walking the guy around and showing him 30 or so other projects on the list. Then he measured up the roof to give us a bid on that (The roof looked like new just 3 years ago, but the 3-tab shingles are Certainteed brand and were apparently part of a bad batch that the company got sued over--We, unfortunately, are not eligable to file claim). Terrin wants steel. I want a grass hut in Tahiti...

So today I continue on my quest to square up my shed. He did suggest bolting a beam to the inside wall and using a jack to take weight off the plate. That I could do...

[Onepoint]

Man that sounds like work.  I just have to get my spring planting done, which is tough to get done with all the nice weather and distractions going on. 

[stetto]

Oh yeah, it more than sounds like work. I've been finding other things to do but get out there today, even policing the dog mines from over the winter. 

But with this early gift of a spring I have an opportunity to get ahead of myself, gimpy arm and all. I just stopped in now to see if any of you guys were coming up to help. 

[balsum fractus]

tough to get done with all the nice weather and distractions going on.

Hey? want some snow?   

[Onepoint]

Heh, I work but I have an allergy, w...wo..wo  rk makes me all tired and my skin leaks.   

Man I Wish we had some snow, we have had nothing since early Feb, its not looking pretty for summer right now,  had a couple Iraqesque dust storms already.

[stetto]

I guess I'd rather have rain than snow. It's only the middle of March and we're more than 2" short of moisture already. It doesn't necessarily break my heart, but the trees around here have already burst their buds, something that on average happens at the end of April.

We had a brief freeze last night and temps are back to normal today: mid 30's. I'd really hate to see the foliage have to start over...

[Onepoint]

I don't care what form so long as its wet. We are about 68% of normal  right now in our drainage, and I would bet lower than that in our area.