Our garage is 25' x 30'; unknown age. The stemwall is 1 foot high and about 6 inches thick. It was placed on top of the ground when it was poured. The entire north end (25') blew out (tilted) about 4" when they poured 3 - 3 1/2" unreinforced concrete on 12" of fine sand. The northwest corner shows exposed bricks within the concrete...this corner has to be fixed no matter what else. Other than this corner, the rest of the foundation doesn't seem to have shifted much if any. The north wall appears to be a curtain wall. Needless to say, the floor is badly cracked and uneven. We have chipped out the first 1/3 and plan to make 3 pours with 4" concrete reinforced with rebar and will remove just enough sand to keep the floor at its current height.
If we are to redo the foundation, now would be the time to do it. We personally plan to use the garage as a workshop and park cars in it, but it will probably eventually be converted into an apartment. I should mention that I plan to put 1.5" brick veneer on it as a siding. This would hide the blowout, which is fine IF the foundation is sufficient.
Should we jack up the garage, chip out the current stemwall and put in a proper foundation? How deep should it go? John wants to epoxy the rebar into the current stemwall to make all of it one unit - I think if we leave the old stemwall, we should put in an expansion joint between the old concrete and new concrete instead.
We need advice concerning what we should do with the stemwall.
If we are to redo the foundation, now would be the time to do it. We personally plan to use the garage as a workshop and park cars in it, but it will probably eventually be converted into an apartment. I should mention that I plan to put 1.5" brick veneer on it as a siding. This would hide the blowout, which is fine IF the foundation is sufficient.
Should we jack up the garage, chip out the current stemwall and put in a proper foundation? How deep should it go? John wants to epoxy the rebar into the current stemwall to make all of it one unit - I think if we leave the old stemwall, we should put in an expansion joint between the old concrete and new concrete instead.
We need advice concerning what we should do with the stemwall.