I’m sure I need to add way more info…just not sure what’s relevant.
Crawlspace. There are piers…but they appear to be wood. Wood piers in the ground, connect to wood posts/beams above ground. As expected the wood has started to rot and the whole wood foundation needs to be replaced.
This is in the PNW and earthquakes are possible, thus my preference for a concrete foundation(rather not get into the debate about how house would be effected from earthquake).
This is not a foundation repair situation…this is a foundation replacement situation.
Is the house occupied? If not, can the existing floor/decking be removed to get direct access to the crawl space and supports? If so, that will make the job so much easier.
While you are at it, have you considered digging out underneath the house and creating a concrete and cinder-block basement? It would cost a bit more but since you are already doing major foundation work, it might be worth it and would dramatically increase the square footage of the house. Adding a basement would allow you the freedom to bring in large excavation machines to do the digging with.
The house is not occupied and there is access to the crawlspace.
My main concern is that I’m not sure a concrete foundation can be built underneath the house. Since it has the addition which a concrete foundation, the house cannot be lifted. The weight bearing concrete would have to be built upto the level of the house…which I’m not sure is possible.
I have seen time-laps videos on Youtube of a company that retrofits houses that have crawl spaces with full basements. It is pretty amazing to watch them work. They hand dig out sections at a time and pour footings and supporting walls, they then do a final pouring of the floor. They do this without lifting the house.
