Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 28, 1995, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press sunday Homes Section Philip Anwyl 6977017 b1 May 1995 a solid House starts with a Strong find out if any Large Trees heart pfc House were recently have an Engineer experienced in basement repairs look at the before you buy a get a written Promise from the owner that the basement Doest leak or that there Are no cracks behind the floor and Wall coverings in a finished photos by Wayne Lowacki Winnipeg Frap legs by Paul Mckie staff reporter foundation basements Are a very important part of your House marshal Prince works on a it lies beneath the largely unseen to yet it is perhaps the most important part of your Home the largely ignored by homeowners As a storage area or a place to put a wet basements Are the foundation of your experts say that if you have a poor youll run into Concrete Ralph Haerbig has been putting in foundations for More than 20 Hes seen a lot of problems with shift cracking and water seepage because the foundation want done Ive realized More and More Over tote years How important it is to do this he says of putting in a base the he is adapting base ments to fit the particular require ments of each Haerbig says soil conditions can vary drastically even with adjacent Charlie Fortin of Belvidere construction says that certain neighbor such As River James and Are noted for perennial foundation Basic if youre near the Rivers a Caliari be in for More trouble than the the cites he Haerbig suggests talking to Alf Pengk Neer before you pour the your new after youre look ing at a minimum for a base1 maybe to for a larger Haerbig says simple things like making sure those footings Are placed below the Frost line can be crucial for the life experience of your he adds that building codes dont always keep up with the Best Way to put in a but indicate the minimum i take that foundation and i make it my is How Haerbig explains his its like its mine for my own then i Tell the Foreman its his Fortin piles Are Good for shoring but he recommends going Down at least metres 25 feet to nine metres 30 feet for piles to be effect people Are getting More informed about Haerbig he stressed that Consumers should be knowledgeable about the Basic part of the Home that holds up the whole in you can be in fora homeowners Nightmare if youre not he Bill of says its not just people i older neighbourhoods who need to worry about their Ive seen Brand new Homes that says whose company does major basement repair just because you have a new Home Doest mean the basement is in Good ninety per cent of foundation prob lems Are caused by if you dont get rid of the water youre going to have Mcduffe a lot of the the houses just we rent built Well to begin a lot of problems Stem from improperly installed weep ing when there working Mcduffe says the tiles should Drain excess water near the footings to the Homes Jain basement Drain and out to the sewer but Mcduffe says the tiles Are often not placed Down far enough he recommends they be Down into the mud and Are graded and sealed worse for the this work is covered initial poor workmanship May not come to Light until leaking and cracking that when Many homeowners become acquainted with their foundation when problems most homeowners cant afford to have their own House they live in a Home constructed by someone in Many decades Mcduffe recommends you get an Engineer to look before you he also says you should get a written Promise from the Homeowner who Sells you the House that the basement Doest but if youre already in the position of having to Deal with the problem of a cracking or leaking reme Dies and they Cost do it yourself int really an option unless youre Good with Back pile Drivers and your brother inlaw runs a gravel Mcduffe says people should realize houses move and shift All the time and theres nothing you can do about what you can control is that the Eleva Tion of the House remains secure and that walking across the living room floor Doest give you ensuring the drainage is even around the House is says if youve got lots of Trees on one Side of the House and nothing on the other you could have problems with uneven drainage from the resulting in shifting the same can occur if you remove a tree or problems occur when the pressure from water and soil outside the foun Dation starts pressing in Mcduffe says fixing the cracks just int enough because the problem from the outside pressure still he says excavating around the Wall and reinforcing it with right Angle bars and sealing the crack with epoxy does the then you should make sure the drainage is Mcduffe also recommends backfill ing with granular material rather than Earth because it drains better and Doest compact like Mcduffey firm is beginning one Job at a House where there saving three damaged basement Walls and rebuild ing but none of this is he says waterproofing your foundation runs to per Lineal i wooden basements a stable option f youre building a new Home and looking at foundation you can Pine for something differ ent Alex Loewen of All fab building components says preserved Wood basements Are an option for people seeking a drier and More stable Loewen had one built for his own Here in Winnipeg we have a lot of people who have wooden he Loewen explains that the Wood used in constructing the basements your Carpenter actually puts it together is specially treated in kilns where air is sucked out of the Wood and a preservative is the treatment Means termites and moisture cant eat away at your he Loewen says Many options exist for placing the wooden basement into the including placing it on piles or a Standard Concrete he says you can also place a wooden plate on top of a layer of gravel then set the basement on the wooden this method Means no weeping tiles Are says he adds that the lighter weight of a Wood basement and the Way its constructed mean its resistant to shifting and not subject to the stress fractures of the important he is Back filling properly and with the right kind of preferably As for youre looking at approximately to a running says a he is that wooden basements have to get the of from an so you know from the begin Ning that your foundation is on solid timeless 3 Barkman Concrete in a a Jim i i it is it ;