Front slab porch-ground settling leaving huge gap!

[LCT]

Hey Ya'll. Need some advice please. My house is 9 years old and I have a slab front porch with columns holding up the porch roof. The dirt under the slab has settled tremendously over the years and there is a huge gap all the way underneath it to the house foundation. I can stick a shovel handle all the way in.
The dirt gap goes all the way around the slab. Who do I even call to fix this? And will they just fill the gap with dirt again? Maybe rock? I have no idea.

thank you!

 

[NE GA Pappy]

Probably will have to pump it full of concrete

 

[LCT]

Is that expensive?

 

[NE GA Pappy]

Is that expensive?

compared to what? letting the concrete bust and having to replace it all? no

waiting and nothing happening? yes

getting ready to sell the house, and having to do it then anyway? who knows

 

[Stonewall 2]

There is a company in Atlanta I believe that will drill holes in your slab and raise the slab back to its original height and stabilize it. No experience with them other than touching up some rock work after a customer we had done some rock work for had this done will see if I can get their name and number.

 

[LCT]

compared to what? letting the concrete bust and having to replace it all? no

waiting and nothing happening? yes

getting ready to sell the house, and having to do it then anyway? who knows

All correct for sure! At this time there is only empty space below the slab....just trying to get an estimated guess on cost to either pump concrete under it or more dirt...got a plan a budget for it.

 

[specialk]

Is that expensive?

had it done a few years ago......couple grand I believe....as pappy said it was pay me now or pay me later......

 

[LCT]

thanks guys.

 

[NE GA Pappy]

All correct for sure! At this time there is only empty space below the slab....just trying to get an estimated guess on cost to either pump concrete under it or more dirt...got a plan a budget for it.

You can't get the dirt back under it. No way to do it. The only way is to drill holes in it, and pump concrete thru the the hole to raise it back up and stabilize it.

Good luck, and hopefully it won't be too hard on the budget. But for your information, the longer you wait, the potential for it to get expensive grows.

If it were me, I would go float a personal loan if I had to and get it done now. As in the next few days.

 

[westcobbdog]

in metro Atl you can get quotes from Trotter, RamJack, Engineered Solutions and B Dry to name a few.

 

[westcobbdog]

Also piers are about 1k each.

 

[rospaw]

Hey Ya'll. Need some advice please. My house is 9 years old and I have a slab front porch with columns holding up the porch roof. The dirt under the slab has settled tremendously over the years and there is a huge gap all the way underneath it to the house foundation. I can stick a shovel handle all the way in.
The dirt gap goes all the way around the slab. Who do I even call to fix this? And will they just fill the gap with dirt again? Maybe rock? I have no idea.

thank you!

How big is this slab? If it is a 5'x 10' ish then i think you or anyone somewhat handy could tackle that job if you were wanting to save some $'s.
Did it wash out or settle? Mine thinking would be water from gutters/downspouts or rain water causing the void. Any sump pumps drains, water service near this porch??

 

[Duckhawk05]

Is this wash just under the porch slab ? Or can you tell if it goes all the way under the foundation slab?

If it’s just the porch you can put some flowable fill or have concrete pumped. You might come out cheaper with a demo and re poring a new slab

 

[LCT]

thanks for all the replies guys. Here are a couple pics...one is the porch and then a close up of the space that has evolved due to the dirt settling under it. When they built my house they basically buried everything and then built my house on top of it.
The gap you see goes all the way around the slab.

 

[rjcruiser]

I thought the gap was in between the house and the porch slab. I'd dig out the garden, take gravel/dirt and pack under the porch slab as best I could, then fill back in and make sure that the water drains away from slab towards front yard. I'm guessing the gutters are either clogged or way undersized and water is pouring in the gap making it worse.

 

[fredw]

thanks for all the replies guys. Here are a couple pics...one is the porch and then a close up of the space that has evolved due to the dirt settling under it. When they built my house they basically buried everything and then built my house on top of it.
The gap you see goes all the way around the slab.

What did the builder bury? Had issues with my prior home where stumps/construction material was buried by the builder. The pit was right against the foundation of my house. Within a few years I had a sink hole that was several feet deep. I had to have a dozer come in and dig the hole out.

I'd hate to think the builder built your house on top of a fill site. If he did, the problems may get worse as what he buried rots.

 

[rjcruiser]

What did the builder bury? Had issues with my prior home where stumps/construction material was buried by the builder. The pit was right against the foundation of my house. Within a few years I had a sink hole that was several feet deep. I had to have a dozer come in and dig the hole out.

I'd hate to think the builder built your house on top of a fill site. If he did, the problems may get worse as what he buried rots.

Also, if the builder did this....lawsuit. They can't do pits anymore and could have a huge liability issue if they did.

 

[olered]

I'm thinking also dig out from the front and tamp back in with dirt and gravel. Also sure to extend down spouts out and away from the area and watch the gutters for overflow with the next hard rain. Also don't let that wood rot go for too long below that upper window.

 

[rospaw]

LCT, After seeing the pic i am leaning towards water issue. When it rains good, do you have water running in/around the slab/flower bed area? Looks like 35' plus of gutters and still not seeing the down spouts. Do the down spouts run the water away from the house? Good rain, do the gutters hold the water and not run over? Crawl or basement? Drive / walkways /garage concrete cracking up?
You need to make sure you know the problem is settling and not water issues before trying to fix. If it is settling you are in for a BIG dollar issue with it being that close to the center of the house. It most likely will keep settling and the only way to make it stop is to dig it all out. 10's thousands of dollars to repair right.

On a side note, really like the paint/brick colors. Looks really nice.

 

[rospaw]

Also don't let that wood rot go for too long below that upper window.

Good eye!
Long shot:
What about water running behind the brick up on the porch roof to the house side of the slab, under mining the slab? Not flashed correctly? Is it possible? A wild guess.