A friend called the other day and asked if I would take a look at his garage
foundation. It appears as though several of the cement blocks has "rotted"
away.
Starting at the corner of the garage and working horizontally there is
[suppose to be] a half block and then a full block, then the apron for the
garage door. The garage wall sits on top of these blocks. However, the bottom
half of each block is "missing", as though it had rotted away. Digging down
where the block is suppose to be, I expected to find either another block or
more likely a concrete footing on which the block had been set, but I found
neither - just ordinary soil. Needless to say this seemed strange - what was
suppose to hold that corner of the garage up?
The block that is on the corner seems to be solid, but if we go around the
corner and start working our way towards the back of the garage, the next
block looks like it is starting to get a hole in it - again like it "rotting"
away. The rest of the blocks look good.
Pictures may be worth a thousand words
www.visi.com/~arvidj/images/hole_1.jpg
www.visi.com/~arvidj/images/hole_2.jpg
If you tap on the garage floor in the corner you can hear it change from a
"solid" sound to a "hollow" sound.
So the questions are (1) what might cause the block to "rot" away? and (2)
what should he do about it?
Thanks,
Arvid
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