typical brownstone foundation?
During renovation of my 1910 Prospect Heights brownstone, my contractor discovered that the exterior and party walls rest DIRECTLY on the soil. there is NO foundation or footings. Is this typical of brownstones built at that time? My contractor and engineer believe that it’s not typical, and that it may cause serious problems in the…
During renovation of my 1910 Prospect Heights brownstone, my contractor discovered that the exterior and party walls rest DIRECTLY on the soil. there is NO foundation or footings.
Is this typical of brownstones built at that time? My contractor and engineer believe that it’s not typical, and that it may cause serious problems in the future. They are particularly concerned that vibrations from pile driving during construction of the Atlantic Yards project, about one block away, will cause the soil to shift and the walls of the building could move causing serious damage.
I would like to get a second engineer’s opinion before we start any serious and expensive foundation work. Any recommendations for engineers? Anyone else have a brownstone with no foundation? Any info greatly appreciated.
thanks,
tracy
there are 100s of brownstones all over brooklyn with out any foundation other than the brick wall. Sometimes they would taper the brick wall like a pyramid creating a footing. I wouldn’t worry too much, but then again I’m not an engineer. If you have the money, on the other hand, I guess better safe.
Stacey,
thanks for the comment. i may swing by the place on Underhill and see what i can find out.
I too live in Prospect Heights and have a frame house. We do not have a basement (our first floor is slightly lower than ground level) but we have a small crawl space under the house. Our house was resting on boulders. The contractor we have installed some cement pillars to add a little more support to the house. But if you live in PH – there is a house on Underhill between Dean and Bergen which is being completely renovated. They owner ran into the same problem as you and had to have the whole thing reinforced. The workers there are really friendly and I am sure they can let you know what steps they are taking to correct it. Good luck.
Our house is also resting on a bed of logs, which appear to be in solid shape. Builders used logs when the house was located in a high water table since wood that is constantly in water does not rot. It is the process of getting wet and drying out that rots wood.
Our 1870 Greenpoint brick townhouse has a basement with proper masonry walls for the foundation. But a wooden extension in the back, dating from the early 20th century, sits on what appear to be logs, with a 6″ space between it and the dirt. So far, 130 years later, seems to be working . . . but we are on the lookout for rot.