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Can you DIY new basement walls?

I live in a 100+ year old house. Some of the basement walls are rock, some cinder block and they are beginning to crumble slightly in areas. How hard/easy/advisable would it be for someone to take out the old blocks/rocks and DIY new cinder block walls? Even just a little peice at a time.

7 Answers

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  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    It's not impossible, you need to shore up the sill plate, the piece of wood that sits on the block, You can easily go 2 - 5 feet at a time, depending on the condition of the sill plate.

    Basically, if the sill is ok, take a small section out and brace it, and take the stone out, replace with concrete blocks, it's not terribly difficult, but not a job for the average homeowner.

    If you are in any way unsure, don't attempt it. There is always the option of making forms around the existing rock, and pouring concrete, though that's more aesthetic then structural.

  • Anonymous
    4 years ago

    outdoors fixes are costly.....have you ever seen a French drain. genuinely it particularly is an interior restoration. includes some extensive artwork yet not rocket technology. You ruin out sixteen inches of basement floor from base of wall alongside length of wall. (or wall it is giving you hardship. Excavate down some inches previous footing..leaving footing intact for sure. place drainage tile in trench and run to a sump pit. Then drill a hollow in the backside of each and every block to allow water to empty into trench. hide wall with Delta membrane and improve into ditch trench. Fill trench with gravel and re-cement floor. it particularly is the main inexpensive thank you to administration the water difficulty. All Dry-Loc will do is reason the water to return and forth someplace else until eventually it is going to discover its way in..then you particularly will have no thought the place the water difficulty is sourced. keep in mind..a low-value restoration leads to problems later on.....there are a number of links in this technique. stable success

  • 1 decade ago

    I would highly advise you to have a structural engineer certify that those walls are not load bearing or part of the structural integrity of your home.. after that..do what you want..but make sure it is within code!

  • 1 decade ago

    Basement walls support the entire structure for age old buildings. Please get an advise from Engineer before you attempt and then decide is it feasible for you to DIY.

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  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    You are fooling with the structural integrity of your home and this requires an expert who can "shore up" the weight of the home and this takes a lot of experience and special equipment.

  • 1 decade ago

    bring in a professional. There may be structural deficiencies that you may not be trained to see, and if you start working on it, you could either have the thing collapse, or replace everything without fixing the problem

  • 1 decade ago

    I don't think you'd be able to get a permit to do it. From my experience small jobs turn in to big jobs, and big jobs turn in to even bigger jobs.

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