Missing or incomplete building foundations:

This article explains how to notice missing foundation footings, missing structural columns, and other foul ups - How to Recognize Foundation Defects of Omission - things that were omitted that later lead to foundation damage, cracks, settlement, movement, leaks and other problems.

Detecting omissions, such as leaving out a foundation footing is an important step in learning how to recognize and diagnose various types of foundation failure or damage, such as foundation cracks, masonry foundation crack patterns, and moving, leaning, bulging, or bowing building foundation walls. Our page top photo shows a pre-fab concrete and wood foundation which has been installed over no footing and no backfill (yet). Is this a problem?

Foundation DEFECTS OF OMISSION - Identify Foundation Defects of Omission, things that were left out or forgotten during foundation construction

Construction defects of omission refers to leaving out or removing necessary structural components.

It is considerably more difficult for a building inspector to learn to observe the absence of a component than to notice defects involving a component which is present.

This brick veneer wall was constructed over a masonry block structural wall; the veneer contained no expansion joints though some of its sections were nearly 100' in length.

The cracks visible in this photograph had that omission as their root cause.

Northridge Earthquake Building Collapse - Check out These Supporting Columns

Here are examples of types of omission that contributed to a structural collapse.

During our work at the Northridge Earthquake site in California in 1994 we noticed that some of the supporting Lally columns were hollow rather than concrete filled.

Perhaps due to material shortages or rush during construction, these hollow, and weaker supporting columns were wrapped with a fire-barrier just as were the "real" supporting columns used elsewhere.

Our photos show a section of Northridge Meadows which collapsed during the earthquake. At left you can see that this column was hollow.

Our opinion was that these were defective columns and that they were a factor in the structural collapse during the Northridge earthquake. Other areas of the same complex moved, columns even leaned, but they did not collapse where the columns were of the proper type and were properly connected to the structure.

Other factors in the collapse appeared to include how exterior sheathing had been nailed across or not across certain sections of the building supporting walls. Our list of examples of defects of omission during foundation construction continues below.

See Earthquake Damage to Foundations for more about the defective supporting columns that failed at Nortridge Meadows during that 1994 earthquake.
Also see COLUMNS & POSTS, DEFECTS

• Missing footings (may or may not be a defect depending on design and soil conditions)
• Missing supporting columns such as a basement Lally column, where an owner has removed the column to open up a basement space being remodeled for use as living area. Our photo, below left, illustrates one way you can spot a missing column: a Lally column top plate remains tacked in place on the under-side of a built-up beam in a basement. Sometimes you can spot the imprint of this Lally column top plate as a rectangular impression on the underside of a beam even though the steel plate itself was removed.
  
  See COLUMNS & POSTS, DEFECTS for details.

• Omitted steel reinforcement - footings missing re-bar or other required steel rods (not visibly detectable after construction)
• Omitted steel reinforcement - walls missing steel reinforcing wire or re-bar (possibly visibly detectable after construction if cracks permit view into wall structure)
• Missing piers beneath interior or exterior posts (may be visible as post settlement)
• Missing control joints in poured concrete slabs, concrete floors where random shrinkage cracks appear -
  
  see CONTROL JOINT CRACKS in CONCRETE
• Missing expansion joints in large or long brick masonry walls both in structural brick walls and in brick veneer walls, where thermal expansion cracking occurs (see photograph above).
  
  See BRICK WALL THERMAL EXPANSION CRACKS, and
  
  see BRICK VENEER WALL AIR LEAKS.
• Missing expansion joints/materials around windows or doors in poured concrete or brick masonry walls may appear as damaged or inoperable windows or doors.
• Failure to compact the soil under a foundation footing or under a poured concrete slab which has been placed on backfill
• Weep holes in structural or veneer brick walls, when omitted invite both building leaks and in freezing climates, frost damage to masonry walls
  
  see BRICK WALL DRAINAGE WEEP HOLES

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Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

On 2020-08-27 by (mod) - missing veneer wall causing crawl space water problems?

I can't say from so little information, Jake; I just don't understand enough of how the house is constructed - you could try posting a photo, but in any event, be sure to review this detail with your home inspector who, by virtue of being on-site, can see what's going on.

If the home was built with provision for a masonry veneer but was then cladded with another type of siding, that is not necessarily a problem unless there is a projection or "lip" at the bottom of the house walls that is not properly-flashed to keep water out of the structure.

To keep water out of the crawl space you need working gutters and downspouts handling roof drainage, and surface grading needs to slope away from the building. That's not a veneer wall issue.

Also, as this is an old house, inspection in the crawl area will make perfectly clear whether or not there has been a history of water entry in that space: look for water runoff signs, wet areas, rot, mold, etc.

On 2020-08-27 by Jake

I'm closing on a 135yr old home with a pier and beam foundation. Upon inspection of the crawl space, I found the entire veneer wall along the front face of the house is missing.

This is not visible outside the house because the front porch obscures it from view.

Will the absence of this veneer allow water to run through the crawl space during rain? If so, would this not cause settling foundation problems?

On 2015-10-10 by Lisa

a few years ago had wood pillar foundation changed to cinder blocks. I paid for 36 footings but when I came home from work I discovered that footings were only used on the parameter of the house. For the other piers, The wood pillars were cut down below the ground and they simply filled the hole with concrete and set the cinderblocks on the top.

I was told they could not level the house if they used cinder blocks. Now years later my house is extremely unleveled. I talked to the owner and was told this is how it is done. Because I didn't kno better I took his word for it. Now I'm starting to think differently. Any advice

On 2015-10-02 by mike

had a gas line installed and the footer was cracked18 inches from house. do i have to worry about the house shifting

Question: what is the best way to fill in missing soil around the footings in my crawl space?

Water table in my area is high. During winter and rainy season, I get water under my crawl space. I have installed two sump pumps, which takes care of that. But since the original owner had done nothing to it for 40 years or so, now I have spots around the permitter of the crawl space that dirt has been gone and my foundation is exposed. It is still OK but I need to dump dirt on the entire permitter. But I do not know how.

I need close to 6 to 7 yards of dirt to be dumped there. I either have to hire 6 or 7 people to pass bucket of dirt under the house or open up my brand new floor at couple of locations to dump dirt from top.

Any suggestions? - S.E.

Reply: temporary foundation openings may make interior backfill easier: three different methods

1. Temporary Foundation Openings for Foundation Footing Backfill and Repair

Where foundation or backfill repairs are needed due to inadequate backfill inside of a crawl space, or where as in your case the soil has settled or been washed away by water entry and years of sump pump operation, you will want to consider the following steps:

Assure that the foundation footings themselves rest on compacted fill or virgin soil and that the footings have not been undermined by soil loss. If footings are undermined then you'll need to either pour new lowered footings or your backfill will need to include some soil compacting steps to reduce the risk of future footing settlement or tipping and subsequent movement in and damage to the foundation wall. Start with a visual inspection of the exposed foundation and footings in the whole crawl area.

Make one or more temporary openings through the foundation walls to provide an access opening through which soil can be brought into the crawl space to fill to the desired level. If the crawl area has sufficient ceiling height to make working and moving about in the crawl space practical, one opening at just one end of the building may be sufficient. This is the approach I'd take for cases in which we do not want to pull up the flooring and subflooring over the crawl space.

Finish the crawl space grade and put down a moisture barrier: When enough soil has been placed into the crawl space to provide a relatively smooth floor you might want to add a layer of 6-mil poly to hold down soil moisture, keeping it out of the building and reducing the risk of future mold and humidity problems.

See CRAWL SPACE GROUND COVERS and

also CRAWL SPACE VAPOR BARRIER LOCATION.

Some contractors place rounded river-stone gravel atop the poly moisture barrier to protect the plastic and to provide a walking surface that is less slippery.

A down-side of the gravel-on-top-of-plastic approach is that if you didn't keep the ground surface smooth below the plastic, there is a risk of hidden puddles that may form atop the plastic in the future. I like to slope crawl space soils (and surface covering of plastic) to a low point where one or more sump pumps are installed (or can be added) should they be needed in the future.

2. The Bill Tsukamoto Conveyor Belt Method of Foundation Excavation and Repiar

And a friend of ours in Honolulu addressed an under-house excavation and construction problem by building a chain-driven bucket conveyer that moved dirt from where it was to where he needed it. But for smaller under-home foundation excavation or backfill, other means may be more appropriate.

3. Complete Under-Home Excavation and Repair

Eric Galow described to us a major under-home foundation repair project that involved temporarily jacking up the entire structure and using a Bobcat to dig first a ramp to the bottom of the building foundation and then to excavate the entire space below the home in order to install both a full basement and properly-constructed footings and foundation walls. When the foundation walls were complete and a slab had been poured below, the house was lowered back onto its new foundation walls.

Keep Water out of the Crawl Space

Watch out: regardless of the method you may choose to add fill around exposed crawl space footings, make sure that you have taken the proper steps to keep water out of the crawl area. It is far better for the building to prevent crawl space water entry in the first place than to let water enter the space and then pump it away.

See CRAWL SPACE DRYOUT - home

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