Foundation and Floor Frame
About the Foundation, Understanding Fungus, Avoiding Moisture Under Your Home, Being Wise About Cracks, Brick and Block Foundations, Repairing a Squeaky Floor, Leveling Your Floors

About the Foundation
The foundation is a home's infrastructure. It supports the floor, wall, and roof framing. Moreover, the foundation helps keep floors level, basements dry, and, believe it or not, windows and doors operating smoothly.

The foundation is also an anchor of sorts. This can be especially important if your home is built on anything other than flat ground or is in an area prone to earthquakes.

Interestingly, the origin of many leaks and squeaks can be traced to the foundation. A cracked or poorly waterproofed foundation, for example, can result in excess moisture in a crawlspace or basement. Without adequate ventilation, this moisture can condense and lead to, at best, musty odors, leaks and squeaks, and, at worst, rotted floor framing.

If your foundation is built of brick, be sure to read the sections on dealing with efflorescence, moisture control, grading and drainage, and especially tuckpointing. If your brick foundation is not reinforced with steel or is crumbling, you should immediately consult a structural engineer to determine what means can be used to improve the integrity of the foundation. (Although this goes beyond the scope of home maintenance, you should be aware that an unreinforced brick foundation that is in good condition can be reinforced by capping the foundation with concrete reinforced with steel.)

If your home was built after the 1930s, chances are good that the foundation consists either of poured-in-place concrete (grade beam), concrete block, or a concrete slab. The latter has become especially prevalent in the last couple of decades by builders seeking to cut costs and create more affordable housing.

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Understanding Fungus
One of the most common foundation ailments is a white powdery substance that appears on the ground under your home, on the floor framing, or on your foundation or basement walls. Although most people mistake the white powder for a fungus (fungus is typically green or black), it's really efflorescence, which is a growth of salt crystals caused by evaporation of salt-laden water.

Efflorescence appears when mineral salts in the concrete or mortar leak to the surface. While efflorescence is not particularly destructive, it is unsightly and can, in some cases, result in splintering or minor deterioration of the surface it grows on.

The area below the main floor and within the foundation walls can consist of a concrete slab, a crawlspace, or a basement. With each of these configurations come a host of specific maintenance routines that can safeguard your home's integrity.

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Avoiding Moisture Under Your Home
If you see efflorescence on your basement walls and/or crawlspace and your crawlspace is perpetually damp and mildewy, you've got a moisture problem.

A natural spring, a high water table, a broken water or sewer line, poor grading and drainage, excessive irrigation, and poor ventilation are some of the most common reasons for a damp and mildewy crawlspace or basement.

What's a little water under the house going to hurt, you ask? Excess moisture can lead to a glut of problems such as repulsive odors, rotted framing, structural pests, foundation movement, efflorescence, and allergy-irritating mold. We can't stress enough the importance of doing everything you can to keep excess moisture out from this area of your home.

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Being Wise About Cracks
You just can't ignore cracks in a foundation or concrete slab. They are not only unsightly, but can often lead to more extensive damage where water is involved. Filling in these cracks and stopping them from spreading is essential to preventing serious structural issues in your foundation.

Foundations or structural slabs with an excessive number of smaller cracks or with cracks that are larger than 1/4 inch in width should be examined by a structural or civil engineer to assess the extent of the damage and to determine the source. If the damage is severe, a geotechnical or soils engineer should be consulted to suggest solutions to correct the problem once and for all.

Even in the best of conditions, concrete moves a fraction of an inch here or there, not always resulting in a crack. And, believe it or not, concrete expands and contracts in conjunction with the temperature. Concrete expands on hot days and shrinks when the weather is cold.

Therefore, when patching cracks in concrete, we suggest that you use a product that gives a little here or there. The more elastic the product, the less likely a crack will reappear. One of our favorite patching products for cracks that are wider than 1/8 inch is a vinyl concrete patch, which usually comes packaged dry in a box.

We like to mix the dry patch powder with latex instead of water to give the product some added elasticity and adhesion. Latex additives, like patching compounds, can be found at most hardware stores or home centers.

Just as with painting, the key to successful crack repair lies in the preparation. To begin, the crack should be clean and free of any loose chips. For cracks wider than 1/8 inch, use a small sledgehammer and a cold chisel to chip away loose material.

Always mist a crack with water before installing a patching product. The water prevents the moisture in the patch material from being drawn out by dry concrete, which causes the patch material to crack and not form a solid bond.

Mix the concrete patch to the consistency of a thin paste and trowel it into the crack with a trowel. Scrape away any excess paste to create a smooth and uniform finish.

Mix only a small amount of paste at a time because most products tend to dry pretty quickly. Tools and buckets should also be cleaned up immediately to avoid drying.

If you can't find vinyl concrete patch material, mix 1 part Portland cement to 3 parts sand, then add enough concrete bonding agent to make a stiff mixture about the consistency of mashed potatoes. Take a small part of the mixture and add more bonding agent so that it becomes a soupy consistency. Brush the soupy mixture into the crack using an old paintbrush and then pack the stiff mixture into the crack with a metal trowel. Use the trowel to create a smooth finish.

If the existing concrete surrounding the patch is rough, you can match the finish by sweeping it with a broom.

Large gaps of 1/4 inch or greater in concrete (such as those between a concrete slab and foundation wall) require a slightly different patching method. Here, a latex caulk that contains silicone or a polyurethane caulk should be used. These products are pumped into the joint with a caulking gun and remain pliable to allow for ongoing expansion and contraction. Because most of these caulking products are self-leveling, no troweling is required.

Be sure to lightly spray the patch with water twice a day for a week to help it cure and prevent cracking.

The cost of a small box of concrete patch and a tube of concrete caulk along with a small investment of your time will do wonders to improve the overall appearance and longevity of your home's foundation.

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Brick and Block Foundations
Bricks, at one time, were used extensively to construct foundations. Today, however, if a foundation doesn't consist of concrete, it is probably constructed of concrete block. In either case, brick and block have one thing in common. They are both joined together using mortar, a combination of sand and cement.

Unfortunately, over time, the mortar tends to deteriorate. Cracked and deteriorating mortar joints are not only unsightly, they also diminish the integrity of the surface and can allow water to get behind the brick or block causing major damage. This can be avoided by tuckpointing the brick or block foundation, which means the removal and replacement of cracked or missing mortar.

If the cracked or deteriorating mortar is extensive (an entire foundation, wall, or wainscot), tuckpointing is a project that is best left to professionals.

If the area is manageable, the task can easily be performed by a do-it-yourselfer by following these steps:

• Chip away cracked and loose mortar using a slim cold chisel and a hammer. Remove the existing material to a depth of approximately 1/2inch.
  Be sure to wear safety goggles to avoid catching a piece of flying mortar in the eye. Use the cold chisel slowly and carefully to avoid damaging the surrounding brick. Clean up all of the loose material and dust using a brush after you finish chiseling.

• Prepare your mortar and allow the mix to set up for about 5 minutes.
  Mortar can be purchased pre-mixed, or you can create your own batch using 1 part masonry cement and 3 parts fine sand. In either case, you want to add enough water to create a paste -- about the consistency of oatmeal. It's best to keep the mix a touch on the dry side. If it is too runny, it will be weak and will run down the wall, making it difficult to apply.

• Brush the joints with fresh water.
  Doing so removes any remaining dust and prevents the existing mortar from drawing all of the moisture out of the new mortar. Otherwise, the mortar can be difficult to apply and will most likely crack.

• Apply the mortar using a pie-shaped trowel called a "pointing trowel."
  Force the mortar into the vertical joints first and remove the excess (to align with the existing adjacent mortar) using a brick jointer. The brick jointer helps create a smooth and uniform finish. After all of the vertical joints are filled in, tackle the horizontal ones.

  Avoid applying mortar in extreme weather conditions because the mortar won't properly set up.

• In a week or two after the mortar has had the opportunity to set up, apply a coat of high-quality acrylic or silicone masonry sealer.
  The entire surface (brick, block, and mortar) should be sealed. The sealer prevents water damage, which is especially important if you live in an area that gets particularly cold. Unsealed brick, block, and mortar absorb water that freezes in cold weather. The water turns to ice and causes the material to expand and crack. Periodic sealing prevents this from occurring.

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Repairing a Squeaky Floor
No matter what's underfoot in the way of finish flooring-carpet, vinyl, tile or hardwood-unless your home is built on a concrete slab, underneath is wood. It's that wood that causes the squeaks -- well, sort of. Conventional wisdom explains that wood sings when it flexes. Usually the squeak is a loose nail rubbing inside the hole it was originally driven into.

Lumber that is used to build a home contains a certain degree of natural moisture. This makes the wood easy to cut and minimizes splitting when it is being nailed together. Unfortunately, as the wood dries, it shrinks -- a natural process that can take years. When the wood shrinks enough, once tightly seated nails can loosen and rub when the wood flexes below the pitter-patter of foot traffic, creating the familiar irritating sound: a floor squeak.

The first step in repairing a floor squeak is to find the nail that is rubbing up against the wood floor. This can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Here's a trick that we use to pinpoint a floor squeak so that we can make a repair. Use a short length of garden hose as a stethoscope. Hold one end of the hose to your ear and the other end on the floor while someone else walks across the floor to make it squeak.

If you can listen to the floor from a basement or subarea, the makeshift stethoscope yields more accurate results. If the problem is loose subfloor (the wood floor below the carpet, vinyl, hardwood, and so on), the repair can get sticky depending upon the type of finish flooring. However, if access below is available, installing a wood shim shingle between the subfloor and the floor joist is a quick and easy means of preventing the subfloor from flexing and quiets the squeak. Just squirt some carpenters glue on the thin end of the shingle and tap it in with a hammer.

Another means of quieting a squeaking floor by preventing it from flexing is with a nifty gadget called a SqueakEnder. It consists of a metal plate and threaded-rod assembly that's screwed to the underside of the subfloor and a steel bracket. The bracket is slipped beneath the joist and over the threaded rod, then a nut is tightened onto the rod to pull down the floor and close the gap.

If access below is not available, after you locate the culprit nail, the next step is to create a better connection. Don't use nails to make the repair-use screws.

We recommend Grabber construction screws because they are easy to drive and grip like crazy. They have a finish head (like a finish nail) which makes them a particularly good choice when working on a hardwood floor. The head can be slightly countersunk and puttied. In addition, they can be driven directly through the carpet, pad, and subfloor and into a floor joist.

Just follow these steps:

1. Locate the squeak using the method discussed earlier in this section.
2. Drill a small pilot hole through the carpet, pad, and wood subfloor and into the floor joist.
   The floor joist is the horizontal floor framing member that the wood subfloor is attached to. Drilling a small pilot hole makes the job easier. The pilot hole and new screw should be installed near the existing nail that is making the noise. The old nail can remain or, if loose, should be removed using a nail puller or pry bar.
3. Drive a construction screw into the pilot hole, through the carpet, pad, and so on.
   When working on a hardwood floor, countersink (recess) the screw head so that it can be concealed with hardwood putty. Use a putty knife to install hardwood putty. Touch up the floor finish with 400 to 600 wet/dry sandpaper.

If you do decide to use nails, choose a ring shank nail which has a barbed shank for superior holding power. (Ask a clerk at the hardware store to help you find these nails if you don't know what they look like.) Like construction screws, ring shank nails can be driven through the carpet and pad; however, due to the size of the nail head, they are not a good choice for hardwood flooring.

We have found that talcum powder works particularly well in quieting a squeaky hardwood floor. Sprinkle a generous amount of the stuff wherever the floor makes noise. Work the powder into the joints and around any exposed nail heads. This method also works well on wood stairs. Unfortunately, this method generally provides only temporary relief for a few weeks or months. The talcum powder works great when you have company coming or are expecting houseguests for a week and don't have time to make the repair.

If the squeak persists, it may mean that settlement has occurred in the foundation, and pier post shimming may be required. This is similar to installing a shim shingle as discussed earlier. Instead, the shingle is inserted between the top of the pier post and the bottom of the girder. Coat the end of the shingle with glue and tap it in snuggly using a hammer.

Still struggling with a squeaking floor? Major foundation settlement or an out-of-level floor could be the problem. Because this is a more expensive repair, you may want to consider the positive aspects of owning your own floor squeak.

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Leveling Your Floors
Is a stroll across the floors in your home like negotiating the decks of a ship upon the high seas? If so, it's probably time to consider leveling the floor. Out-of-level floors are not only nuisances to go across, if severe enough, they can also become a real safety hazard.

Out-of-level floors can also cause cracks over windows and doors or make doors and windows stick and tough to operate. Thus, by repairing your out-of-level floor, you may find the windows and doors in your home are a whole lot easier to operate and last longer.

Not sure whether your floor is out of level and by how much? Don't head to the work shop to pull out a fancy level just yet. Simply swipe a marble out of the little tyke's toy box and place it in various locations on the floor throughout the home. If the marble doesn't stay put, your floor isn't level.

The majority of homes with floors "not on the level" probably didn't start out that way. Poorly compacted soil, excessively damp soil, excessively dry soil, and shrinking support posts under the floor are a few of the most common causes of this condition.

Homes constructed on a hillside, on expansive soil (soil that expands when wet), or in earthquake country fall into a totally different group. While some of the fixes suggested in this section may indeed apply to these homes, chances are that the services of a licensed soils engineer and structural engineer will be required to do the maintenance.

If the marble test proves that your floor isn't level, be prepared to venture into your basement or crawlspace to investigate and make the necessary repairs. Unfortunately, floor leveling can't be done from above, unless you are willing to tear out the finish flooring to install a troweled-on floor leveling compound. This alternative is rare and is typically only performed when flooring is being replaced. Furthermore, you'll want to leave this one to the pros because the material that is used dries pretty fast. If you don't know what you are doing, you could end up with a bigger problem than you had before you began.