My house has been built on sandy ground. The ground level has fallen 20-30 cm exposing the bases of the walls, and created cavities under the house, some of which are large enough to hide a dead body. A cobra has taken up residence in one, which is not ideal.

 

Anyway, I was wondering what was the best way to deal with this problem. AFAIK, there are two approaches, (1) embedding vertical slabs around the edge of the house, and (2) injecting stabilising cement under the house.

 

What are the pros and cons of each approach? Is there a better way to deal with the problem?

Thanks

What  groundwork was done previous to start building. How is your land drains? 

 

Did you mix anything in the the sand dirt before building as stabilizer? Or did you just top up with clay dirt to settle? 

32 minutes ago, Hummin said:

What  groundwork was done previous to start building.

 

I have absolutely no idea how the land was prepared.  The house is part of a moobaan built by a well known developer.  Every house in the development has the same issue.

Structural engineer if you can find one, who can put piers under the house. very expensive in the US, no clue about here. House in Texas had settling issues because of the soils there and extreme weather (rain a lot, no rain for months). My house here has cracks because the builder didn't wait long enough for the soil to settle (ground was raised to be above bordering rice fields), so it moves also, even with stabilizers put in before build.

17 minutes ago, Foxx said:

 

I have absolutely no idea how the land was prepared.  The house is part of a moobaan built by a well known developer.  Every house in the development has the same issue.

Since it is a common problem, then maybe find a solution together, and also look at what drainage work have been done as well to lead water away from the houses and also the common land between the other houses.

 

Seems you guys needs someone who knows the land, and what's done previously when building to fix this. Just pouring sement ounder the houses will not help, and will need some support. 

I'm correct in assuming the house was not simply built on a pad, and does have 'footings' supporting a column & beam constructions ?

 

Any cracks in the walls or floor ?

 

If proper column & beam construction w/footings, simply dig down around, and under walls, below present ground level, and wall it back up.   Or at least screen it in, to keep the critters out.

2 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

I'm correct in assuming the house was not simply built on a pad, and does have 'footings' supporting a column & beam constructions ?

 

Any cracks in the walls or floor ?

 

If proper column & beam construction w/footings, simply dig down around, and under walls, below present ground level, and wall it back up.   Or at least screen it in, to keep the critters out.

 

I don't pretend to understand your technical terms.  However, I'm pretty sure that the pilings for the house go down to the bedrock which is about 25 metres down.  (The house has stayed in the same place, but the drive has collapsed, and been replaced twice.  The kitchen extension subsided, but I had it micropiled to bring it up to the same level.)  The actual base of the house appears rock solid.

No significant cracks in wall or floor - just a few in the cement render on the outside of the house, which is inflexible anyway.

 

Oh, and yes, column and beam construction.

Thanks for the advice.