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1900's Houses
updated: Oct 05, 2012, 9:10 AM

By Edhat Subscriber

There are a lot of awsome early 1900's houses in Santa barbara. I was born and raised here and recently was able to buy a craftsman fixer. I was wondering if any other home owners have gone through a complete replacement of their foundation. It seems that with so many homes in the area approaching the 100 year mark that this would be pretty common. I was also wondering if most people who own craftsman bungalows kept them true to their original design or if they went for a complete remodel.

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 328053	2012-10-05 09:19 AM
The expense would be enormous. Why would you need to _replace_ the foundation? I have never heard of such a thing (although that doesn't preclude it from actually existing) and half my family is in the home-renovation trades (albeit not in CA).
COMMENT 328054	2012-10-05 09:23 AM
I'm from the east coast, and 200 year old farmhouses are pretty common still. They need some work, but foundation replacement? Is that due to earthquakes or something, since it's not a commonplace thing in PA?
COMMENT 328056	2012-10-05 09:26 AM
I would get a structural engineer to look at it - he / she should be able to recommend what is needed - draw plans and pull a permit - We have a 2 story on Garden St - after a inspection from a Structural engineer - he suggested leaving well enough alone - that was 15 yrs ago - It is a post and pier design that was installed in 1909 - We did replace the system on another 2 story on SB St - it was very labor intensive - we had to dig all the footings by hand -
COMMENT 328060	2012-10-05 09:45 AM
Do not get a permit. The City and County will impose so much red-tape on your project that it will increase the cost three-fold. We put a foundation in for a new addition - designed by structural engineers - City came back and would not approve without a soils test - which resulted in foundation going from $X to $3X. Contractors were shaking their heads as to how much rebar and concrete was needed. Complete overkill. Even city inspector was apologetic - saying this is what happens when you get government involved.
COMMENT 328086	2012-10-05 10:41 AM
@ 060: I don't think you'd get away with an unpermitted foundation replacement. It's too obvious and the inspectors are looking. I agree with you on the permit avoidance, though. After we finished a non-trivial amount of work, and after having the city impose so many absurd and pointless requirements on us, we had such a bitter feeling towards them that we'll be skirting the permits whenever we can get away with it. Of course, we'll never perform substandard, unsafe or unsightly work on our house, since it's such a huge investment. The city has brought this attitude on themselves. I'd like to cite examples but, in case one of those permit folks are reading Edhat, I'm worried it might identify us! :-)
COMMENT 328090P	2012-10-05 10:48 AM
A lot of early houses here had beach sand mixed into the foundation concrete, which has crumbled over time That's a principal reason why foundation replacement might be needed. Re craftsman bungalows, the Pearl Chase Society's annual benefit home tour this year featured some wonderful upper eastside bungalows that have been lovingly restored to their original beauty. Not for the faint of heart (or wallet), but definitely worth the trouble.
COMMENT 328093	2012-10-05 10:59 AM
Foundation replacements happen. I watched the process on a house a couple blocks from mine up in SLO. First they lifted the entire house, then they put in a new foundation, then they put in a new floor, then new walls, then new roof. The end result was an entirely new house that exactly replaced the run-down dump that had been an eyesore for years. I assume they went thru that complicated and difficult process because of permit issues. While it would have made more sense to demolish the old house and build fresh, I'm guessing they weren't allowed to do that.
COMMENT 328099	2012-10-05 11:05 AM
I assume you are asking about adding a perimeter foundation to an old post/pier construction? Expect to pay 30-80K and like others have said, if you get the permit, expect the cost, complexity and nannying to double.
COMMENT 328105	2012-10-05 11:09 AM
In much of the older construction the house is not adequately tied to the foundation. In an earthquake the house can be torn off the foundation. Repairs can be made by adding lag bolts or steel straps to better tie the house to the foundation. The repair is not terribly expensive and should not be visible to an inspector.
CAPTAIN HALEY	2012-10-05 11:51 AM
I remodeled a 1920's craftsman five years ago. Fortunately our foundation was sound. 090P is correct, if they used beach sand in the concrete mix you may need to replace your foundation. Check it out! We were not slavish about retaining the '20's details throughout but we did try to maintain the original spirit of the place. They are beautiful old houses -- enjoy yours!
COMMENT 328224	2012-10-05 02:44 PM
I have done a foundation replacement on a 1906 bungalow. Did it in 10 foot sections to avoid needing heavy lifting equipment or specialized help. Took a while but cost very little. I made the new foundation extra deep and when I was done, excavated and put in a full height basement. That was the part that made it worthwhile. But, if you don't have water coming into the crawlspace, the dirt outside is not higher than the concrete foundation, and the concrete itself is not crumbling or has cracks larger than 1/4", then live with it. Rotting wood is a different issue and should be fixed. Don't bother retrofitting foundation bolts if you don't do a major replacement, no one in a one story wood frame house needs to worry about earthquakes.
COMMENT 328392P	2012-10-06 01:01 AM
We're in the process of shoring up the foundation of our 100+ -year-old Craftsman style home. Surprisingly, the house has sagged very little, and the foundation is fairly sound. A few concrete footings will need to be poured. One thing we learned, is not to allow any wood to touch the earth. That's when the subterranean termites think you've laid out the welcome mat. If your house is older than 1925 and survived the earthquake, you're likely doing okay. I second/third/fourth the permits thing. Gawd. You ask the building dept one small question and next thing you know, the dollar signs start rolling across the bridge of your nose, right before your eyes, like some kind of cartoon madness. Do anything you can to avoid opening up that can of worms. All we wanted to do was put in a small blahblah #4@88# (just in case they're watching) in our front yard. Now I would rather put out a campfire with my face than ever have to pull a permit. (Building Dept, if you're reading this---I'm just kidding.)
JEDHAT	2012-10-06 07:02 AM
Some one is doing this exact thing on Alamar just west of De La Vina. It looks like a very clean job and very fast. You might want to go see who the contractor is.
JEDHAT	2012-10-06 07:04 AM
PS, I'm not the contractor.
COMMENT 328533	2012-10-06 10:13 AM
The "Bungalow District" (neighborhood just south of the St. Francis Hospital site) is within a "Special Design District", the purpose of which is to help preserve the original architectural flavor. As part of that, a set of Guidelines were developed, that are intended to help homeowners in making renovations/improvements to their old houses. Get a copy of the "Lower Riviera Special Design District Guidelines", either from City Planning Dept., or from me (965-2296).
COMMENT 328597P	2012-10-06 01:18 PM
Through "Homes for People" back in about 1990, I purchased a house on Bath near Carrillo. It was a small two bedroom. Two more units were added to make 3 condos. We did a lot of the work ourselves....sweat equity... My house was picked up and moved to the other side of the lot. The old foundation was/were boulders that had been squared off! We dug new ditches under the house (it was up on risers and we dug under it) for the new foundation. Also under it was a l o n g piece of redwood....like the length of the original tree. The general contractor said "My dad and granddad used to tell me about using a redwood tree this way....but this is the first time I've ever seen it." I don't live there anymore.
SDP	2012-10-06 01:19 PM
You only need to replace the foundation if you are planning on adding a second story. If you have observed cracks, then they may only need to be repaired. If you aren't adding on a story, then 32810 was correct.
COMMENT 328669	2012-10-06 03:51 PM
Thanks for the comments, My house is indeed beach sand, shells, beach rock foundation thats crumbling pretty bad. Sagging in the house and the footing is on a grade which was poored on the angle of the grade then the cripple wall was built off of the slanted footing. Its kind of amazing that the house hasn't slid off so far. The footing needs to be stepped and new post and piers

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