Remove concrete floor w/o damaging footing?

[bidtimereturn]

Hello,
I have an old (1917) detached garage (18'X11') on the property line. The side that faces my neighbor's property has a rotted sill plate in need of repair. Previous owners of my neighbor's property have added fill to the point that that side of the garage was 12" below grade.

The plan was to jack up the neighbor-facing wall, excavate the base of the wall, pour a taller footing, and rebuild the base of the wall with pressure treated lumber on top of the new footing.

The concrete floor inside the garage has been uprooted, so it was decided to bust that out to get more access to the one wall's bad footing. When I could afford it down the road, I was going to repour the floor. What I found was that the wall footing and the interior pad were one pour. I still want to bust out the pad and footing along the bad wall. However, I would like to maintain the other 3 wall footings which are not in need of repair.

Is there a way to maintain the footings, but repour the interior floor?

Any advice would be appreciated.
1878

1879

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[RTF]

If you can determine the approximate boundary of the footing you may be able to cut the slab using a demo saw. I know times are tough and budgets are tight but if you could rent a big chipping hammer you'd bust it out in no time at all.

[bidtimereturn]

I'll look into the chipping hammer. Thanks!

[Don_P]

I'd saw it first!

[ConcreteTreat]

Provided that you don't have a monolithic floor (where the floor and foundation footing are poured together), removing the floor should not be an issue-- it's not structural. At the basement waterproofing company where I work, we've been jackhammering floors for over 20 years with no issue-- provided that you're careful, you should be able to jackhammer, chisel, or whatever to the floor and not damage the footing.

[Don_P]

From the original post;
What I found was that the wall footing and the interior pad were one pour.

I'd saw the slab free first

[concretemasonry]

Saw the slab before you support any vertical load the wall carries.

Take out the perimeter footing (now illegal) on the property line and pour a new footing with a high curb and cut off the studs and put in a new footing and treated sill plate with legal anchor bolts. Pour a slab between the old slab and the curb to help give lateral resistance. When you have an old building that is not built to current standards and changes through the years you have to just look at the problem and find a solution.

Unfortunately, if you are in a Pasadena or similar area or a newer established area with new codes, you have inherited some code and inspections to get the job done right.

There are cheaper ways, but you always have neighbors.

Dick

[bidtimereturn]

Was able to cut the concrete cleanly. Used a diamond blade ($30) in a regular skilsaw and a little hose water to get the job done cheaply. Since there was no rebar, the concrete came out fairly easy- about 4hrs of work.

I'm sure I'll have more questions as this progresses and I begin to jack up the walls, but I'll post those in a new thread to keep the forum orderly.

Thanks for the help!

[Gman]

Hi I hope everything went well... I live down the road from you in Eagle Rock!

If you need any supplies or rental equip I have used AO Richardson on San Fernando Road in Glendale !

Let us know how it went. My Garage is also partially below grade ! :)

We be fixing that soonish when I get time !