Hi All,

So I am on a strip footings (double story).

I recently started looking at extra means of storage and figured I could use the crawl space (which I can stand up in!) under my home for a storage/man cave. I have been in the home for about 4 years with no issues, and am about to embark on some major renovations so wanted to bundle fixing the crawl space with the major reno (saves on concrete, etc). The end goal was to pour a concrete slab under the house so we can use it properly instead of being on dirt, etc.

As I have not previously given this much attention, I had never really taken notice of this, however it appears the last owner has dug out some of the crawl space into a flat area, but has dug approximatly 1ft below the footings. This concerns me somewhat as I want the structure to remain intact and as solid as possible. Mind you nothing seems to have shifted in the last 4 years! No wall cracks, etc.

I have included a couple of pictures to show what I mean. As I intent on leaving the ground at its current level, I would like some advice on how I can re-enforce the footings properly, and keep the existing floor level (1ft below top of footing). Curently there is about 1ft of dirt spanning out from the wall providing support, however because its dry under the house, this appears to be cracking so I dont know how much support this is really providing. What I would like to do is remove ALL dirt up to the footing, and when we lay the slab under the house, box a 45 degree angle to the top of the footing and backfill that with concrete (essentially replacing existing 1ft dirt square in front of footing now, with 45 degree concrete wall connected to main slab). Thoughts?


so be it,

I am of the believe that this would stay as is for years to come if left untouched, however I would like it to be a usable space, and safe, so whats the best way forward folks? Apart from the obvious "get an engineer in". Which I will probably do anyways.

Cheers.
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