Sinking church in Concord, DE - Part 2 of 3

  When I left off yesterday, our crew had just discovered that they would have to cut through super thick concrete to get to the base of the church wall. When they finally got through that huge piece of concrete they found that there was a second one of close to equal size. I swear, you can’t make this stuff up. Let me step back a bit and tell you what I learned from a member of this church.

The illuminating conversation…

  While on the job site the other day, I spoke to a member of this church who had heard about the work being done and was curious. He told me the story of this church and how it had been rebuilt, TWICE! Originally the church was built in the mid 1960’s, and he said that the lot was very uneven so the builder through a bunch of bushes and dead brush down and covered it was dirt. Unfortunately this isn’t the first time I’ve heard a story like that. He went on to say that in the mid 70’s they tore down the section we are fixing and rebuilt it. This same process was repeated sometime in the mid 1980’s. Through this simple five minute conversation I learned why we kept finding huge concrete slabs. It seems that every ten years or so, the building sunk so much that they had to tear it down and rebuild. Each time they did this, a new concrete footer was added. It would seem that each time the footer was built thicker than the previous one, apparently in an attempt to strengthen the foundation. All it really did was create a massive weight to pull the wall farther into the ground. This is what happens when someone chooses to use an uncertified and inexperienced contractor.

Day 2 comes to an end…

  After the crew got back from chipping away at this second chunk of concrete, I had a chance to talk to them. I was told that they had gotten through the second one and reached the original footing. They were able to start the prep for installing the helical piers. The sad part is that the two days of back breaking labor could’ve been avoided had the church been repaired properly the first time.

Stay tuned for the conclusion…