With limited space and limited exterior access, the crew had to mix all the concrete for the footings by hand. Read original article.
The crew kept mixing and dumping batches of wet concrete into the trench until the footing was level with the basement slab.
To remove air bubbles in the mix and to maximize the density of the concrete for the footing, the crew vibrated the wet concrete mix after filling up the footing trench.
Vibration not only consolidated the concrete, but also brought more liquid to the surface, making it easier for the crew to smooth the wet concrete surface of the footing with a float.
Masons built the foundation walls out of Dry Block CMUs (which are made from water-repellent concrete).
Where vertical rebar extended up through the block from the footing, the crew packed the cores with grout.
The masons capped the walls with a course of bond-beam blocks, which were tied to the lower block courses with short lengths of rebar.
After filling the bond beam blocks partially with wet concrete, the crew installed horizontal rebar.
With the rebar added, the crew filled the rest of the bond block with wet concrete, giving the top a smooth surface.
With the block wall finished, the crew replaced the old mudsills with new treated sill stock, using inflatable shims and heavy-duty pry bars to hold the new plates tight against the bottoms of the existing studs for fastening.
After pushing the sill stock tight against the bottoms of the studs, the crew drove galvanized toe screws through each stud and into the sills to hold the sills in place.
The crew filled the gap between the block foundation and the sills with high-strength non-shrink grout, forcing it under the sill from the inside with a margin trowel.
The crew also used the margin trowel and high-strength non-shrink grout to fill the gap from the outside.
The crew used an edging trowel to smooth the grout along the top of the foundation and to smooth the seam between the existing foundation and the new block foundation.
After allowing the grout to cure, the crew removed the needle beams, leaving the corner of the house fully supported by the new foundation and sills.
The crew anchored the mudsill to the new foundation with Simpson Titen bolts.
Finally, the crew was able to remove the LVLs that had offered temporary support while the foundation was being rebuilt.