Minutes, Management, Tuesday September 17, 2024

Topics: anchor bolt testing

Present: 

#19 (formerly Carol's) had spalling on the foundation. Spalling means the surface of the concrete is coming off. The spalling showed the anchor bolts.  Tyson, no longer with Lovell, thought it was rebar. Lovell Engineering recommended we get the anchor bolts tested.  

Utah Testing & Engineering did the anchor bolt testing today, which involved cutting out drywall and pulling on the anchor bolts. He should be able to tighten the bolts enough to see the sill plate deforming and the wood depressing. The four bolts he tested would not tighten against the sill plate. He recommended testing the concrete.  Said they could do testing of core samples of the concrete, although they don't do the coring themselves.

Called M J Structural Engineers.  He was puzzled why spalling on the foundation would lead to a recommendation for an anchor bolt test.  Adding anchor bolts is easy & he recommends doing it where there is a problem but not everywhere.  $500 for site visit plus $500 to get a recommendation in writing. 

Vector Engineering could do a Swiss hammer test on the concrete. 

Foundation issues usually show obvious signs like cracks in the walls or unlevel floors, which we aren't seeing.

Minimum, if the concrete is okay: Open up the rest of the wall, install new anchor bolts (drill & epoxy), and fix the spalling.

Ben will pass on the official report to the new owner.