Lally Columns are one of those hidden “gotcha's” found by home inspectors all the time. The home inspectors’ job is to let the buyer of the house know about any deficiencies. Just because these deficiencies exist does not mean the house is going to fall down.
When it comes to Lally Columns, home inspectors are paid to look for these seven basic things.
- If the Lally Column is made of metal, if it is rusted. When they are made of metal and touching concrete, concrete has moisture and they do rust. This lessens the strength of it and it will get worse.
- If the Lally Column is split.
- If the Lally Column is hollow. You can tap on it and you’ll hear if it is hollow, that doesn’t meet code.
- If the Lally Column is made of wood or a tree trunk, that doesn’t meet code.
- If the Lally Column is made of brick in these older houses. The bricks may be old and deteriorating and not supporting anything, or not much.
- If the main beam in the basement, if it looks like there was a plate there. This would be where the Lally Column is attached, and the plate may be missing.
- They also don’t like the temporary jacks.
Lally Column repair or replacement is not typically in the skill set of the DIYer. So if a homeowner has an issue with the Lally Columns, and they are going to sell their house ,the compromised Lally Columns need to be replaced.
We bring in a jack-hammer to break the floor, dig down and take that soil out. Pour a footing or concrete pad beneath the floor. Then we bring in a Lally Column that is made out of steel and filled with concrete. Then with a cutter, we cut the steel and concrete to the right size. Then we put it in. We do thousands of these a year.
For more information, contact A1 Foundation Crack Repair.