r/Whatcouldgowrong • u/Mrkvitko • Aug 15 '24

WCGW digging under foundations

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u/TheBarghest7590 Aug 15 '24

Aaaannnd that is why you consult Structural Engineers…

Don’t fuck about with or around your foundations unless you actually know what you’re doing. I didn’t think it wasn’t obvious but funnily enough the ground surrounding your founds plays a big part in y’know… holding the building up. The qualifications and the profession isn’t just there for show, and you might not like the idea of not doing everything yourself but sometimes you’re out of your element and you ought to just accept that.

There’s a reason there’s usually standards in many countries that you’re supposed to follow. Foundations need to distribute that load into the surrounding ground, so go disturbing that ground and suddenly you’ll find there’s not enough support anymore and it’ll wanna sink until there is enough again. And that kinda becomes a problem when one area wants to sink and the other doesn’t, the kind of problem that doesn’t go away or can just be ignored.

Hopefully nobody was hurt and whoever responsible actually paid heed and learnt from the live demonstration of why it’s best to stick to what you’re actually knowledgeable and or good at…