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the_nite_owl · Aug 1, 2006, 09:58 AM

Hi all.
I posted this in Exterior Home Improvement but it has not received any replies. I thought it might be better suited here.

My house is on a hill so the front is at level with the street and the back foundation is partly exposed. The garge is part of the basement and level with the driveway.

Over the years water coming down from the roof and building up behind a 2 1/2' retaining wall next to the garage has pushed out a couple of cinder blocks on the very front and bottom of the foundation right next to the garage. Picture a cinder block wall where the bottom two blocks mortar has been eaten away and the blocks are just sitting there an inch or so below the rest.

The old retaining wall was removed and the gutters and downspouts repaired, now I want to fix those blocks before it becomes a larger issue.
What is the best way to take care of these? New blocks put in place will be sitting too low really so should I pour in a thin layer of concrete to give a small lift then add mortar on top of that to hold onto the bottom of the new block and keep the gaps from being too high?
The blocks are not really broken or anything, it just seems that a lot of moisture over the years softened the mortar till it eroded away and let the blocks settle.

I will be putting in a new retaining wall with better draining once this is repaired. Just wondering about the best method to solidify those blocks in their proper place.

skiberger · Aug 2, 2006, 01:52 PM

I going to assume the foundation has no settlement to it in the area of the loose blocks because you didn't mention anything. There for if the blocks are loose enough to pull out from the foundation, clean off any left over mortar and reset the blocks.
You can put a small amount of mortar on the footer or block below, smoosh it into place then use a mortar bag to repoint the block. You should repoint the interior and exterior joints of the blocks.

If the blocks are not moveable just repoint w/ a mortar bag. You'll have to make the mortar wet so it squeezes from the bag.

Hope this helps

the_nite_owl · Sep 6, 2006, 09:41 AM

Originally Posted by skiberger

I going to assume the foundation has no settlement to it in the area of the loose blocks because you didnt mention anything. There for if the blocks are loose enough to pull out from the foundation, clean off any left over mortar and reset the blocks.
You can put a small amount of mortar on the footer or block below, smoosh it into place then use a mortar bag to repoint the block. You should repoint the interior and exterior joints of the blocks.

If the blocks are not moveable just repoint w/ a mortar bag. You'll have to make the mortar wet so it squeezes from the bag.

Hope this helps

Thanks for the response skiberger, I got held up on the project with everything else going on.
There is no settling and I should be able to easily slide the blocks out to re-mortar them. One looks as if it may be broken though so I may get a replacement for it.

I have to get this portion done before beginning the next project which is to replace the garage door with a wall. I posted another question regarding that in this forum and would appreciate any thoughts you have on it.

Thanks again.