Video

The Leanor is currently undergoing renovation, and we are trying to keep the original footprint of the building the same. The slideshow illustrates the first challenge. The south, east, and north foundations sunk because of water damage. To correct this damage, we had to remove the wood floors and excavate the ground to pour new footings and a new foundation to save the building.

We started repairing the Foundation in September 2022 after removing a 2'X2' square of plaster on the south wall near the east side of the building. Behind the plaster, we were surprised to discover that the wall material was adobe, not brick. The adobe brick crumbled if you touched it. Soon, we had a 6'X6' pile of adobe rubble on the floor. We stopped touching the wall and contacted Jim Dennis, our structural engineer.

Jim designed a repair for the foundation and the wall. We stabilized the wall with 2"X4" posts and began to hand shovel excavating three wall sections. The floor joists sat directly on the soil, so all of this material had to be hand-dug and carried out of the building. The first section was the South wall that ran 45'X15', the second the East wall that ran 30'X25', and finally the North wall 25'X6'. 

After the excavation, we had space to start forming the foundation and pillars. To pour the cement, we engaged a specialized cement truck with a boom to pour the wall patch, the new foundation, and the support footings.