These before pictures show lots of construction debris, wet conditions, uneven posts that had to be addressed before TC Hafford could encapsulate this space to mitigate water and humidity.

Original Structural :

The wood column in the basement is bearing directly on grade without positive attachment to the supporting ledge or the supported beam above. Without separation at the column bearing condition, moisture on the ledge has caused the bottom of the wood column to rot over time.


Location of post in Basement corner


Rusting steel post bearing beam above with signigficant corrosion at base.

Before Pictures:

These before pictures show state of the basement, stairs, soft floor and abandoned bathroom. The stair structural stringers were originally set at an odd angle creating treads that were not level and raked at an angle toward the tred nose. This and old broken wood treds and loose structural conections made the stairs a unique experience to use .


The 'bathroom' located just under the stairs.


During Pictures:

Alex and crew when replacing the stairs found the flooring below and throughout the basement is rotting and soft. Keeping the project on time necessitated limiting the update to the portion under the stairs. This new section that suppoted the stairs was completed with pressure treated wood as required by code when lumber is less than 6 inches from the ground or has poor ventilation. The remainder of the basement floor where regular lumber was used will also need replacement at a later time.


After Pictures:

The existing wood column was removed and replaced with a concrete footing to support the wood framing above. The new concrete footing was placed on clean, sound ledge. A new pressure treated (PT) wood column was installed. The new PT column was positively attached to both the concrete footing and the beam above with proprietary steel connection hardware manufactured by Simpson Strong-Tie. A Simpson post base connected the bottom of the column to the concrete footing and also provide separation between the wood and the concrete to prevent moisture from wicking up the wood post. Simpson column caps were used to connect the top of the column to the existing wood beam above.


New post and foundation to replace corroded steel column.


New Stairs to basement and bathroom fixtures removed.





Thank you for your patience during this phase of our repairs.