From: "jloomis" 
Newsgroups: alt.building.construction alt.home.repair misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: Replacing shallow concrete foundations - worth it?
Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:14:10 -0800
Bytes: 2401

Hi John,
Usually on a slope grade a foundation is roughly the depth of.....
level out 5 feet from the grade and measure the distance to the ground at 5 
feet.
The footing should be this depth plus 18 inches.....
So if I leveled out from grade 5 feet and measured down to grade and had 2 
feet I would build a footing that was 3 feet 6 inches deep.
This is rule of thumb and not necessarily engineered for your soil type.
A person could build a retaining wall out at a distance and backfill this to 
support the existing faulty condition also.....
Good wishes.
jloomis
"John"  wrote in message 
news:JYadnTNf19yVn9banZ2dnUVZ_hWdnZ2d@comcast.com...
> Hi,
>
> Our N.Z. timber house is on a slope. The side of the house facing the 
> valley has concrete foundations that are very, very shallow (probably no 
> more than 8-10 inches deep). My guess is that when it is raining very very 
> hard, and for a long time, the foundations can move a little bit. Another 
> issue is when kids are playing with the garden hose... (ouch!)
>
> We've had to replace one foundation that was kind of going down the valley 
> actually.
> Four other concrete foundations could be replaced.
>
> The inside of the house is quite new, I'm scared that the repiling process 
> may damage the nice work that been done inside.
> Is the repiling process safe? Is the house likely to move when repiling?
>
> The house is on clay.
>
> Any opinions?
>
> Thanks for any advice.
>
>