Exterior foundation deterioration
I bought my home 10 years ago. The dining room was added to the original home, off of the kitchen. The outside concrete foundation on the dining room portion, outside exterior is starting to dust/crumble off, exposing the chicken wire mesh that was used under the concrete. It looks as though a poor grade of concrete was used, the rest of the house is in excellent shape.
How do I repair, what do I use to correct this problem? I want to seal it, and possibly re-concrete over it, or even to add a vinyl siding or type of covering, something that looks like stone, brick etc., from where the white vinyl siding stops, to continue to the ground, covering this area.
HELP, need to get this accomplished ASAP before another winter in Ohio sets in.
GBA Detail Library
A collection of one thousand construction details organized by climate and house part
Replies
To repair the concrete, you want to chip out any loose concrete with a hammer until you hit "sound" concrete. If you tap it with a hammer, you should hear a distinct ping sound for good quality concrete, whereas bad concrete will sound more like a thud. As for a repair material, I would recommend a Sika concrete repair mortar for vertical applications - like a Sikatop 123 Plus or a Sika Monotop-622. You can find these products at specialized construction stores, not at Home Depot or equiv likely. This product will bond well with the existing concrete and give you a good protective seal. As for on top fo this product for aesthetics, I will leave that to you or others as there are lots of options.
Deborah,
If you can see chicken-wire mesh, you aren't looking at your concrete foundation. You are probably looking at a thin layer of stucco used to cover exterior rigid foam insulation.
The deterioration can be repaired easily. If you aren't familiar with stucco work, you should hire a stucco contractor to make the repairs.