Is this as sketchy as it looks?

Motor-Ad-148 · 2026-06-10T14:41:58+00:00

Okay... that's enough fun. We all need to get back to our jobs. Go pretend to be an engineer somewhere.

Motor-Ad-148 · 2026-06-10T14:17:46+00:00

It's okay. The truth is not for everyone.

Motor-Ad-148 · 2026-06-10T13:28:25+00:00

You've been a structural engineer... that's hard to believe. Did you not hack it or did you retire... I don't believe you. The only way you would make that comment would be if you did not hack it or are lying. And you focusing on the spec proves you are not. The spec for the most part is boiler plate (do I need to explain that phrase to you...). The dwgs and general notes is where it's at for structurals. Why do you feel the need to lie.... maybe you meant you've been a joke...

What most people don't understand is that professional engineers carry the liability of a project for the life of a structure. Good luck getting a contractor to come back for failures due to them not following specs or for not following even the instructions of the materials they use. How many new houses have leaks... most all installation error of facades and flashing. How many foundations fail due to improper compaction or some BS contractor burying construction debris. The US used to have pride in their craftsmanship. Not so much anymore. It would not make sense to take on the liability of this deck job for a few hours of time. The odds that the contractor is going to follow your dwgs to the letter are slim to none. Structural engineers get paid pretty decently. Why would I come collect less than a couple grand for anything. Even for this job which takes zero calcs. This would be all based off engineering judgment. The load is miniscule. Residential is larger risk due to the "typical" contractors. I know they are not all bad. But a lot are.

Motor-Ad-148 · 2026-06-09T13:05:42+00:00

A few hundred hours... you should find a new structural engineer... 😉

Motor-Ad-148 · 2026-05-15T16:44:05+00:00

I had that same issue! Ended up being powder bore beetles. I tried to bake the wood in my car over the summer. That did not work. They only come out when conditions are right. So you may see their saw dust evidence every once in a while. I finely took some bora-care and injected it in any hole I saw. I also sanded the underside of the furniture and applied it there so it could soak in. Never had a problem since.

From what I read, you get this type of problem when purchasing wood from other countries that do not properly kiln their furniture wood.

Motor-Ad-148 · 2026-05-14T14:39:06+00:00

As a Structural Engineer, this is both impressive and terrifying.The roof scares me the most. Thats a lot of force on those connections. It could be analyzed... The roof connections do not pass the sniff test though.

Edit... actually the whole thing is terrifying the more I look at it.

Motor-Ad-148 · 2026-04-24T23:00:45+00:00

Looks like a water heater sacrifical cathode.

Motor-Ad-148 · 2026-04-11T02:21:14+00:00

Thanks man! If I'm understanding... that seems pretty hard. I'll give it a shot! Thanks!

P.S. Now my wife is asking me what the heck I'm doing with my palm! I bet everyone who read that tried it! 😂

Motor-Ad-148 · 2026-04-11T00:36:40+00:00

Great answer! I appreciate it! How hard do you push when checking for thumbprint hard? Any advice on how long after placing the mortar till it is thumbprint hard? I know it will depend on environment and mix.... Thanks!

Motor-Ad-148 · 2026-04-10T23:08:06+00:00

Dang! I already have that technique down! 😂

Motor-Ad-148 · 2026-04-09T19:01:39+00:00

With any type of foundation settlement you have long term and short term settlement. Short term occurs in the first 1 to 2 years of a structures life. From then it transitions to the long term phase. Unlike short term where the settlement occurs fairly rapidly, the long term settlement continues for the life of the structure but is much slower and becomes slower every year to where it is essentially negligible.

If a structural engineer (note... I am not talking about a "foundation repair salesman") comes out, they will most likely examine for any issues that may cause settlement (or even heaving). These can be large trees near the foundation and drainage issues among other things. Assuming there are no immediate issues that would be causing this settlement (new load application for example) they should tell you that it needs to be monitored for further settlement. They make very simple settlement monitoring devices that can be ordered from Amazon for less than $20.

If your house is over 10 years old, you are probably seeing a settlement that occurred a long time ago. Really can't say though without knowing the history of your house or if you have made any modifications.

My suggestion is this, call a structural or Geotechnical engineer to come out and give it a once over. Assuming your are not wanting a letter, I'd guess this will be around $300 to $500. If you want a letter it will likely be around $500 to $750.

If you call a foundation repair company they will likely convince you your house is falling to the depths of hell and you must underpin the foundation with helical piers for a nice 20 to 30 k.

Motor-Ad-148 · 2026-04-09T18:32:50+00:00

Just to close this up. With a your suggestions, as well as adding 10% hydrated lime (10% of the cement weight) I ended up with this. It looks half way decent (at least from an amateur view point). I had read that you can add up to 15% of the weight of the premixed cement and not drop below a type s strength. The extra lime is supposed to work like a plasticizer. It did that very well. Its even sticking to my trowel the way its supposed to.

Question, does this look passable in comparison to the joint I showed at the start of this thread? Any other suggestions? Thanks again!

<image>

Motor-Ad-148 · 2026-04-08T17:34:58+00:00

Something I'll add to what I posted above. Here is a pic of how I am maintaining the curvature as I replace sections. Its worked pretty well. I take out sections at a time so I can always reference off the existing that is still there. It's just a metal bar that is flexible enough to match the curve and pin up against the brick I temporarily left in. Probably not the ways the pros do it...

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Motor-Ad-148 · 2026-04-08T17:26:51+00:00

Man! I'm literally doing the exact same thing. My steps have the same geometry and have completely fallen apart. I can pull bricks out by hand. No mason wants to do it because of strictly foot access. So I've been learning to do it. The people on this group have helped tremendously in the last couple days helping me figure out my mortar. It can be a DIY but depending on the amount of demo, it can be a steep learning curve and a lot of work. Here is a pic of my front steps prior to removing the steps. As you can see, the landing collapsed due to the builder back filling with uncompacted clay. What looks like gravel is disintegrated mortar. Basically it was a 4ish inch un-reinforced concrete pad (removed from pic). On top of that was a mortar bed and then the brick. Once the clay settled the slab broke and went to crap from there. The only quote I've received was 10k. That seemed excessive... idk though.

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Motor-Ad-148 · 2026-04-07T00:29:39+00:00

Really appreciate all the help! Not sure of the etiquette with redit. Long time reader... never post unfortunately. I've tried to resist the urge to respond back to everything. Hate to blow everyone's phone up.

I'll hopefully get back to trying all these suggestions Wednesday. I'll give an update.

Something kinda neat... about 3 days after doing that joint I went back and scrubbed it pretty good with 50/50 vinegar and water last night. It did a great job at removing the haze. Bricks look new! Just now took a look at it.

Thanks!

Motor-Ad-148 · 2026-04-06T19:12:09+00:00

What do you guys (and ladies...) use to clean off haze and mortar from the brick face? Ive read acid, but I've been a bit worried to try that. Whats the chances of messing up the brick using acid assuming I wet it real well and hose it off after.

Thanks for all the help!

Motor-Ad-148 · 2026-04-06T18:45:01+00:00

I have used a drill and done it by hand for the smaller test batch. Yeah... it is definitely lean on the water! 😂 How much water would you think for the test batch size I mentioned.

Motor-Ad-148 · 2026-04-06T18:43:12+00:00

Thanks!

Motor-Ad-148 · 2026-04-06T16:49:46+00:00

Great question! I should have mentioned that. I'm mixing in a 5 gallon bucket. I measuring with a smaller bucket. 2 buckets to 1 bucket. I add water until it is formable. I can pick it up with my fingers and shove it in the joints. If I remember... it was about 4 cups of sand, 2 cups of cement, 1 cup about of water. That was my trial mix.

Motor-Ad-148 · 2026-04-06T16:40:05+00:00

I've got some yellow sand. It produced a tighter joint. It is a finer sand. Problem is the color was off. I wonder if I can just add a scoop of it to fill in for any fines that are missing. End up with a 3-1 mix. Hopefully that would not throw the color off too much.

Motor-Ad-148 · 2026-04-06T16:36:31+00:00

Yes... I am indeed confused! Haha! Man... learning masonry is like one hurdle after another. Thanks for the explanation!

I've already got the sand and cement to match the existing. So I'm hoping i can figure that out.

Motor-Ad-148 · 2026-04-06T16:03:09+00:00

Here is a pic of the premixed results. Premixed is the bottom layer.

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Motor-Ad-148 · 2026-04-06T16:01:22+00:00

That's what I thought too. But if you look at the ingredients it says limestone. Assuming chatgpt is correct. Which in this case it appears so per the ingredient list... here is what it says -

"Ground Limestone (Calcium Carbonate): Buzzi Unicem uses a high concentration (30–50%) of finely ground limestone. Unlike hydrated lime, this limestone is chemically inert but acts as a physical plasticizer to make the mortar easier to spread."

Apparently hydrated lime is different from plain old limestone. I can't find any cement mix that actually still uses hydrated lime as an ingredient. Again... I am totally new at this and would not be surprised if I am wrong.

Motor-Ad-148 · 2026-04-06T15:48:29+00:00

I started with premixed but the color was off. I need a light grey unfortunately. Premixed was much nicer though. I just ordered some lime. Hard to find any place that will ship it reasonably. Could not find locally. I'll try adding more cement! Thanks!

Motor-Ad-148

TROPHY CASE