My friends recently purchased a plot of land with a small house and a brick shed built around the 1970s. However, about 20 years ago, a crack appeared on one of its walls. The neighbors said that cattle used to be kept in the shed, and their waste drained through a pipe under the foundation. Due to excess moisture, the ground swelled in winter, which led to the crack. The shed had been standing with this problem for many years and was gradually falling apart.

My friends had several options for what to do with this structure. They could demolish the shed, wait for it to collapse on its own, or repair it. They chose the third option, and we started the renovation. First, we cleared the foundation base of debris and vegetation, removed the old concrete, and got rid of the pipe. Then, we dug a trench around the foundation. The depth and width of the trench depend on many factors, but the main rule is not to dig deeper than three meters to prevent the building from sinking. In our case, the foundation was shallow, about 35 cm, so we cleaned it of soil.

Next, we began reinforcement. We cut rods to a length of 17 cm, drilled holes in the foundation with a perforator, and hammered the rods into both sides of the wall. We stretched threads for leveling and made additional holes at 40 cm intervals, inserting rods and laying horizontal reinforcement. The next step was formwork installation.

We drove stakes into the corners, stretched threads, and secured the rest of the studs. Initially, we planned to use OSB boards for the formwork, but due to the high cost, we used drywall found in the attic, covering it with plastic film for moisture protection and securing it. Then, we prepared the concrete mix in the following ratio: one part cement, 2.5 parts sand, and 3.5 parts gravel. After pouring the concrete, we compacted it using specialized tools. Once the concrete had dried, we removed the formwork and backfilled the trench, carefully tamping the soil.

After reinforcing the foundation, we moved on to repairing the wall crack. Every three rows of bricks, we removed the old mortar joints using a perforator. The longer the groove, the better. Then, we washed the cracks and grooves to remove dust and began filling them with mortar. We filled the joints halfway, drilled holes for brackets, and inserted them. Finally, we sealed the joints completely. The best mortar mix for this process is in a 1:4 ratio with a plasticizer.