Foundation Reuse – Can a Foundation be Reused After Fire Damage?

Those notations (I see 3 on the plan...you’ve circled 2 of them) are in reference to specific footings close to the notations.

Yes, it is calling out the size of the footing, depth of the footing and the reinforcing steel and it’s location in the footing. It says, 30” square by 18” deep concrete pad with 3 - #4 bars each way in the bottom of the footing.

BTW, the rebar should not actually be on the bottom, but held 3” above the ground.

Each concrete pad is shown in the plan and the corresponding size and rebar is shown. So, you’ll use the notation circled in orange for the garage and the one circled in pink for the living room...and I don’t see any square pad in the “pink rectangle”.

The material underneath the plaster looks remarkably like the clay lump that my farmhouse in Suffolk, England was made from. Clay lump is sandy-gravelly-clay+straw+lime, formed into blocks which are dried, and then built into walls with clay+lime mortar.

My guess is that your bump is not actually clay lump, but it is very likely to be an earth-based construction material (cob for example).

With luck, the plaster is lime plaster rather than a gypsum plaster (lime plaster is much more flexible). Mixing lime plaster from lime putty (hydrated calcium hydroxide) is quite easy (particularly if you have a cement mixer). Use a ratio of 2 parts sharp sand to one part lime putty, reinforce with finely teased hair, and you should be good to go.

You may well find that the aggregate in the plaster is your local subsoil (quite possibly from the basement you are standing in!) If you have some subsoil exposed, it would be entirely reasonable to use it.