Repair My Foundation-A homeowner’s look at the options

In 2006 I wrote about my then neighbor Dennis’ foundation repair job. The contractor used the “pressed piles” method of repair. He then sold the house to a young woman we’ll call Shelia and moved.

I was passing by last week and saw that a garage sale was going on at this same house. I figured this was a good opportunity to ask if the new owner was happy with the work done on her concrete slab. Apparently she is. “Shelia” was at work but her talkative mother was there running the garage sale.

It turns out “Shelia” had come into some money and let Dennis know she would be paying cash for the house. At that point Dennis, wanting to avoid complaints in the future, had the foundation repaired by a company that transfers a lifetime warranty to the next owner.

Mom says there has been no cracking or shifting, and “Shelia” is happy with the house. I thanked her for the information but didn’t buy anything at the sale. I have plenty of my own junk already.

Filed under: Methods of Repair, Real Estate and Foundation Repair | 3 Comments »

We are experiencing a pretty long hot dry spell in my part of the world. That means making sure the clay soil around my concrete slab-on-ground foundation doesn’t dry up and pull away. I’ve been running the soaker hoses pretty regularly and they do a nice job keeping the ground around the perimeter of my foundation moist or at least not too dry. We call it “watering the foundation.”

I did notice that one of the soaker hoses in the front was sending a 2 foot spray in the air. The problem with that is a reduction in the water pressure down stream from the spray and a less even distribution of water around that part of the foundation.

The fix is simple since soaker hoses are such low tech creatures. Mark the hose where the spray comes out, let the hose dry out a bit, then wrap the area with hose repair tape. Electrical tape works too. You are just trying to knock down a spray, not stop a leak.

If you are using soaker hoses to keep even moisture around your slab foundation it is a good idea to walk the perimeter once a week or so and look for breaks or big leaks that need fixing.

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You have the classic signs of concrete slab foundation distress. OK, your house does. Doors and windows don’t work right, you have cracks around the frames or cracks in your brick veneer. You think your foundation is going to need some work. Then you open the mail or the newspaper and there it is. A “valuable coupon” offering a tidy little sum off the foundation repair job.

The fine print says you must present the coupon at the time you receive your free estimate. It also says you only have a couple of weeks to make that call or the coupon expires. What to do?

First, take a deep breath and rest in the knowledge that these coupons will be coming back around every few weeks. Unless you have really sudden and severe damage to your house and foundation you have some time to make an educated choice.

Next, have an independent structural engineer with foundation experience inspect your slab and generate a report detailing the findings. Your foundation leveling job may cost several thousand dollars. The inspection will cost several hundred dollars depending on the size of your home. Spend. The. Money. The information about the state of your foundation will be coming from a professional engineer who’s obligation is your best interest and not from a professional pier salesmen who’s obligation is to sell foundation repair services.

Then get bids from at least two other foundation repair contractors. See what they have to say about your slab, and after they leave, compare it with the engineer’s report (about which you’ve said nothing.) Keep their bids on hand and only then call the company with the coupon.

This way you can view the company offering the big dollar off coupon in an educated light. You’ll have a better sense of the true value of that coupon and won’t be time squeezed into making a rash decision that may or may not be a good deal on foundation repair. That is all.

Filed under: Choosing a Contractor, Choosing an Engineer | 2 Comments »

In my part of the world the spring rains are coming to an end and the soil is getting drier. Since my concrete slab foundation sits on shrink-swell clay soils, I have to make a concerted effort to keep the dirt around the foundation moist. It’s really not that big of a deal because of the easy availability of soaker hoses. You can find them at major hardware stores, home improvement centers and in the lawn and garden departments of the “big box” discount stores.

In an earlier post, I included a diagram of a typical soaker hose setup. With not that much cash you can ring your foundation with soaker hoses and regular garden hoses to get an even distribution of water to keep the soil moist. Most experts say to put the hoses 12-18 inches out from the edge of your slab. Mulch and other landscaping techniques can hide them. They need not be an eyesore. You can see the tools and techniques you’ll need here.

No one has ever accused me of being the handiest guy on the planet, so if can I put together a soaker hose system you can too. And you will be doing your concrete slab-on-ground foundation a huge favor.

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Every concrete slab that may need repair presents its own symptoms and problems. Each situation is different. The guy next door to me had piers installed all around the perimeter of his house. But the guy down the street only needed piers under the east and south side of the slab. This is one of the reasons the cost of foundation repair varies, and why the prudent home owner gets bids from at least three different foundation repair contractors. Spending a few hundred dollars on an inspection by an independent structural engineer is a good idea as well.

The Dallas Morning New recently ran an article on the damage to slab foundations caused by the shrink-swell clay soils and the weather in North Texas. The piece also touched on costs of foundation repair and how the lowly soaker hose is indeed your friend. Here is a link to the article.

Filed under: Choosing a Contractor, Soaker Hoses | 3 Comments »

The house behind and across the alley from mine is up for sale again. A fellow named Bobby used to live there but he just left one day. I know Bobby had once owned the house because he had converted the garage into a den, added a swimming pool and had made other improvements you just don’t do if you’re renting.

However, hard times came upon Bobby (largely self inflicted) and as luck would have it, the foundation went bad just when he needed to sell the house he could no longer afford to keep. He didn’t get the slab foundation repaired and therefore the house did not sell. There are just too many other properties for sale around here for buyers to even consider a house with a bad foundation.

So the bank forecloses and a house flipper buys it. Mr. House Flipper wants to spend a minimal amount of money to fix it up for re-sale and hires El Cheapo No Name Foundation Repair and Lawn Care to repair the slab. These guys show up after hours and on weekends to work on the foundation. They installed drilled piers and I had my doubts at the time about the quality of work.

Those suspicions were confirmed by a handyman I spoke with who had been hired by Mr. House Flipper to repair cracks in the walls and ceilings that had already been fixed once after the alleged foundation repair. He showed me where the floor plates of two walls were again coming apart at the corners. It was easy to see the long crack that had developed again in the ceiling of the same room. He said the foundation repair job was “terrible.”

The lesson here is to pick your foundation repair contractor carefully. Be suspicious of anyone who says they can fix your slab on the weekends for a ridiculously low price. Get at least three different bids from established contractors. Hire an independent structural engineer with experience in residential foundations. It’ll cost several hundred dollars but could save you thousands in the long run.

And just say “no” to El Cheapo No Name Foundation Repair and Taxidermy Inc.

Filed under: Choosing a Contractor, Real Estate and Foundation Repair | 1 Comment »

I’ve been doing quite a bit of cosmetic fix-up inside the house over the last 10 months or so since I had root barriers installed. At the same time I had large shrubs removed from the west side of the slab foundation.

In the meantime I’ve been fixing drywall and painting. There were some small wall cracks that needed filling and some areas where sheet rock tape had popped, things to be expected of a thirty year old house that has a concrete slab foundation sitting on shrink-swell heavy clay soil. So far things have stayed fixed.

The was one crack in the ceiling near the patio door that was always kind of an indicator of foundation movement for me. It would open and close ever so slightly depending how much rain we had gotten or how faithful I had been with running the soaker hoses.

Well sir, that crack has stayed closed for several months now. I don’t know if it’s because of all the rain we’ve had this year, the root barriers, the soaker hoses or a combination of all three. It’s probably the latter. At any rate, it’s nice to give the drywall mud knife a rest.

Filed under: Soaker Hoses, Tree Roots and Shrubs | 1 Comment »

My next door neighbor Don had his concrete slab-on-ground foundation repaired three years ago. He paid close to $7,000 and the job came with a lifetime warranty.

Don wasn’t satisfied with the results of the first job. His foundation was moving more than he thought it should and not as level so he called them back out. The company did another half day’s work adjusting the shims between the slab and the piers.

Don called them a third time. After all, he had a lifetime warranty. This time, the company was out of business. Some of the same management was there, but operating under a different name and not the one on Don’s warranty. That company is out of business and Don is screwed. I guess that’s how some of the shady smaller companies get out from under their warranty obligations.

In Texas we have a thing called the Texas Foundation Warranty Trust. If your foundation repair contractor participates in the program you get a transferable lifetime warranty to pass on to the buyers of your house. If the repair isn’t done right the first time they have to come back at no extra cost and make it good. Most importantly it covers the repair if the original contractor goes out of business. Most of the major players in Texas are a part of the warranty program.

If you live in Texas and need foundation repair add the Texas Foundation Warranty Trust availability into your decision making. Sometimes it’s good to run with the big dogs. Just ask Don.

Filed under: Choosing a Contractor | 2 Comments »

We had a bit of a dry spell last week and I decided to run my soaker hoses to make sure the soil around my concrete slab foundation was staying moist.

I hadn’t needed to run the soaker hoses in quite a while. Even though I have gutters that take most of the rainfall away from the foundation the soil was not drying out significantly because we have had a lot of rain in my area this spring and so far this summer. Record amounts of rain.

I’m using a “T” splitter on the west side of my foundation to make sure I have enough water pressure in the entire length of the soaker hose. I’m using a configuration similar to the diagram on this page.

Sure enough, there was plenty of pressure, because the end cap of the soaker hose popped off. It was an easy fix as these parts are pretty simple to work with. I loosened the clamp with a screwdriver, shoved the end cap back into the hose and re-tightened the clamp. You can see some of these soaker hose parts here. They are the same parts you would use with a regular garden hose.

If your concrete slab foundation sits on shrink-swell clay soils, soaker hoses are a great way to keep the moisture content even and the movement of your foundation to a minimum.

Filed under: Soaker Hoses | No Comments »

You can tell when a guy sells the house, packs up and moves away. You can also tell when a guy just leaves. Bobby, the guy who lived behind me, has up and disappeared.

Bobby was having no luck selling his house because it needed foundation repair. He deducted the cost of fixing the slab from his asking price but didn’t realize the financing problems a new buyer would encounter. Mortgage companies are not real anxious to lend money for a house with known unresolved foundation problems.

Apparently Bobby had neither the cash, credit or will to get the foundation repaired so he could sell the house. Instead he seems to have just walked away. The heap of belongings behind the house testify to that. I haven’t seen him in weeks. The small in-ground swimming pool in the back yard has turned into a lagoon.

Then two weeks ago a crew showed up and dug the holes for drilled piers all around slab including a couple of holes through the driveway. The holes looked to be about 2 feet by 2 feet and I don’t know how deep. They were filled with concrete to within a foot and a half or so of the foundation. Then the crew left.

I doubt that this job was done by a main stream foundation repair contractor. The vehicles were crappy looking and had no company names. They worked on the July 4th holiday. I saw no reinforcing steel being used in the pier holes. They then left all the holes uncovered to collect rain water during the curing process. And it rained a lot. Somehow I don’t think an experienced engineer would approve of their work.

The crew returned a week or so later with jacks and concrete cylinders. They spent a day pumping water out of the holes, mating the cylinders to the piers, cutting the cylinders to fit, using the jacks to lift the slab. They backfilled the holes with the soil they had dug out and called it a day.

So somewhere there is a piece of paper that says Bobby’s foundation has been “repaired.” As they say, “buyer beware.”

Filed under: Choosing a Contractor, Real Estate and Foundation Repair | No Comments »