Austin Foundation Repair

It’s weird, but I never thought that Austin foundation repair would really need much of a mention because of the way I think about the geography there. Hill Country, lots of bluffs and cliffs, rocky outcroppings everywhere.
When I think of Austin I picture lot’s of limestone and chalk, not foundation bending shrink-swell clay soils. But [...]

More About Steel Piers and Rust

A question that comes to mind in considering steel piers for underpinning your concrete slab foundation is “are they going to rust or otherwise corrode?” Fair question. One of the answers involves using galvanized steel piers.
Another method of corrosion protection for steel piers makes use of powder coating technology.
However, there is a report from the [...]

What’s Not Romantic About Foundation Repair?

The money wizards over at MSNBC are saying that consumers will spend 13.7 buh-zillion US dollars on Valentine’s Day gifts this year, an increase over last year’s sales.
So I have to ask, “Where are the Valentine’s Day tie-ins for foundation repair advertising?” I have not heard one radio commercial or seen one print ad from [...]

Double Your Piers, Double Your Fun

I came home the other day and found a flyer from a local foundation repair contractor hanging from my doorknob. “Knob-spam”, the kids call it. I started to throw it away but then saw the phrase “revolutionary new double pier perma-pile system.” Wow. Say that out loud three times fast.
Curious as to what that meant [...]

Are Steel Piers Going to Rust?

If you are pondering which type of pier might be best to repair your concrete slab foundation, a fair question would be “How long is a steel pier going to last?” After all, they are basically steel pipes driven deep enough to encounter either bedrock or a similarly firm and stable strata of soil, then [...]

Two Types of Steel Piers

SABER is company that offers a lot of services having to do with concrete repair and leveling including residential foundations. Their website describes two of the more common types of steel piers on the market today: resistance and helical piers.
“There are generally two types of steel piers used for underpinning foundations. Resistance and helical. Both [...]

Replacing Lost Moisture Under the Foundation

Another thing Tom the Contractor suggested for reversing the loss of moisture under my slab foundation after the root barriers were installed was to rehydrate the soil. That’s a fancy word for squirting water into the dirt under the house.

One of his crew went all around the foundation with machine similar to a power washer [...]

Trying on Bell Bottom Piers

If you’ve been trying to get a grasp on foundation repair jargon and have been hearing the term “bell bottom piers”, the Du-West website has a pretty good explaination. It has nothing to do with pants. There is also a drawing on the site to give you a visual idea of the process.
Bell bottom piers [...]

Twisting The Piers Under Your Foundation

It’s not very often that a word used on a foundation repair contractor’s website sends me running for the dictionary. It did today, but more on that in a moment. OK, if you just can’t wait, the word is “thixotropy.”
If you live in a part of the country where you are bombarded with commercials for [...]

Soaker Hoses on Steroids

I’ve been talking about using soaker hoses to keep the soil around my foundation from completely drying up during this blazing hot and dry summer. If you have shrink-swell clay soil it can shrink away from your concrete slab during dry periods and possibly cause damage.
This morning, I ran across the website of a [...]