Repair My Foundation-A Homeowner's Look at the Options

In 2006 I had my concrete slab foundation inspected by a local structural engineer and wrote about it on this blog. I also scanned his report into a PDF file and posted it. However, in the throes of changing hosting companies the link to this report was broken and remained so for some time.  The [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]