foundation repair contractors

El Cheapo Foundation Repair Inc

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. (more…)

Continue Reading

Concret Slab Foundation Gets Drilled Piers

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. (more…)

Continue Reading

Rooting Out a Root Barrier Estimate

The structural engineer who inspected my foundation Monday is recommending a root barrier be installed in a back corner of the yard to keep roots from a nearby live oak tree away from my concrete slab.

They are also called root walls and root caps. The idea is to cut any roots that are reaching under the foundation, then put something in the ground between the tree and the slab to keep the roots from returning.

The hope is that by keeping the tree from drawing moisture from under the slab, the clay soil will re-hydrate and give the foundation in the back of the house some lift. Not much, but some. The tree is 12 feet from the corner of the foundation. (more…)

Continue Reading