Foundation Repair FAQ

Concrete Pads – An early repair method was to pour a shallow concrete pad to reinforce the original foundation. These were relatively simple and inexpensive to place in their day, but they don’t contact deeper stable soil and they’re vulnerable to the same settling and shifting that caused the foundation to fail in the first place. For these reasons, concrete pads are unreliable solutions that eat up any initial savings with frequent replacement costs.

Drilled Piers – One-size-fits-all drilled piers improved on concrete pads by increasing the odds of contacting deeper layers of more stable soil. The downside is that installation is slow, costly, invasive and must be done with expert precision. Any

Install error can compromise the ability of the pier to support your house. Also, although drilled piers allow soil inspection, installers need to know what they’re looking for to drill to the right depth.

Driven Steel Piers – An incremental improvement over the drilled pier is a driven steel pier. In addition to faster and cheaper installation, the advantage here is that it’s easier to reach a desirable depth with more confidence and the steel can be load tested to ensure the right support. The risks of this approach are that the steel components may corrode and fail over time and may require breaking out portions of the foundation footer.
Simple Pressed Pilings – With pressed pilings, soil testing can be accomplished during pile driving, allowing for greater accuracy. Unlike other early foundation repair methods, pressed pilings enable reliable load calculations based on the type of structure they’re supporting. Disadvantages of pressed pilings are that they are not reinforced, buckle easily, and they’re hard to place in complex soil types or below weather-affected soil zones.
Helical Piers – The helical pier technology breakthrough eliminated several disadvantages of more primitive foundation repair methods. Steel disks at engineered intervals around a core shaft provide greater soil contact, provide both tension and compression support, need no concrete, and offer wide customization options. On the other hand, helical piers are expensive, depth requirements can be hard to confirm, they may buckle or corrode, and install brackets may have fit issues.

What Are the Advantages of Residential Helical Piers?

Screw piles were first described by the Irish civil engineer Alexander Mitchell in a paper in Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal in 1848; however, helical piles had been used for almost a decade by this point.

Push pier systems were first used in the Northeast, beginning in the 1800s. Builders in New York began pushing hollow pipes into the ground to reach load-bearing stratum. This method became popular in the Northeast because the hollow tubes could be pushed below frost lines, making foundations more secure.

Do I Need to Hire an Engineer?

Repair and maintenance requires a license to comply with General Contractors Law as amended 1996 Regular Session of the Alabama Legislature.

The design must comply with FHA guidelines. For existing homes, a Professional Engineer is required to certify that the foundation meets the FHA requirements.

Alabama Code Title 34. Professions and Businesses § 34-11-2

(a) A person in either public or private capacity may not practice or offer to practice engineering or land surveying, unless he or she shall first have submitted evidence that he or she is qualified so to practice and shall be licensed by the board as hereinafter provided or unless he or she is specifically exempted from licensure under this chapter.

(b) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, all engineering design of buildings, structures, products, machines, processes, and systems that can affect health, life, safety, welfare, and property shall be conducted under the responsible charge of a licensed professional engineer.

Homeowners should be well informed about what type of foundation repair system is being installed to lift or level a house. Don't be fooled by the sales pitch or the Life Time Foundation Repair Warranty. Get a second opinion from a structural engineer before you decide to invest thousands of dollars on foundation repair that is unjustified and unnecessary.

If you are getting foundation repair based on the premise that a foundation repair contractor is going to "stabilize" your foundation from moving any further, then you should call a structural engineer that can give you a non-biased opinion on whether or not you really need the repairs or if the repairs will work. Or you can call after the repairs fail. Before you decide on getting the foundation lifted, be fully aware of what type of system is being installed, what it can do and what voids the warranty.

THE COMMON TYPE OF BAD PILE – THE CONCRETE PRESSED PILE

Concrete pressed piles are the most common type of pile installed throughout San Antonio and Austin. There are many type of piles to choose from and concrete pressed piles is the pile that is most likely to move and cause more damage to the building.

Slab-on-ground foundations cannot collapse, they are already on the ground.

DEFINING FOUNDATION REPAIR (LEVELING)

To realize that foundation repair is really not a "repair", one must first understand that lifting a foundation (foundation repair) should be implemented as a tool to benefit the overall performance of the building and not just to level the floor.

Leveling the floor should not be considered a "repair". It is a leveling job. Leveling the floor by adding piers or piles is similar to major surgery on a foundation. Having major surgery by installing a poorly designed system (bad foundation repair) will only cause additional complications in the future. Complications such as: pier heaving (upward pushing of the piers), additional settlement, lack of support and breaks in the actual foundation slab cause major damages to the building and plumbing which is very expensiveThere are two schools of thought in foundation repair: one side sees foundation leveling as the solution to foundation problems and the other looks to problems that caused the movement and uses foundation repair as a method to improve the structural condition of the building.

Most foundation repair companies will evaluate your building's levelness and tell you if you are "out of code" or "within tolerance". Don't be fooled. There is no "code" requirement or "tolerance" to really base the justification to "repair" a foundation. Next time you hear it, ask for the specific code section or reference that states it. Typical answer is..."I have been doing this for 30+ years and that is the industry (foundation repair industry that is) standard....OR.....engineers that we work with say its the standard".

Let us think about it. If conditions exist that caused your current foundation to move, then you can bet that those same conditions still exist that will influence your new "foundation repair" system. $30,000 later in "stabilization" you will realize that you were not told the full story about to expect. They won't tell you. They can't tell you. Why? Because they have not gone through the exercise of designing an actual foundation to evaluate how foundations are expected to perform. Engineers that are trained to design and evaluate the foundation are better suited to provide an opinion on whether your foundation is performing as should be expected, conditions that may have caused the movement and what to expect if foundation repair is done.

FOUNDATION REPAIR WARRANTY LOOP HOLES

Most foundation repair warranties have extensive language that gets them out of the foundation repair warranty for servicing the piers that they install.

The stated exclusion conditions on the warranty typically already exists before and well after the foundation repair company installs the foundation repair piers. So.....if a foundation repair company installs their foundation repair piers within bad conditions that already caused foundation problems, they will claim that bad conditions exist as noted on their warranty declaration. Thousands of our clients that have been caught up in this have all echoed the same response.........."why didn't the foundation repair company tell me I had bad conditions and that their piers don't work under those bad conditions. Now they want me to do more 'foundation repair' to fix the problem".

The first issue is that foundation repair is being seen as the solution. This is where a structural engineer's evaluation come in.

"FOUNDATION REPAIR TO STABILIZE MY FOUNDATION"?

At times, foundation repair is sold to owners with the promise of giving the owner a "preventative measure" or a method of "stabilization" before a foundation problem happens. What healthy person gets hip replacement or a kidney transplant as a preventative measure to staying healthy. Most would agree that to stay healthy you should create a better condition for the body. That is the same for a foundation and a building. Getting an evaluation from a structural engineer will help you get a better understanding on when conditions justify foundation repair and the risks associated with it.

Don't let foundation repair companies scare you or confuse you into lifting a building without a clear objective. Foundation repair is very expensive major surgery to a house so it would be in your best interest to get a second opinion.

Its not a bad idea to tie payment for the work with proof that permits have been obtained for the work. The first payment can be tied with proof that the permit has been obtained and the final payment should be tied with proof that the permit has been closed. Red flags should come up if a contractor cannot get a permit OR if they say that the home owner is required to get the permit. The person that gets the permit is responsible for managing it.

If you get convinced to get the work done, be sure to get a copy of the elevation readings before and after the work is done. Its a great idea to retain the final payment until both documents are provided. Also, be sure to that you can read the numbers. Getting a paper with numbers that are hard to read does you no good in case you want to get the numbers checked.

Elevations:

History of Waterproofing

The history of waterproofing stretches as far back as 13,000 years, and is considered the third oldest trade behind carpentry and masonry.

The modern waterproofing industry began in the 1900's, when liquid membranes were first manufactured commercially.

Henry’s belief that standing water created disease inspired his trip to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Once he returned, he published a book titled “Farm Drainage” in 1859, and it is considered the definitive research text on drainage (I bet you didn’t know there was one!). Henry explored a variety of different drainage techniques that were popular back then—the Deanston System, the Keythorpe System, and the Wharncliffe System. Henry also examined different styles and sizes of pipes and measured their efficacy at getting rid of water. The conclusion of his book resulted in the invention of the French drain, an excavated trench that is filled with gravel and a perforated pipe that serves to carry away accumulated water.

Here are the code requirements for unvented crawl spaces:

The earth must be covered by a Class I vapor barrier. Where barriers overlap, the seams must overlap by 6 inches and be sealed. The barrier must extend at least 6 inches up the walls of the crawl space and be sealed to the side walls or to the insulation on the side walls.
Install either a continuously operating exhaust system in the crawl space or provide access to the house's conditioned air, including an air return. This is usually accomplished through grilles or ducts in the floor.
Because the crawl space is part of the conditioned space, there is no need to insulate the floor above it. But it is necessary to air seal and insulate the perimeter walls. Installing rigid board insulation, such as extruded polystyrene or polyisocyanurate, is the most common method. The code specifies insulation requirements based on location, in this manner: R-15/19. That means R-15 of continuous insulation (board insulation) is required on the interior or exterior of the perimeter wall, or R-19 of cavity insulation on the interior wall. Many local codes require board insulations on interior walls be covered by a fire barrier, such as 1/2-inch drywall.

Mold

Check the Yellow Pages of your telephone directory for professional cleaners who are certified by the Institute of Inspecting, Cleaning, and Restoration Certification (IICRC) for advice on removing molds from your home. Or call the IICRC at 1-844-464-4272 to request a list of qualified professionals located in your area.

The IICRC standard is a framework to be used by indoor air quality professionals, site inspectors, technicians and remediation contractors to improve work practices and procedures within an institutional, commercial or residential structure.

The IICRC Standards serve to develop common, industry-accepted language and terminology that enables us to more universally discuss concepts and procedures regarding cleaning, inspection, and restoration. The IICRC is an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) member and accredited standards developer. ANSI coordinates standards, conformity assessment, and related activities in the United States of America. ANSI is responsible for overseeing the development of national consensus standards and verifying that the requirements for due process, consensus, and other criteria for approval have been met by the standard’s developer. An American National Standard (ANS) is a Voluntary Consensus Standard, and unless mandated by law, compliance is voluntary. However, some have been adopted as code or regulation by local, state, or federal authorities.

Do I Have a Mold Problem?

Molds are part of the natural environment and are present everywhere. They are usually not a problem indoors. The medical community appears to be divided regarding the threat of mold, but seems to agree that some people with allergies are sensitive to mold and that in sensitive individuals mold can lead to respiratory diseases.1, 2 The issue with mold then is not to prevent any mold growth, or to eliminate any existing mold growth, but to control it within acceptable limits.

To grow, or to establish itself, mold requires at least four elements: mold spores, organic matter (like wood, paper, and drywall), moisture, and warmth. Note that the mere presence of humid air does not necessarily promote mold growth, except where air with a relative humidity (RH) level at or above 80% is in contact with a surface. Carried by air currents, mold spores can reach all surfaces and cavities of buildings. If these surfaces and/or cavities are warm, and contain the right nutrients and amounts of moisture, the mold spores will grow and gradually destroy the things they grow on. To control mold growth, designers should focus on controlling moisture indoors and on the temperatures of all surfaces, including interstitial surfaces within walls.

In addition to mold, other organisms such as bacteria, mites, cockroaches, and insects that are known to infest buildings also depend on moisture. And finally, excessive high moisture content of thermal insulations reduces effective insulation rates by as much as 50%. For all these reasons, moisture control must be a primary consideration in both the design of new buildings and in the renovation of existing structures.

What is the IICRC?

The IICRC is the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification, a non-profit organization for the Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration Industries. The IICRC, originally named the International Institute of Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Inc. (IICUC), was founded in 1972 by Ed York. Since starting in 1972, the IICRC has evolved into a global organization with more than 49,000 active Certified Technicians and more than 6,500 Certified Firms around the world.