Foundation Repair - Who Needs It?

Many homeowners who have foundation damage symptoms, do, in fact need corrective foundation repair. But something you may not know is that not everyone who ends up getting repairs actually needed them in the first place. Many in fact end up getting the wrong repair which can, and often times does, make matters worse.

Understanding Your Foundation Salesperson

The foundation company's representative is there to sell you a repair job and if he doesn't he will not make any money. He is also in danger of losing his job if his closing rate is too low!

What do you think he is going to find when he does his inspection. I will bet you that he is going to find enough damage to warrant his company's services. He makes a commission and his job security goes up a notch. It is a rare foundation repair salesperson who will tell you that you may not need repairs. That instead you can do some landscaping or a little gutter work or maybe irrigate the soil around your foundation and everything will be just fine.

I do not want to mislead you, many foundation problems will require repairs. I am just pointing out that all situations are different. There are many reasons for foundation movement, not all of which can be resolved by installing a bunch of piers.

What is Heaving?

Heaving is a situation where your foundation is raised in affected areas higher than it's normal elevation. This is caused by the soil becoming ofer saturated is specific areas. If you have a heaving problem you definitely do not want to install piers. If you do install piers you will in effect raise other areas that are likely where they should be to the level of the heaved areas. You will in effect have added to your problem. When the soil that caused the heaving loses it's excess moisture it will return to it's normal level allowing the foundation in that area to sag.

At this point the foundation company will want to raise the areas that heaved up to the level of the other piers that were installed because of the heaving. Now it is probably impossible to figure out what the correct elevation should be. As more of the foundation is raised beyond it's original elevation the interior areas will appear to be low and now the suggestion will be to raise those areas and as you can see this could go on forever. Trust me, you do not want to be trapped in this situation. Believe me it happens all the time.

There are many causes of heaving, plumbing leaks under the slab, low spots that allow water to pool, sprinkler systems and air conditioner condenser drains are some of the most common.

The point is that these types of conditions must be corrected or you are wasting your money. You can in effect end up spending money to make your problem worse.

Your foundation salesperson will probably not mention any of this because, he may not know, but even if he does know he may not say anything because, you guessed it, he wants to make the sale and he wants to make it now. He does not have time to wait for you to fix the underlying problem or wait until the affected soil loses it's excess moisture and returns to it's normal level.

What To Do?

So what is a homeowner to do? Your main plan of action should be to educate yourself. There are resources on the web for learning more. The pages of this website contain a wealth of information your can use to protect yourself. Check out the some of the articles at the right for more foundation maintenance and repair articles.