Foundation Repair

Foundations settle in three different ways, with some ways being more disruptive than others. First, there is uniform settlement, which is when the house begins to sink evenly. This form of settling is uncommon since soil almost never erodes evenly, but it can happen. The most obvious signs associated with this kind of settling are warped and detached handrails from front porches and decks. These parts of the home are separate from the foundation, so when the house begins to sink, these attached areas will begin to detach from the rest of the structure.

The second form of settling is called tipping settlement, and it’s when the house begins to sink to one side. With this form of settling, the foundation remains intact, so cracks are minimal, though this doesn’t mean it will always stay this way. The most obvious signs of tilting settlement are uneven floors, tilted chimneys, basement leaks, and detached decks and front porches. Again, just because there are no cracks in the foundation with tilting settlement doesn’t mean your home’s structure is safe. If allowed to advance, then this form of settling can easily turn into the most disruptive type of settling: differential settlement.

Differential settlement is when a portion of your foundation begins to break off from the house and settle against uneven soil. With this kind of settling, foundation cracks are common, which leads to basement flooding with groundwater, warped window and door frames, damaged floor joists, upstairs wall and ceiling cracks, and a less energy efficient home. The other kinds of settling are bad news for your home, but differential settlement is so destructive; it costs you much more in repairs. The moment you suspect that the foundation of your Charleston home is settling in this way, call us for a free home inspection and fast, permanent repair solutions.

When you contact us, you can speak to one of our customer care representatives about your crawl space concerns. We will then work with you to schedule an appointment for a free inspection and estimate with one of our certified field inspectors.  

Here’s what you can expect during this consultation. The inspector will:  

• Complete a thorough evaluation of your home’s interior and exterior. This includes going into the crawl space to check the condition of the area including any water intrusion, damage, pests, etc.  
• Discuss his findings with you, as well as your goals with a repair project.  
• Offer customized solutions that best fit your repair needs.  
• Provide you with a proposal of recommended solutions before leaving your house.  
• Discuss payment and financing options with you. 

Then, if you decide to move forward with a repair project, we will work to schedule your repairs with one of our highly trained installation crews. Our crew members will treat your home as their own, with the utmost care and respect. They will use world-class solutions for your repairs, and their work is not complete until you are 100% satisfied with the job. If something crops up after installation, we will return to fix any issues. We also offer various service and maintenance opportunities to protect our work and your home.  

Along with writing a review about your experience with us, it would mean the world to us if you would refer us to your friends and family! 

And now down to brass tacks. Undoubtedly, the cost of repair is a huge concern for homeowners. And that’s natural. Money matters, and so does your home. You want to make sure you’re protecting your house with the best, cost-effective solutions.  

There is a lot to consider with foundation repair such as the extent of damage, the area needing to be repaired, square footage, the material needed, labor, etc. This differs from company to company. So be sure to have a thorough discussion with your contractor about pricing and payment. 

Also, no two foundation problems are alike, and there are no one-size-fits-all fixes. Every home is different and requires its own unique repairs. So, what may have been the answer for a friend or neighbor might not be a perfect fit for your home’s repair needs. That’s why it’s so important for one of our inspectors to physically visit your house and look at your foundation problems. That way, he’ll be able to properly diagnose the issues and recommend the best, customized solutions. 

To give you an idea, average home improvement spending is around $7,500, and most homeowners pay between $4,000 and $10,000 for foundation repairs. Some average foundation repair product prices are $1,000-$3,000+ per foundation pier, $500-$1,300+ for leveling/slab jacking, and $2,000-$6,000 for sealing/subfloor drainage. 

Check with your insurance carrier regarding concerns with repair needs and insurance coverage, as all policies are different. Some policies may cover losses from fires, but many exclude coverage for issues such as foundation cracks or settling. But coverage may kick in if the foundation has been damaged from other problems like broken plumbing, for example. (Source: SF Gate) 

You wouldn’t want just any old item quickly thrown together with the hope of it keeping your foundation intact. You need the very best solutions that will stand the test of time and the toughest forces to protect your home. That is exactly what we use to repair your foundation.  

The products we install are manufactured here in the United States, and each one is carefully designed and tested by a team of structural and geotechnical engineers. Our heavy-duty wall reinforcement and piering solutions are made with galvanized steel to prevent rust, corrosion, and damage. All our systems come with a long-term written warranty, giving you complete peace of mind. 

Here are the solutions we’ll use to address foundation problems in your home: 

Wall Repair and Reinforcements – The severity of your foundation wall problems can vary, so we offer a variety of repair and reinforcement options. 

• Wall Anchors – Wall Anchors are the most effective method for permanently stabilizing moderate to severely distressed or bowed basement walls. They extend out to more stable soil well beyond your home’s foundation, providing an anchor point to brace the foundation wall. This stops inward movement and prevents wall failure. The anchors can be tightened over time to help move your foundation walls back toward their original positions. 
• IntelliBrace™ Beams – IntelliBrace™ beams act the same way as Wall Anchors in stabilizing and potentially straightening moving walls, and they also can be tightened at intervals during dry seasons. They are best to use when there is limited access available outside of the home for exterior wall repair. 
• Carbon Fiber Supports – Durable Carbon Fiber supports firmly bond to the walls to stabilize and hold them in their current positions. This prevents any further cracks or inward movement. Their low profile and smooth finish allow them to easily be concealed with painted or basement finishing materials.

Piering Systems – Our foundation pier systems are used on settling foundations and walls to permanently stabilize them and help lift them back to their original level positions. Each system is installed in deep soil strata to better support the foundation. 

• Push Piers – Push Piers are driven through a bracket attached to the foundation footing and down to bedrock or a stable soil layer. This is the most used type of pier for most foundation settlement applications. 
• Helical Piers – Helical Piers are manually advanced or screwed into the ground and are best for specialty foundation settlement applications and for very light structures like porches. 
• Slab Piers – Slab Piers can be installed the same way as Push Piers and Helical Piers and are used to stabilize your concrete slab foundation. 

Crawl Space Supports – Floors and floor joists above crawl spaces and basements can sag over time and if they are not properly supported. Our IntelliJack™ system, designed to stop settling, stabilizes these sagging areas and can help lift them back to level.

Additionally, our state-of-the-art PolyRenewal™ system can be used to lift, level, and stabilize cracking and uneven concrete slab floors in your home and garage. 

The best foundation repair solutions for a settling Greenville home are push piers and helical piers. Foundations settle because the soil that was supposed to support them began to shift, thus becoming unreliable. Foundation piers are then used to stabilize the home and provide a support system that doesn’t rely on a volatile material like surface soil. There is one thing that many get wrong about foundation piers, and it’s that the house is supported by the piers alone. However, the piers transfer the majority of the home’s weight to the load-bearing soils deep underground that do not erode as easily as topsoil.

The main difference between helical piers and push piers is the way they function to stabilize the house. Helical piers are steel rods with helix blades welded to one of the ends. The helix blades help the rods get mechanically driven into the soil until reaching the needed depth. Helical piers have trouble going through sedimentary rock, so it might not be the best pier type for you if the terrain on your property is on the rougher side. Helical piers can support a tremendous amount of weight, but if your home is too heavy, push piers will be needed.

Push piers are typically used for larger buildings because they rely on a counterweight to stay underground. They do not have helix blades, and, instead of being drilled into the ground, they are hydraulically pushed in—hence the name. Push piers exert an incredible amount of pressure on the foundation, stabilizing it and even lifting it up on occasion. The house needs to return that pressure right back so that everything stays even. Push piers do better on tougher soils and are able to push through sedimentary rock better than helical piers.

It’s a sad day in the average homeowner’s life when they step around their house and feel the floor sag. A sagging floor is never a good thing since it indicates that something is wrong with the way your foundation is supporting the floorboards. There are two reasons as to why a floor would sag, and neither of them has to do with the floorboards themselves; so, keep reading before you go to your local home improvement store looking for floorboard replacements. A sagging floor is a problem sign for two even bigger issues that are developing around your home: foundation settling and foundation humidity.

When the soil under your Augusta-Aiken home can no longer support your foundation, the house begins to sink, and, in some cases, it also begins to shift to one side. As the house begins to distribute the weight of the home unevenly, your floor joists will begin shifting along with the house. If your floor is sagging due to foundation settling, then you need to check for other signs of it, and get it repaired as soon as you can. Sagging floors are only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the damage your home will face if the problem is allowed to persist.

Wood rot is another potential cause for the floor sagging. It indicates that your basement or crawl space is humid enough to allow mold to grow. The floor joists become infected with fungi, which slowly eat away at it until the wood becomes soft and weak. If you don’t do something about the wood rot quickly, then the floor sag will only get worse until the floorboards are so unsupported that they break apart. Besides simply replacing the wood, you need to make sure that your foundation is dry to deter future mold growth.