Foundation Inspection?

First, understand how water flows around your home.

Second, know what your foundation is sitting on.

Third, get a second quote.

Forth, make sure who ever you choose is aware of the first two items. Believe it or not this is an issue. They are more concern with how many pilons they can stick under your house without concern of what happens to the ground when applying said pilons. Adding a bunch of pilons loosen the ground and if your house is a freaking water way when it rains, all that packed ground is loosen and walla, you've more issues.

This was a VERY expensive lesson to learn...

Good luck, yank.

 

Given that your home is almost 30 years old, I can almost assure you that it is ground movement (swelling/heaving/reduction) that is causing the cracks in your foundation. Unless you have a sudden onset influx of moisture (excess movement due to a broken water main, etc) or some other reason as to why the ground would shift erratically, I sincerely doubt you have foundation failure issues. However, if you call a foundation repair company (Olshan, Church Services, etc), please be cognizant of the fact that they are in the business of repair work. Therefore, they WILL recommend underpinning. This is not always the best solution, as sometimes the ground will shift back on its own. My recommendation would be to observe the cracks for a certain period of time (3 months for instance), and see if they get worse. Keep the moisture levels around your foundation consistent (water regularly....I would say once or twice a week if there has been no rain), and see if the cracks extend through the grade beam into your tiles and sheetrock. If you have not noticed any cracking or signs of distress in the interior of your home (sheetrock cracks, tiles cracking, doors sticking, floor uneven, etc), then I would not be overly concerned. 3 months should be a good amount of time for you to be able to tell for sure if something serious is going on. Remember, if/when you do decide to get foundation work done, it is a 5 figure number that they are going to quote you. Be prepared for that. I would take my time on this. Your house is not going to fall down....I can assure you that.

 

I completely forgot to ask:

1) What kind of foundation does your home sit on? Pier and beam? Post-tensioned slab? Conventional rebar slab? These are questions that you should have answered before you decide to move forward with any work.

2) What area of town do you live in? The soil substrata is very different throughout the city, and depending on where you live, I can tell you the likelihood of ground movement being the reason behind the cracking.

3) How wide are the cracks in the foundation, and where are you noticing them? If the cracks are in a porch or garage area, then the answer might just be shrinkage. The concrete in those areas of your home might not always be reinforced the same as the main area of your house, and the slab might have been poured separately from the rest of the structure.

 

I'm having my foundation inspected and getting an estimate on the work later today. If I am happy with the company and choose to go with them, I'll email you their contact info. My house was built in 1954, concrete slab foundation, SW Houston. I've got about 5-6 sheetrock cracks in my house. Recently had a deck built in the back...deck is level...house is sinking in the middle. House had pier and beam done in the mid-80s but only on two sides of the house. They're going to have to shim the existing piers and add about 6-7 new ones on the other side. Found the company via Angies List...they have excellent reviews on there.

 

http://www.ronaldgivens.com/

I promise you he is the best there is. He writes the state certification tests. If anything, he is too honest.