Retirement Home Nightmare - A Foundation Repair Case Study




The buyer's repair addendum listed a few fogged windows, a broken fence post, a damaged bottom board on the siding and a sprinkler head. The homeowner had put these items on the bottom of the to-do list for several months. Suddenly, they are at the top of the list, and they must be done before closing his home.

First, they would clean all the cracks on your concrete foundation with the use of a wire brush. They would let some stream of water to pass through it in order to clean it entirely well and wash off all the loose particles. Afterwards, they will let the wall to dry up before patching up the cracks with some patching material. Before the patching material is applied on the cracks, it will be soaked in water for a couple of minutes. Since most of the patching elements contain limestone, it could expand while drying up and filling up the cracks on your wall foundation. As soon as it dries up, the Buffalo click here specialist will then apply a finishing coat on the repaired area of your house's foundation.



If you suspect that there is damage, you will want to contact a specialist to come out and evaluate the problem. Sometimes the repairs are fairly quick and inexpensive. However, the longer the problem goes uncared for, the worse the damage is going to be. Along that same line, the more damage there is, the more expensive the repairs will be.

So what do you do? The best solution is to support the sinking areas of the chimney. Steel helical or push piers have proven to be an excellent, dependable, and cost effective way to return stability to a chimney on the move. Installing the piers through the poor soils into stiff stratum gives them the capacity to support the chimney to prevent further settlement, and sometimes they can even "tip" the chimney back to where it should be.

Warranty and guarantee information-What sort of warranty does a company offer? You don't want them to come out and fix your foundation, only to have no recourse if something goes wrong with their work. A quick look over of their site should provide you with warranty information as well as guarantees.

There are plenty of watchdog type sites online that will give you valuable feedback on a contractor. Check them out. Sites like Yelp and other review sites let customers post reviews detailing their dealings with the contractor. If there are unhappy customers, you're sure to hear their whole story on the Net. You can also check out the BBB website to get more official customer service ratings.

It's funny how sellers often put off repairs until they have to be done in order to sell the home. Many buyers don't make the time to tend to repairs, nor do they want to take the time to call contractors. The same is usually true with sellers. They put things off until the repairs need to be done.

If you have two or more of these indications of foundation issues, it's a good idea to take action before things get worse. The best action you can take is to hire an independent professional structural engineer with home foundation experience to perform an inspection. An engineer that has no financial ties whatsoever to any foundation repair company. This way you are more likely to get an unbiased opinion on the condition of your concrete slab foundation.

What Happens If You Do Not Get Your Foundation Repaired?




Foundation repairs are the most expensive, and sometimes the hardest type of damage to detect. This is the reason why they are so expensive, and difficult to fix. As soon as you notice problems with your foundation, it is already too late and will cost you a lot of money to fix.

Mold Exposure. Mold can kill. Don't fool around with this problem. Mold can also cause symptoms that appear as a common cold. It can cause respiratory problems, sinus and nasal congestion along with watery eyes, and sore throat. You can begin to cough and get skin irritations. Mold can trigger asthma attacks. Children, the elderly and pregnant women are at high risk.



This is one of the first signs that something wrong is happening with your concrete slab foundation. Windows and doors that used to open and close easily have now become more difficult and noisy to operate.

See, when you bring in a professional, they can look carefully at your problem and make sure they match it with the proper solution. That way, you don't fill up a crack only to have your basement walls collapse a few years down the road.

we used the best known foundation contractors to fix our first home, even though necessary, can have a huge negative impact on your budget. But many people feel as if the cost is a justifiable investment. If not given proper attention, cracks can eventually be the cause of leaks which, in turn, can damage your carpet, drywall, insulation, furniture plus many other items over time.

But don't assume the company is reliable just because they are registered with the BBB. You need to take some time and look at their BBB profile. First of all, check their rating. Have they won any awards for outstanding service? If so, you've probably found a winner. On the other hand, if their profile is marred by customer complaints, you should think twice before moving forward. Make sure you read the complaints to get a good idea of what you can expect from them. your best bet is to find a company with a clean slate.

You might think that a small crack is nothing to worry about, however the crack may be much worse than it appears and the ground might be masking the problem. This is why you want a trained engineer to come out and take a look.

It's easy to fix a leaky faucet and a lender doesn't care about that. But they do care about damp basements, leaky roofs and faulty heating and air. And even if the seller agrees to lower the sales price to offset any problems, problems of this type won't make it past first base with a mortgage company. If you intend to get a home loan, repairs will need to be made before, not after your closing.