foundation repair/piers

[jdcf]

Does anyone have experience, advice, or recommendations about foundation repair? I did a search but did not seem to find anything already posted.

We have some cracks around the front door that I want to have checked - also a hairline crack running down from one of the windows.

Thank you.

[ShowMeOKC]

Being a Realtor in Oklahoma, I get to deal with this a lot. Truth is, it's hard to know who to trust when you're looking at foundation repair companies. They make money one way. By repairing. One would hope there are honest ones around who will shoot you straight if you don't need any repair work, or if you only need minimal repair, but to know 100%, you need an unbiased opinion from someone who doesn't profit from the repair work itself. Personally, I'd hire a structural engineer to evaluate the property. He/she will get paid their standard fee (usually just a few hundred dollars) for the evaluation, and stand nothing to gain by evaluating it one way or another. Then you'll have an honest, educated evaluation based on structural knowledge, rather than an evaluation that could possibly be motivated by personal gain.

I hope that helps.

[flintysooner]

Only experience I've had was with PowerLift who had worked on the house I purchased a few years ago. No problems and they were very good to work with on transferring the warranty. When I say no problems I mean no more settling at all with any of the exterior walls.

[Drake]

Being a Realtor in Oklahoma, I get to deal with this a lot. Truth is, it's hard to know who to trust when you're looking at foundation repair companies. They make money one way. By repairing. One would hope there are honest ones around who will shoot you straight if you don't need any repair work, or if you only need minimal repair, but to know 100%, you need an unbiased opinion from someone who doesn't profit from the repair work itself. Personally, I'd hire a structural engineer to evaluate the property. He/she will get paid their standard fee (usually just a few hundred dollars) for the evaluation, and stand nothing to gain by evaluating it one way or another. Then you'll have an honest, educated evaluation based on structural knowledge, rather than an evaluation that could possibly be motivated by personal gain.

I hope that helps.

Agree!

[blangtang]

its a lot different if you have a concrete slab, but..

Its been about 6 years, but i called a couple of those foundation companies about some issues. I had an old house with a basement underneath about 1/4 of the structure . it had concrete that had cracked in the stem walls of the basement. this was not a slab foundation house, so YMMV.

these places in the yellow pages have some sort of patented system which they try to apply to any and every situation, and charge an arm and leg in the process. they proposed some sort of diagonal drilling thru the basement wall (that was already cracked) and into the earth, with some piers that have spikes attached, or some such product. that was supposed to be some sort of cure all....($6k to $9K)i ended up getting a structural engineer (retired OU engineering prof) who helped me solve negative drainage and water issues.

those powerlift and american leveling places might be better suited to slab foundations. but if you call them up they will come out and tell you that your situation requires their patented system to fix the issue and you should be prepared to pay them for their intellectual property "rental" service.