Major foundation repairs meet budget and deadline

“Well, fast and cheap. I tell my clients that they can have two out of three, but never all three.” More than one contractor has offered this wisdom when describing how to do business successfully.

The longer version goes something like this: it takes skill, experience, and specialized tools to do a good job quickly, and all of these ingredients cost more, so cheap can’t be mixed with good and fast. On the other hand, fast and cheap is usually an achievable goal because you can use unskilled labor and tools that are not that expensive. If you want something good and cheap, expect the job to take longer because cheaper labor won’t have the tools or skill to work quickly.

Foundation repair can be an exception to the “2 out of three” rule, as long as your foundation specialist has the proper tools and materials to handle a wide range of foundation problems. Many foundation repairs can be done quickly, effectively, and inexpensively, especially when compared to total foundation replacement, which is often considered the “only” option.

Foundation Example

Let’s look at a couple of examples of foundation repair to see if this goal can really be achieved well, quickly and cheaply. To begin with, we have a house with a basement wall that is being pushed inward by expansive soil. A poured concrete foundation wall has cracked in a couple places and is visibly bowing inward.

Contractor number 1

The first contractor called in to assess the damage shakes his head and gives homeowners the bad news: “I’ve seen this kind of damage before,” he recounts. “Unfortunately, the cracking and sagging is quite severe. The only way to permanently repair this damage is to demolish the sagging wall and rebuild a new wall in its place. We will have to put this half of the house on temporary supports for about 2 weeks. In addition to paying for the new wall, it’s going to cost more to get the demolished concrete to the landfill.”

Evaluation and Solution

This repair strategy may be good, but it is definitely not fast or affordable. But an experienced full-service foundation repair contractor could pull off this elusive triple play. He might propose the installation of wall anchors to stabilize the sloping wall and possibly bring it closer to its original position. Instead of taking two weeks and costing $30,000, a typical wall anchor repair can be completed in just a day or two for a fraction of the cost.

Foundation Example Number 2

What about a basement slab where a section has cracked and sagged several inches, rendering that part of the basement unusable? An experienced mason could easily recommend removing some or all of the sagging slab and then pouring fresh concrete to restore the slab to its original condition.

Once again, the contractor will have to deal with costly and disruptive demolition issues. And because the easily compressed soil would stay in place under the new concrete, there is a high chance of repeat cracking and subsidence.

the best repair

A faster, better, and less expensive way to address a settled slab problem is to place steel columns under the settled slab section until the columns reach a stable bearing floor. The set slab can then be raised to its original level position and anchored in place with brackets secured to the piers.

To finish the job, use mortar to fill the voids under the slab and the holes for the pillars.

This is another example of a job well done, in a timely and affordable manner. But to achieve this trifecta, you need to find an experienced foundation repair specialist.