Does anyone have a foundation repair experience or anecdote? (Dallas: credit, buying a house)

[garyrutledge]

Originally Posted by FalconheadWest

Foundation work is NOT anywhere near around $1000 a pier. There are many different kinds of piers, and on average, they range from $250-400 a pier, most around the $300 mark. From my 9 years in real estate, the most any client has ever paid in foundation work, including the pre and post slab leak tests and the engineer's reports for before and after the work, it was $10,500. Most are around $2500-4000. You are NOT looking at tens of thousands of dollars unless your house is a complete shambles and the entire thing needs piers inside and outside.

yeah i have only heard about work usually costing 6-12000. however, i'm wondering how effective the work is? does it usually correct the foundation problems? do houses with foundation work usually require more work later or does the initial corrections usually do the trick? the reason why i ask is because i found two really nice houses in great neighborhoods that i'm interested in buying because they are being offered at lower prices due to foundation problems. one of the houses just had work completed, the other has not had anything done to it.

[escanlan]

Originally Posted by garyrutledge

yeah i have only heard about work usually costing 6-12000. however, i'm wondering how effective the work is? does it usually correct the foundation problems? do houses with foundation work usually require more work later or does the initial corrections usually do the trick? the reason why i ask is because i found two really nice houses in great neighborhoods that i'm interested in buying because they are being offered at lower prices due to foundation problems. one of the houses just had work completed, the other has not had anything done to it.

If the work is properly engineered, performed and maintained after that then normally there is no problems, barring any significant acts of nature.

Are you buying as an investment? Are these slab or pier & beam?

[Cha Ching]

Just make sure that if you do get your work done, to keep a soaker hose around your foundation, and try to water daily during the very dry summer months.

That way when the floods come in May or June, your foundation won't just give up the ghost and CRACK in half again.

[chaz1956]

Stone foundations are not used very much in the construction of homes or buildings today. However, there are several old homes and buildings were these structures still existent. When a stone foundation cracks the average homeowner or complete - undeniable - yourselfer, cannot hatch the imperative repairs on his or her own. For this instigation undeniable will mean imperative to hire professionals to accomplish the required repairs. Stone repair dallas crack for several reasons, tuck away drench damage being the most prominent create. Cracks caused by drench leakage in stone walls, which are mortared trust substitute feeble identified by a single thin crack located in a particular area of the wall

[thambers]

I live in West Plano, just west of the Dallas Tollroad and east of 121. A few of the homes in my neighborhood has had foundation repairs; however Grand homes has been battling with a few to pay... How severe does the cracks have to be in order for hte warranty to kick in? We have cracks but this area is known to have sever foundation problems... i prefer to take care of it now rather than wait for it to be a danger to our health/life. ANy suggestions on how the warranty is triggered?

Originally Posted by little elmer

We're in the midst of a foundation warranty situation with our builder. There's two different companies (with two different repair methods - tunneling and traditional pier) bidding on the job. While the homebuilder (Ryland) will be footing the bill, it does present us with decisions regarding the type of repair and the warranty that each company offers.

To be specific, the traditional pier (Company A) would offer a 20/yr warranty and would require that we move out of our home for a short period (2-3 weeks). An inconvenience, but a per diem would be supplied. The added benefit to this option is that the kitchen tile would have to be replaced (and possibly the master bath tile), which we were having trouble with anyway.

Company B is using a method they refer to as "tunneling", and does not require us to relocate. It will be a mess, and we wouldn't get the possible replacements of tile because they don't go through the floor, but the lifetime transferable warranty is sounding pretty sweet, especially considering the long term growth potential of the Little Elm area.

[FalconheadWest]

Originally Posted by thambers

I live in West Plano, just west of the Dallas Tollroad and east of 121. A few of the homes in my neighborhood has had foundation repairs; however Grand homes has been battling with a few to pay... How severe does the cracks have to be in order for hte warranty to kick in? We have cracks but this area is known to have sever foundation problems... i prefer to take care of it now rather than wait for it to be a danger to our health/life. ANy suggestions on how the warranty is triggered?

Are you in Kings Ridge with all the Grand foundation issues? Yikes!

For the most part, you need to read the tiny tiny fine print in your warranty packet. You need to show an issue that shows the foundation is failing and "not performing as intended". Many won't do anything until it's a fire hazard. If you can't open a door to the exterior or get out of a hallway because a door won't open, that's a fire hazzard.

Get an engineer's report and poossibly an attorney. If you bought the house has a resale or a foreclosure in that neighborhood, good luck! Those are harder to get covered...

[SF_home]

My home in northern Cal also has foundation issue. It was built on top of landfill. There was a geotech report done on it 13 years ago. The soil drilling was done, and the report said that it did not reach bed rock, and had to stop at 33 ft, since that was the limit of their drilling equipment.
Anyone has a recommendation or ever heard of such landfill depth?
The house is one level, has a ~4ft deep foundation, and ~ 1500 sq ft dwelling.

[Dfwhomeowner]

Found a map of texas soil...now you know for foundation repairs are so frequent. I had mine done 10 yrs back...here is the map http://www.premierfoundationrepair.c...airsoilmap.png

[escanlan]

Originally Posted by Dfwhomeowner

Found a map of texas soil...now you know for foundation repairs are so frequent. I had mine done 10 yrs back...here is the map http://www.premierfoundationrepair.c...airsoilmap.png

Nice map! Thank you for sharing. I'll pass it around for others to use.

[galore]

Cool map. It pretty much mirrors the landmass of the USA during the Cretaceous period, where the areas shown with high swelling potential soil were covered by a shallow ocean. Limestone bedrock developed during this era and eventually weathered into clay -> expansive soil.
The limestone bedrock, which is not very deep under the clay, is an excellent, stable substrate. It's a pity that homebuilders in DFW don't just drill down a few feet to reach rock and pour a slab over piers and void boxes in between... That way houses here would have a rock solid foundation! Apparently one has to go expensive custom to get a good foundation?!