Foundation Issues (Plano, Cedar Hill, Seagoville: insurance, new home, transfer)

[dallasite]

Could someone explain how you can get comfortable with a home that has had its foundation repaired? I've read on here a bunch of places to watch out for settling. The house has a lifetime warranty on the area that was repaired. Will having it repaired once hurt resale in the future? And, does anyone know reputable foundation repair companies? Or are they all the same?

The home is in Plano, if that helps with a discussion as to foundation companies.

Thanks for your help.

[socketz]

To be honest, if the home in Plano is over 15 years old and hasn't had foundation work, I'd be more suspicious. Foundation work is common in Plano and most people that have had repairs done also have a transferrable warranty. It's just not a big deal in these parts. In CA, foundation repairs, go ahead and knock 30% off the price. Not here.

[lh_newbie]

If a home has had foundation repairs - ask for the engineering reports. If you are serious about wanting to buy the house, get an engineer (one that you pay, not one of those "we'll check it for free" people - they just want to sell you and have a biased opinion). They will measure the house and compare it with the previous report.

I bought a home that had repairs 9 years ago. The measurements were all just about spot-on from the post-repair measurements, meaning no additional settlement has happened. This is what you want. If there is continued settling, then you need to weigh that into the decision (and offer price). Incidentally, if you get a report and walk away, they will legally have to disclose the settling, meaning that they will probably have to lower their price anyhow.

We bought the house, even though it had repairs on the foundation. We have piers installed on the perimeter of the entire east side of our foudation. About 15-20 total (been a bit since I've reviewed the reports).

Definitely keep your reports for future resale.

Brian

[socketz]

I looked at a few homes in Deerfield (Legacy and Preston) that had settling you could see (cracks in the plaster) and feel (floor was tilted).

Niether had work done, but probably should have. Seems to be normal here to have some foundation shift/settling.

[momof2dfw]

I actually only know a handful of people that have had to have foundation work done. Not EVERY house is going to need foundation work. There are some ways to help possibly prevent it from happening though. As for a house that has had issues in the past that have been repaired, get an engineer to do a report for you as already suggested. If it was repaired properly and as long as you maintain the property well it should not have any future issues or many of dire consequences. Usually a home that has had foundation work is sometimes (not all the time but sometimes) better off than one that has not in that area. Sadly newer homes are the ones w/ the most problems nowadays. Builders/developers filling in land and not compacting the soil and giving it time to settle before starting to build on the dirt. Then the builders are not doing the proper support for the foundations nor the houses that they are building. Just as you should be worried about the foundation you also need to look at the supports in the attic. Those can lead to just as many problems if not more than a house w/ a foundation that has had a few minor repairs.

[GoPadge]

It seems the parts of the Metroplex that have the best soil aren't the most desirable. Back in the fall I found a map of the different soiltype in the area. The best soil was in Seagoville. I'll have to see if I can dig up the map again.

[socketz]

I definitely would not pick an area for the soil type.

There is also no guarantee that if you buy a home with 'good soil' that the foundation will not shift. Your insurance company is going to hit you with a higher premium just for the home be older and the liklihood of shift occuring anyway. Only new homes get out of this because the builder assumes the liability.

Again, I have talked to many people about foundation issues and they don't seem to be a big thing in older areas. In new areas they are a red flag, but in both of the areas I heard this was an issue, the builder went above and beyond to fix the problem on their nickel.

[eusjim]

We have repaired numerous homes in your area. The key is to assure that the quality of repair is a free from human error as possible. For instance, a hurried crew can cheat using some foundation repair methods. The result of that is that the company will be out every year to provide warranty work until you say forget it.
We recommend steel piers for the lowest incidence of warranty work. The installation quality of pressed steel piers is almost totally independent of the crew performing the work. Steel goes down to rock, and will not stop until it hits a rock like surface. Concrete is pressed down until the clay soil provides sufficient resistance. That clay soil resistance is highly dependent upon moisture content at the time the pier is installed, and in later years a concrete pier can sink if it was not installed properly installed. The warranty remedy for a sinking concrete pier is to add steel shims at the top of the pier. Kind of like throwing gravel in a mud pit and hoping it will stay up.
jim.
www.granitefoundationrepair.com, member Foundation Repair Association

[eusjim]

You are not going to get away from bad soil in the DFW area. 90% of it contains Montmorollinite clay, which can expand as much as 6 inches when wet. If the total underside of a slab was uniformly wet, the clay would lift the whole house... no problem. Reality is that moisture content is never uniform under a house, in part due to either poor drainage or poor sprinkler control.
The older the concrete slab, the worse the problems when they arise.. There has been a lot of work over the decades to improve slab design.
Post tension alone is not a cure all. It is overrated.
The best foundations are slab above ground grade, built by making an elevated slab on deep drilled concrete or steel piers, using a void box during the pour, to keep the slab 2 feet above the ground. The void box later dissolves away... leaving you with the 21st century version of the 1920s-1950s pier and beam house. A pier and beam is very good, provided that proper drainage and ventilation are maintained so that no water accumulates under the house.
Best of luck .

Jim President, www.GraniteFoundationRepair.com

[shajwhite]

Cedar Hill, Texas (Lake Ridge area) is the worst for fundation issues. Why?