Expectations of Concrete Slab Foundation Repair in the Dallas Fort Worth Region of Texas

Prepared by the Staff of Granite Foundation Repair, Inc.

Foundation repair and house leveling is an issue of major concern for residential and commercial property owners in the Dallas Fort Worth area. This paper looks at the extent to which a foundation can be fixed and what the homeowner can expect after the repair.

'Fix it with us, and fix it forever' is one fantastic slogan: What's wrong with this slogan? Why won't a competent foundation repair contractor make such a simple claim? What is wrong with a simple, all encompassing foundation repair warranty?

Truth is that a foundation repair contractor would be ill advised to guarantee that there will never be another foundation problem. We will talk more about that later. It is unfortunate that overzealous foundation repair companies will mislead the public with phrases like 'we guarantee that you will never have another foundation problem' in their radio, TV and print advertising.

Foundation contractors cannot promise to "level a house". Due to stiffening of wooden timbers in walls and the roof, it is seldom practical to achieve a total foundation lift. Furthermore, some houses were not built flat. The foundation repair contractor has to rely upon visual signs, and how the house responds during the lift, to determine the amount of foundation lift and house leveling that is practical.

Dallas Fort Worth's clay soils coupled with seasonal drying and flooding are the causes of many foundation problems. Clay soil has several characteristics which make it unsatisfactory as an underlying base material to support a concrete slab foundation. These characteristics include: resistance to soil compaction, moisture induced swelling, drought induced shrinkage, and clay's lack of adhesion in the presence of excessive water.

During new construction, a contractor may grade off or cut a hill while filling in a valley. Clay soil in the cut area is densely compacted, while the fill is loosely compacted. It will take decades for the fill to achieve full compaction. Throughout that time, as the soil compacts, it drops. The foundation under dropping soil will bend and eventually break due to the uneven ability of the soil to support the house. Since we can't move the house and compact the soil, piers are added to lift and support the damaged section of the foundation.

Water damage to a foundation can arise from poor drainage, plumbing leaks, or over watering. The clay loses adhesion and its ability to support the foundation. The unsupported section of the foundation drops. The repair normally consists of two parts: 1) solve the water problem with drainage correction (surface drains, French drains and grading) and 2) add piers to lift and support the foundation.

Moderately excessive water can cause foundation upheaval. The soil expands and lifts the foundation. One foundation repair method is to lift the rest of the house to the heaved elevation. A more practical approach is to first correct the water drainage problem with French drains and other drain types. Plumbing leaks will also cause upheaval of the foundation.

Construction on a hillside, along a retainer wall, or next to a stream or pond poses two problems that lead to the need for house leveling. As already discussed, there is the problem of excavating or leveling building pads to flat, firm soil, while filling low areas with loosely compacted soil. The other problem is total or partial slope failure, with the soil moving down a hillside or toward a stream. Early signs of this kind of soil movement include leaning mailboxes, tilted telephone poles, and cracks in the street. The repair method for this type of problem may be complex and include the enhancement or addition of retainer structures, or as simple as the addition of piers on the downhill side of a foundation.

Will cracks in the brick close up after the house is lifted? Most of the time the gaps will at least partially close. In really bad situations, a brick wall will literally walk along the slab. Lifting the slab leaves the crack almost as wide as before the lift. The solution then is to hire a mason to repair the wall after the house has been leveled or stabilized.

Are recent advances in foundation rigidity preventing foundation problems? The answer is yes on properly compacted lots. On lots that are poorly compacted or have water drainage problems, the whole house will simply tilt. The only way to repair a solidly built, tilting foundation , is to extensively pier the house, both inside as well as outside. With recent construction methods, this means interior piers on a grid pattern every 8 to 10 feet, as well as piers around the complete perimeter of the concrete foundation.

The financial objectives of the homeowner can limit the extent of foundation repair. A foundation repair specialist or engineer may at times be able to predict future problems, but the homeowner or builder may be unwilling to pay for more piers than are needed to fix any but the worst problems.

Once a slab cracks, it is usually financially impractical to fix the crack. Most homeowners resist removing all the floor coverings to enable crack repair. Crack repair requires widening of the crack, removal of loose debris, and filling the crack with epoxy. Structurally, a properly built foundation with adequate reinforcing steel will continue to hold the cracked area together without the addition of epoxy.

The type of underpinning that is used can limit the quality of a foundation repair. In spite of a lot of marketing hype, there is no one best foundation repair method for all concrete slab foundations. A reputable foundation repair contractor will draw upon an arsenal of foundation repair methods to assure that the repair method is consistent with the needs of the structure. Common repair methods include: Pushed Steel Piers, Helical Steel Piers, Pushed Pre-Cast Concrete Pilings, Poured Concrete Pilings, and drainage correction with French drains or surface drains.

After foundation repair, other areas of the foundation are still free to move and have problems which may later require foundation repair. The rest of the house can move due to any of the reasons cited above, while the stabilized portion of the house remains firmly in place. Additionally, the repaired foundation may be susceptible to heaving if drainage or plumbing problems have not been corrected.

Foundation repair does not eliminate the need for continuing maintenance. Underpinning and lifting or stabilizing an area of the house with piers does not make the structure immune to future foundation problems. All areas of the house remain susceptible to water induced damage which may arise from drying, overwatering and plumbing leaks . Changes in foundation loading, such as the addition of a second story, can adversely impact the underpinned as well as the unrepaired areas of a foundation.

This article is not appropriate for all areas of the country. It has been written to address the common clay soil foundation repair and house leveling problems that are experienced in residential and commercial foundations in the Dallas Fort Worth area including the cities of Arlington, Grand Prairie, Irving, Frisco, Coppell, The Colony, Carrollton, Plano, Richardson, Garland, Forney, Mesquite, & Mansfield.