I have a property with a sloping slab foundation (on a flip), that’s about 30 years old in a GREAT NEIGHBORHOOD. It is in Dallas/Ft.Worth, Texas, where we tend to have cement foundations on most homes made after the 1960s, and we have expansive clay with a thin layer of topsoil…which leads to severe foundation problems over time, especially with the older homes (1960-80) that may not have post tension foundations.
When you guys get quotes for foundation work…
Do you find foundation guys tend to quote an EXCESS number of piers that are required? Of course that pads their pockets more.
And do they quote all the “detail work” in their written quote…like roofing guys usually do…ie removal of excess dirt from the property, patching cracks in the mortar, etc? I would assume this is a given, YES, but I want to check…?
Do you guys go with primarily cement piers, or steel piers? I have heard steel piers are better, but cement piers are more cost effective and usually work just as good. The key thing is - a lifetime, transferable warranty which will make the new home buyer “happy”. LOL
ceo,
I have only had one foundation repaired, went with a local company with a good, long-term reputation.
It cost about 10K to have steel piers (4, if I remember right) put in. The house did not have a slab, but a concrete perimeter foundation. The house SCREAMED when it was being raised, made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. Be sure to be there when they raise it. The screaming and groaning was nails and plaster being wrenched out of its place.
We repaired the cracks ourselves, both inside and out. There was a guarantee that it would not settle in that spot again.
Back when I started everybody was afraid of foundation work. That was my main advantage in bidding. As soon as foundation problems were identified everybody else would run for the hills and I could bid what I wanted. I have had foundation work done about 4 times. The quote includes all the work and clean up. It usually does not include crack repair. Do the foundation first and repair the cabinets or cracks etc later. I have not had much damage from the work. My piers have all been concrete and cost about $100/pier. 10 piers is A LOT of piers.
I would also recommend testing the plumbing both before and after the foundation repair. As most of the plumbing is embedded in the foundation it could wreck some havoc on the plumbing if you need to lift/adjust the foundation a lot.
I found out there are a whole bunch of foundation companies out there, and I found this one company that gives you a before & after engineer’s report, and a before & after plumbing system test, and they are priced at just $175 a pier. This particular property turned out it needed about 29 piers (yikes), but the deal fell apart at the closing table anyway since the retards had a zillion government liens on the property.
Luckily we’ve only had one of those type deals that fell apart right before closing. Ours was on a HUD home where the foreclosure was all dicked up. This one was before the big foreclosure paperwork mess hit the media. Glad I didn’t get that one. I wanted it at the time, but it was a year ago and I’d probably still be working on that one.