How to Prevent Foundation Damage

If your foundation is just starting to show signs of damage it may not be too late to start some prevention tactics and not have to spend thousands of dollars on repairs.

The main way to stop or prevent more damage to your foundation is to keep the soil around your property moist enough so that it does not dry out and pull away from your foundation, and wet enough so that it doesn't swell up and cause problems.

This means making sure your gutters are clear and take rainwater away from your house, this prevents a lot of water from getting dumped into the soil around your house.

Also, during the summer or any dry part of the year it's a good idea to water the soil a little (or a lot depending on how dry it is) in order to keep it moist.

This isn't really an exact science, and if you are very concerned about it, consider getting an engineer who can properly analyze your foundation and soil to tell you exactly what you need.

A repair job to your foundation can cost many thousands of dollars, so some quick prevention steps now can save you huge headaches later.

Hope this helps.

Let me know what you think in the comments!

Just How Much Will A Foundation Repair Cost You?

As I mentioned in my first post getting my foundation repaired cost me over $7,000 and I live in Plano, Texas where many houses have problems with their foundations. Here's another article I found which details some of the factors that go into how much this might end up costing you. I hope its useful to you:

Foundation repair costs can vary from only a few hundred dollars, to over $20,000 depending on the severity of the damage and repairs needed.

If you have uneven floors, cracked walls, or if your doors are getting stuck or not closing properly you may have foundation problems and need repairs.

To be properly informed it is important to have a structural engineer do an inspection of your foundation to determine exactly what repairs need to be done. This can cost anywhere from $300 to $800.

It is important to have this inspection done because without it, you will have no idea exactly what repairs need to be done to your home. A foundation repair company will often be able to tell you what needs to be done, but ideally you will have a third party (in this case the structural engineer) to make sure the proper work is done the first time. This avoids needing future work done and can save you from additional costs of unnecessary repairs.

On average it can cost between $5,000 and $7,000 to do a foundation repair. This number does vary a lot depending on many factors such as the size of the house, the severity of the damage, and the method of repair (pressed piling, concrete piers, steel piers, etc).

A larger house may obviously need more piers or new foundation support, this can really run up the cost of the work being done. Each additional pier or piling can cost several hundred to a thousand dollars each.

If the foundation is severely damaged or has settled a lot it will be more expensive to repair and may require more piers to correctly level the house.

One way to save money on your foundation repair is to get multiple quotes from different companies. By comparing the quotes of two or more companies you may be able to save a lot of money.

It is important to keep in mind that different companies use different methods of repair, and this can greatly influence your final cost. Some repairs like concrete and steel piers can be more permanent, but can also be much more expensive and disruptive to your property during the installation.

A foundation repair is often an expensive job, but it is very important to take care of as it greatly influences the value of your home. This can be especially important if you are thinking of selling your home in the near future, or are trying to sell your home now.

Why Its Important to Get a Structural Engineer to Look At Your Foundation

Here is an article I found on the benefits of hiring an engineer to analyze your property before getting your foundation repaired. As I said in my initial post, this is a step I skipped, much to my regret. After only one year from getting my foundation fixed I noticed new cracks in the concrete and I had to have another company come fix my house correctly. Heres the article:

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You may want to consider hiring a structural engineer who can do a complete and thorough analysis of your foundation and make recommendations on exactly what repairs you will need made.

Another benefit of hiring a structural engineer is that they will usually be able to tell you steps you can take in the future to prevent your foundation problems from reappearing.

It is also possible that if your foundation is not in a very critical state that the engineer will simply recommend some preventative measures such as keeping the ground around your home properly watered year round. In this case you could end up saving thousands of dollars by not having to hire a foundation repair company.

By using the services of a structural engineer you can ensure that the foundation company does the work necessary to completely level your home and make sure you won't have problems again in the future. If you don't hire an independent engineer beforehand you are at the mercy of the foundation repair company to tell you what repairs they think need to be made.

The only downside of hiring an engineer to analyze your property is that it can be fairly expensive, ranging from $300 to possibly more than $800 depending on factors like the size of your property and how much work the engineer has to do to properly assess your damage. If you have a small crawl space that the engineer will have to crawl through to complete the inspection it can increase the cost and how much time it takes to get a proper assessment.

Still, even with the expense many people feel safer getting the opinion of a trusted and knowledgeable third party before hiring a company to fix their foundation as foundation repairs can cost several thousand dollars. The cost can rapidly increase depending on how much work is needed, with some repairs costing over $20,000 for large properties.

The only time you may be able to get by without hiring a structural engineer is if you know the repair is a very small job and the cost of hiring an engineer outweighs just having the work performed and being done with it. However, this is probably the minority of cases where a foundation repair is necessary and most of the time it would be wise to hire an engineer to know exactly what is going on.

Next, go to foundation repair Dallas to learn how to save thousands of dollars on your foundation repair. Jack Fisher lives in Texas and has been helping people save money and take care of their foundation issues for several years now.

Foundation Repair Tips

I created this blog because I had to get my foundation repaired recently and I was absolutely shocked at how much it ended up costing me.

In the end I paid over $7,000 to have my foundation repaired which is a lot of money for me. I found out later that I probably could have saved a good amount of money if I had known more about the process from the beginning.

So anyway I started this blog to hopefully help people out so they don't run into the same trouble I did.

Some quick tips:

• Always get more than 1 quote before choosing a construction company to repair your foundation.
• Consider hiring an engineer who is qualified to analyze your soil and foundation to determine exactly whats wrong with it. I skipped this step since it costs around $400 to have an engineer do this but I think this was a mistake in the end.
• Make sure you know what the warranty covers from the company that is doing your repairs. A lot of companies offer "lifetime warranties" but you want to make sure you know exactly what is recovered and what you are going to have to pay for in the future if something goes wrong.

More tips to come...

Thanks for visiting.