oundation repair

Still busy bidding the damage from last brutal summer..

Last summer was just brutal. Some of the foundations just could not endure without water. Remember the soaker hoses before it gets hot again. We wrote about it several times...here is one of the articles http://ezinearticles.com/?Prevent-Foundation-Repairs-With-the-Proper-Use-of-a-Soaker-Hose&id=6513967. Also, please don't put them too close to the house...this is what we found in a residence http://www.premierfoundationrepair.com/foundation/foundation-repair/

New Year Starts With An Old Enemy For Foundation Repairs - A Very Prolonged Drought

Causes for foundation repairs are still the same with the major offender being 'expansive soils'. An expansive soil has the ability to change it's volume greatly based on the amount of moisture present in the soil itself. Maintaining the moisture level at a constant level, or as close to constant as it can be, is the key factor in keeping the residence foundation problem free. The geological map present at premierfoundationrepair.com shows North Texas to be built on some of the most expansive soils in the nation. That fact in combination with an ongoing, historically severe drought, is a recipe for severe foundation problems.

The most effective method to keep the moisture levels constant is the use of soaker hoses. Here are some guidelines on how to properly use a soaker hoses:

1. Most manufacturers recommend positioning the hoses 3-4 inches under ground and 12-24" away from the edge of the residence's foundation. Of course each homeowner will have to find the best solutions also depending on their garden and vegetation arrangement around the house.

2. The homeowner should make sure the hoses are not right up against the slab. This may cause the water to flow under the foundations without dispersing uniformly causing additional problems with the foundations.

3. Once the soaker hoses are in place follow the manufacturer's directions for water pressure, back-flow device, pressure regulator and timer valves.

4. Soil composition will also make a difference when determining the best location of the soaker hoses. One of the best gauges of the effectiveness of the soaker hoses is the condition of the ground around the slab. Too wet, with standing water or cracked and pulled away from the slab are indications of too much or not enough watering. Another method is to use a metal rod or re-bar 2-3 feet in length. While inserting the rod in the ground, the rod will stop or find very strong resistance once the dry ground is encountered.

Also, homeowners should look at the vegetation around the foundation (flower beds, shrubs, ground covers, etc. etc.). If the plants look healthy, that's an indication the roots are in moist soil. In the end, all of those methods, used together, give the most accurate assessment of the homeowner's ground conditions.

Homeowners should remember to check with the local municipalities to insure about times and days allowed for watering.

For more information on the proper use of a soaker hose in regards to foundation repairs, contact Premier Foundation Repair Inc at 3767 Forest Ln, Dallas, TX 75244 (972) 417-0823 http://www.premierfoundationrepair.com

Prospective Homeowners Should Check This List Twice and Potentially Save A Bundle

Dallas, TX (PRWEB) December 13, 2011 In almost all cases, a professional inspection is required by law and, most likely, by the landing institution, before any home sale can be completed. Once the professional inspection is completed, the pro's at premierfoundationrepair.com strongly suggests that the prospective homeowners do some of their own looking around.

"Obviously, no one has more at heart the interest of the homeowners than the homeowners themselves. Should the inspector miss something, the new homeowner could save thousands of dollars and lots of headaches by catching potential foundation repairs themselves", says Julie Goines, CEO of Premier Foundation Repair Inc.

Here is a short but very important list of items to look for:

1. Do a slow walk around the perimeter of the house, possibly during and after a storm. This may sound a bit strange but any issues with drainage are easier to be highlighted during a heavy rain storm or shortly after.

2. If you are doing the walk-around during the rain storm, closely inspect the gutters and downspout all around the house. Look for leaking corners and overflowing gutters. Also, check the downspouts and make sure they are channeling the water away from the foundation of the house either with a long drain above ground or in some sort of underground drainage system.

3. If you are walking around the house after the storm look for standing water around the foundation. You do not want to see any standing water within 10 feet from the foundation’s perimeter. You also don’t want to see dirt pulling away from the foundation slab and exposing the bottom of the foundation.

4. On the outside walls, look for separations in the mortar between the bricks and or cracking in the bricks themselves. Pay close attention the foundation’s corners for signs of cracking. Most the stress in a foundation is pointed at the corners. Also make sure the dirt or grade is not too high over the foundation ‘s height.

5. Inspect bushes and trees around the house for signs of possible over grown roots system. Mature trees with large root systems should not be closer than 20 feet from the foundations. Most of the damage to residence foundations is not caused by a root pushing up of the foundation, although possible. Instead, most of issues occur when large root systems soak up a large quantity of water and with a poorly compacted soil, the foundation looses support. Look for close by sidewalks and walkways to notice if root systems have caused any damages to those nearby structures.

6. Ask neighbors if they had to do foundation repairs on their residences

Once you step inside, there are few more things to check:

1. Make sure all door’s frames are straight and plumb and that the doors close properly or don’t swing open due to being out of square.

2. Look around the corners of the door and windows for cracks in the sheetrock.

3. Wherever tiles are present, look for splitting tiles and separating grout lines.

4. Check for cracks in the garage floor or other concrete floors.

5. Look for separation between molding, walls and ceiling.

6. Look for uneven and sloping floors.

This checklist will greatly reduce the chances of anyone missing a possible issue with the residence foundation and will give you a chance to address the issues before purchasing the house.

If you have any questions or need any help with your inspection, get in touch with the pros at Premier Foundation Repair Inc. for any assistance. They are a Dallas - Ft. Worth foundation repairs company located at 3767 Forest Ln  Dallas, TX 75244. They can be reached at (972) 417-0823

Preventing Foundation Repairs

Preventing foundation repairs in Dallas is not an easy task due to the very expansive soils and the dramatic weather conditions. To help, the professionals at Premier Foundation Repair in Dallas (http://www.premierfoundationrepair.com) have been using a proprietary solution based on a proven, recorded method.

Preventing Foundation Repairs

Even with the heat wave over, North Texas homeowners can't afford to let their guards down. Due to lack of any considerable rain, their home's foundations are still under constant stress caused by the shrinking soils. Homeowners can now make use of a widely known solution, routinely used in commercial constructions projects, soil stabilization.

The technique of soil stabilization allows the homeowners to be proactive in modifying the clay’s behavior and therefore preventing foundation repairs “The properties and effectiveness of these chemicals has been confirmed and consequentially applied in commercial building projects since the late 1950s.” – says Julie from Premier Foundation Repair Inc in Dallas, Texas.

As early as 1958-1960 several studies had been brought to completion showing how the proper application of these safe chemicals (mostly a combination of lime-fly ash and other compounds), did in fact improve, and stabilize, Texas' expansive soils.

By 1970, the U.S. Air Force had developed the Soil Stabilization Index System (SSIS) which was originally introduced by Texas A&M. Today civil engineers incorporate these techniques in almost every major public work, particularly highway building and airports where large areas on concrete rely on the grounds for direct support.

Most homeowners are not aware that this option is available to them, and often are not presented with such solutions by the local foundation repairs companies. At a consumer level, soil stabilization can be used for a residence's foundation but also for in-ground pools, driveways, patio slabs and other situations where the swelling and shrinking of the ground can cause damage to the structure.

Premier Foundation Repair Inc in Dallas strongly recommends homeowners to consider it - "Foundation repairs in Dallas can be costly and can sometimes reduce the value of the property if not addressed promptly. Homeowners should consult with a local foundation repair and soil stabilization company to explore the possibility of taking a proactive stance, rather than reacting once the damage has already taken place".

The residential application is mostly done with high pressure injection rods and results are obtained with little disturbance to the residence or the structure in question. The process is clean and expedient without any inconvenience for the homeowner. The chemicals are completely safe and proven to be effective for at least 60 years.

In case of new constructions, the soil stabilization process should be done before the structure is put in place for optimum results.

Premier Foundation Repair Inc is based at 3767 Forest Ln, Dallas and can be reached via phone or website. (972) 417-0823 http://www.premierfoundationrepair.com

New Features Bring Help To Foundation Repairs Visitors At PremierFoundationRepair.com

New website and at least four different ways for worried homeowners to get in touch with professionals about their foundation problems in Dallas. http://www.premierfoundationrepair.com allows homeowners to use social media for information regarding their individual situation.

 

With a new website packed with social media hook-ups, worried homeowners can now ask questions, send twitts, post photographs and much more to get some very quick responses to their inquires. New homeowners especially are part of a younger demographic and are very comfortable using social media channels for most of their communication.

Premier Foundation Repair Inc wants to be as close as possible to the homeowner which maybe wandering if what they see at the residence is anything they need to worry about and what level of an emergency are they facing. To cut down on responses time and engage possible customers in the social media space the new website includes:

1. Blog - The staff will post the latest and most interesting articles regarding foundation repairs and the visitor will be able to inquire and compare notes with other homeowners that may have had similar questions or are facing the same issues. The blog is moderated and visitors do not need to worry about off topic or offensive material being posted.

2. Facebook connect - Posting, interacting and taking advantage of the mobile features of Facebook is another feature made available at premierfoundationrepair.com. Here users can share what they like and suggest interesting content to their friends that maybe looking for foundation repair solutions.

3. Twitter - Using the @foundationsDFW tag, twitters can stay informed with the very latest news and notices about inspections, photographs of local inspections, one-to-one quick responses or just industry articles we release from time to time. This tool is used primarily while on the field to pass some quick notes to our twitter followers

4. Youtube, - Videos with real life examples of local foundation repairs are uploaded to the new Youtube channel. The homeowner can relate much more easily to a visual element instead of reading plain, dry text based pages.

In most instances, a thorough, in depth inspection is still necessary at the homeowner residence. However, “making an early connection with the owner and try to ease the fears and anxiety of a newly discovered foundation problem, is very important to us” - says Julie from Premier Foundation Repair Inc.

Premier Foundation Repair Inc is located in Dallas, Texas. They have been repairing foundations in Dallas and surrounding cities for over 30 years. They can be reached at:

Premier Foundation Repair Inc 3767 Forest Ln Dallas, TX 75244 (972) 417-0823 premierfoundationrepair.com

Foundation repairs and drainage. Another thing to check before it's too late.

As much as droughts and dry conditions can negatively affect the stability of the residence's foundations, so can excessive moisture caused by poor drainage around the house's perimeter. Expansive soils, acting like sponges will swell and shrink depending on the ground moisture content, such elastic movement put stress on the house foundation. We inspect quite a few residences during any given week. What we find is that sometime the issues causing the foundation problems are beyond the homeowners control. However, in most cases, some fairly simple steps to address some basic concern, would make a big difference in the health of the residences' foundations. For example, look at the picture below, can you spot one a possible problem with this scenario?

spout may cause foundation repairs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even the water barrier was no match in this situation. The rest of house had similar drainage issues that had to be addressed before a successful foundation repair could be done.

Draining water from the yard away from the house is just as important as watering the yard. Some solutions include sloping the grounds (grading), french drains, in same cases a pit and a sub pump are necessary to evacuate the water. By far the most important improvement a homeowner can do to the residence is to install gutters and down spouts.

All the roof's square footage is collecting water and, without gutters and downspouts, draining it most of the times, too close to the residence's foundation. Gutters and downspouts have to be designed sufficiently large and frequent to be able to handle the volume of wafer coming off the roof. Additionally, the installation of the  gutters and downspouts should direct the water flow away from the house, preferably to a street or a centralized drainage system.

Depending on the slope and shape of the yard, the downspouts need to be designed to make sure the water is carried away and dispersed as far possible from the foundation. Homeowners should inspect the house to make sure that the downspouts also have splash blocks when necessary and that these splash blocks are large enough and high enough to carry the water away from the foundation of the house.

Give Premier Foundation Repair a call if you suspect having foundation problems or drainage issues that need to be resolved before the foundation repairs can be done.

 

The heat is almost over...time to think about the down spouts!

As you know, the heat has been brutal for foundation repairs. However the summer is coming to an end. This would be a good time to start checking your gutters and down spouts before the storm arrive. Have a good weekend!  

http://www.prweb.com/releases/foundation-repairs-dallas/premier-foundation-repair/prweb8643102.htm