Why Invest in Home Foundation Repair?
The foundation of your home is, arguably, the most important part. Without a solid foundation, your home could be at risk of collapse or other structural issues, water damage, flooding, or pest entry. The foundation, whether it is a slab, crawlspace, or basement foundation, holds up the entire home. That is why it is important to invest in home foundation repair as soon as you see an issue in your home. The average cost of foundation repairs in the entire U.S., according to Home Advisor, is upwards of one thousand dollars. Numbers vary based on location, but more extensive repairs can cost well over $10,000. Of course, you can usually avoid such extensive and expensive repairs if you check your foundation for signs of a problem regularly, especially after abnormal weather conditions or temperatures.
Investing in foundation repair from Affordable Foundation and Home Repair as soon as you see problems will help to keep the issues from becoming worse, as more severe foundation problems require more invasive, complicated, and costly repairs.
How to Determine if You Need Home Foundation Repair
There are a lot of different symptoms that you can check for to see if your Alabama home has a foundation problem. Examine the following areas of your home to ensure that your foundation is in good health:
Exterior of the Home
Cracks in the foundation itself- Visible settlement or shifting of the foundation
- Voids and spaces appearing near the foundation
- A leaning or bent chimney
- Cracks in your concrete slab
- Cracks or compaction in bricks or masonry on home
- Cracked or settling stairs, porch, or stoop
Interior of the Home
Cracks in the drywall or ceiling- Floor cracks in the basement
- Sloped or uneven floors throughout home
- Sticking doors or windows in home
- Bowing or leaning foundation walls
- Gaps between the walls and the floor or ceiling
- Water seepage or leakage
- Structural damage in the crawlspace
- Mold or mildew growth in the basement or crawlspace
- Leaning or bent beams or posts in crawlspace
When examining your home for foundation problems, be sure to probe the concrete of the foundation. If you notice that it chips and flakes easily, it may mean that the foundation has started to deteriorate. This could be due to poor concrete mixing when the concrete was poured or of water damage from puddles around the foundation and poor drainage. Also be sure to examine the size and position of interior cracks and cracks in the foundation. If the cracks are greater than 1/4 inch, they are likely the sign of a foundation problem. If they are smaller, they may be due to normal foundation settlement. Also look at the positioning of cracks – wide horizontal wall cracks and cracks that run vertically from the ceiling down the wall may be signs of a more serious settlement issue that fine spiderweb cracks or small stair-step shaped cracks in bricks.
Home Foundation Repair Solutions in Alabama
Fortunately, Affordable Foundation and Home Repair offers a variety of home foundation repair solutions that are perfect for any problem you might encounter.
Underpinning
For foundations that have settled and are in need of stabilization, we can install foundation piers. These devices are made of steel and installed underground below the settling foundation. Once the piers have reached stable soils, the top portion is attached to the foundation with a bracket and the pier is hydraulically lifted to raise the concrete. Foundation piers also provide enough stability for the foundation to ensure that it does not sink further in the future.
Tiebacks & Plate Anchors
We also offer solutions for foundation walls that have started to bow or lean due to pressure from the soil outside. Helical tiebacks work a lot like foundation piers
but are driven into the ground horizontally and anchored into the soil adjacent to the affected foundation wall. Plate anchors are two-part devices that utilize an anchor in the yard soil and a rod and plate attached to the wall. The rod connects to both the anchor and plate and is tightened to pull the wall outward.
Polyjacking
We also offer polyjacking to lift sunken concrete slab foundations. With this method, small holes are drilled into the concrete and then a polyurethane grout is injected under the slab. This grout expands as it is injected, lifting the foundation and compressing the soil to prevent voids from forming underneath the concrete.
Our experienced team can help find the right home foundation repair solution for your Alabama home. We offer free estimates and have financing options available to ensure that you get the most affordable option as well as the most effective. We even offer additional services, like basement waterproofing and crawlspace encapsulation to keep water issues from causing a foundation problem in your home. Contact Affordable Foundation and Home Repair today to find out more.