Foundation repair advices in Utah by FoundationprosofUtah: Looking for a basement waterproofing company in Utah? If you want an unbiased opinion on your home, have a structural engineer assess your home. Engineers have nothing to sell but their services, so they will only recommend what is necessary to ensure the stability and and safety of a home. The average cost is around $400-$500.
These inspections should be conducted both inside the home (within the basement) and along all exterior surfaces of the foundation. In order to make absolutely sure your foundation is in the best possible condition, a professional should be the one to conduct the investigation of your foundation and assess the situation. By hiring a professional you are guaranteed a thorough investigation of your foundation. A professional has comprehensive knowledge of what your home foundation repair needs. They will not only fix the problem but give your home a stronger support system.
You may be a genius renovator but you could still come a cropper. Every street has an invisible ceiling that dictates how much buyers are prepared to pay, no matter how many tennis courts and basement gyms you add. The quality of fittings needs to be closely geared to the expectations and demands of the market sector the property is likely to appeal to. At one extreme, it would obviously be a false economy to deck out an historic Georgian townhouse in the opulent end of town with cheap MDF joinery and foam ceiling tiles. Conversely ‘the best house in the worst street’ syndrome is a recipe for disappointment. It sounds obvious, but this is a surprisingly common lapse of judgement.
The founding partners of Foundation Professionals of Utah recognized a need for a foundation repair contractor in our community that provides straight and honest answers and leaves the buying decision where it belongs—in the hands of the customer. As a foundation repair company, we seek to educate and consult our customers on all repair methods and let you decide how to proceed with your repairs. People recommend us because we treat them right. From the initial inspection appointment to the completed job, you can expect us to arrive on time, provide honest estimates and friendly service, and to solve your problem in a timely manner. See extra information at Salt Lake City Foundation Repair.
If your house is brand new those cracks are probably nothing much to worry about but do your homeowner due diligence and keep your eye on them over time. If they change in size or shape, or you see new ones, that’s a different story. Those cracks should be addressed quicker. Older homes can have foundations created from just about any material including stacked stones with mortar joints. I had one of these homes in the northeast U.S. and the foundation was in need of a bit of love; it and the house were over 150 years old. It’s easy to show age at 150! The foundation had a small leak in the older mortar and the water caused a slight bow; this happened long before I bought the home. One of the easiest ways to fix that was by doing basement foundation waterproofing. A waterproofing paint was applied to the whole wall from the inside. As I mentioned, the French drain was also installed in the yard to pull water away from the foundation. I made sure to complete these fixes as soon as I noticed the problem. The wall didn’t seem to move or leak again after I learned how to make those repairs to save my stone foundation.
Does foundation repair affect home value? Foundation issues will bring down the value of your home. How much depends on the extent of the damage. As a very rough estimate, significant issues can bring down the value as much as 10%-15%. On the plus side, 10%-15% of a $250,000 home is $25,000-$37,500. As we’ve seen, the average cost of repair is significantly lower than that. Make the right deal and you can save a nice chunk of change. Another thing to consider is that some buyers will get nervous just knowing the house had issues in the past. You might be comfortable buying the home and doing the work, but you may have trouble getting full value from it when it’s time to sell.
There are several causes for the foundation movement that occurs in and around your home. These problems in the Salt Lake City and surrounding areas are most commonly poor compaction, soil erosion and soil shrinking and expansion due to clay content. All of these causes are a direct result of the soil under your home and its temperature and water content. All of the solutions that we offer deal with eliminating or by-passing these causes.
Why you should split blocks for a rough finish. If the end of a block will be visible, and you’d like it to match the other rough surfaces, use a block splitter. You can probably rent a splitter like this for less than $100 per day. Use a gas-powered cutoff saw like this one for a smooth cut. This saw can cut with or without water. Water eliminates the dust but creates a messy slurry that can permanently stain surfaces like driveways and sidewalks. You can rent a saw like this for about $80 per day. If you don’t use water, make sure the dust doesn’t blow into the house or on a neighbor’s house.After your drainpipe is in place, you should backfill the rest of the space behind the blocks with either sand or pea gravel—either will allow water to filter through to the drainpipe at the base of the wall. For the best results, backfill with a few inches of the material after laying each course of blocks, and use a hand tamper to compact the material. By tamping the backfill every six inches or so, you’ll ensure that it is packed tightly, which will provide additional support from the pressure of the soil behind the wall.