All-Dry of the Carolinas Case Studies: Foundation Repair on a Customer's Home in Greer, SC
Challenge
Unfortunately for many homeowners, foundations will settle over time. Some homes will hardly settle, leaving behind minimal or no damage at all. However, some homes will not get this lucky. This was the case for the Hill's in Greer, South Carolina. The pictures show just how bad the foundation problems were. It is common for us at All-Dry to get small cracks running down a wall, but we don't get these large cracks nearly as much.
The problem in this project was to make sure we gave enough support to this corner and raised it back to a level position. We also had to make sure that any other areas around the home were taken care of. While the large crack was the most obvious, our System Design Specialist, Alex Rogers did a great job surveying the home in its entirety and found a few smaller but still significant cracks.
The outside cracks and foundations were not the only problems unfortunately. They also had a bowing wall in their basement that needed wall anchors to correct and keep from further bowing in. They also wished to keep their crawlspace dry and moisture-free, so we needed to install our CleanSpace Liner, Santa Fe Dehumidifier, and a SmartSump system.
Solution
We started with the biggest problems and then worked our way down! In order to fix the major cracks in the foundation, our crew installed three push piers. You can see in the pictures to the right, where exactly these push piers were installed. We put one almost directly under the crack and two on the adjacent side. The push pier under the crack helps to lift the house and support the foundation under the crack. The two push piers on the adjacent side are the two that really do the heavy lifting. Those push piers are the ones that really help the foundation to get level and back where it should be. After the push piers were installed, our crew moved inside to the basement and crawlspace.
They first tackled the wall anchors inside the basement section of the home. There was a crack spanning most of the exterior wall of the basement. In order to correct this crack (caused by outside pressure), our crew installed five wall anchors. These wall anchors are essentially two large metal plates connected with a long metal rod. One plate goes in the ground several feet away from the home, while the other plate goes on the inside wall. By tightening the rod between the two plates, it begins to pull the wall outward, causing it to straighten and come back together. The difference between before and after the Wall anchors were installed and tightened can be seen in the Photo Gallery which is linked below.
The final piece of the puzzle was to work on the crawlspace. To encapsulate this customer's crawlspace, our crew installed our CleanSpace liner. This product can be seen in the last photo. CleanSpace keeps the water out and the air in! No moisture is going to be able to get in or stay in after what we did to it! While the CleanSpace Liner does a great job, you can never be too careful. To supplement the CleanSpace, we also installed a Santa Fe Dehumidifier as well as a SmartSump. Both of these products assist in keeping water out of the crawlspace and away from the home. The dehumidifier sucksany moisture that does make its way into the crawlspace, out of the air. The sump pump, well, pumps the water out and away from the home. Between these three products, this homeowner will not have to worry about his crawlspace, basement, or their foundation! This customer needed a lot of work on their home, however this homeowner found out that when it comes to your home, no expense should be spared.
Project Summary
Installing Contractor: All-Dry of the Carolinas
Systems Design Specialist: Alex Rogers
Project Foreman: Francisco Gamez
Products Installed: CleanSpace Liner, Santa Fe Edge II, SmartSump, Push Pier, and Wall Anchors
