Foundation Repair Before & After Photos

Many times we have homeowners call in for a specific problem that they are dealing with in their basement or crawlspace. This problem is often about water getting into these areas, high moisture levels, or something similar to that. However upon further inspection our System Design Specialist noticed that parts of the home were sagging, which was being caused by poor support in the crawlspace. Our Design Specialist knew that we could handle the issues and offered a proposal to take care of both. 

The first picture shows off what the crawlspace looked like when our Specialist first went out to the home to help this homeowner with the high humidity levels. The crawlspace doesn't look too bad, but it definitely had some problems. It can sometimes be difficult to see high moisture levels, which is one reason they can go unnoticed. However, the girder was only held up by some cinder blocks and a few flimsy jacks, which is where the sagging floor was coming from. 

The after picture shows the same area, but with a much different look. The most obvious part is the CleanSpace that was installed in order to keep the water out of the crawlspace. It completely covers the floor and the majority of the walls in the crawlspace. The dehumidifier that was installed can also e seen on the right hand side of the photo. The dehumidifier helps to ensure that the humidity level of the crawlspace stays below the point where mold can grow. The crew also installed our SmartJacks and a new girder in order to provide the proper support for the home.

Foundation issues can be some of the scariest issues that we see and deal with here at All-Dry of the Carolinas. This home definitely did not have as bad bowing walls as many of the other homes that we see here, because the homeowner was proactive about the issues with their home. However, these small cracks will continue to grow if not watched and taken care of quickly.

One of the biggest causes of bowing walls is the pressure that is created on the outside of the home by the earth, as was the case with this particular house. The type of cracking that can be seen in these pictures is a "stair-step" crack, which is one of the more common types of cracking. One of the things that a lot of people wonder about is the duct tape that the crew puts over the cracks. As you can see between the two photos, the duct tape shows how much the wall has moved and came together.

Wall anchors are able to really make a difference in basement walls, especially because they can be progressively tightened. This means that after they are installed, just months later they can be tightened to provide even more support and bring the wall closer to its original position. It can sometimes be difficult to notice how much the wall anchors really do, but the duct tape certainly makes it much more obvious how much the cracks were closed.

Foundation issues are very serious and can lead to more extensive damage to a home if not taken care of promptly and correctly. There are a number of different foundation issues that can plague a home. One of the ones that we see most often are cracks forming on brick/block foundations. These foundation cracks are usually caused by unstable soil that has settled after the home was built. This is an unfortunate situation but the condition will only get worse as time goes on. 

 This happened to be the situation that this homeowner was in when they called, however they weren't aware of it. This homeowner actually initially called to have our Specialist take a look because of high moisture levels in the crawlspace (which we were able to fix for them). During the initial inspection, our Specialist noticed some cracks in the foundation around the back side of the home. Our Design Specialist notified the homeowner about the cracks and what we could do to take care of the cracks and provide a stable foundation for the home. 

While these photos don't show a great deal of change, the transformation that this home has gone through is quite incredible. There were a total of nine push piers installed on the  backside of this home in order to properly stabilize the home and help to take care of the cracks that had formed. In the second photo you can see one of the push piers while the home was being lifted. 

An issue that we commonly encounter are cracks throughout a foundation. Usually these are smaller cracks, but every once and awhile we get a home that has some pretty serious foundation issues, like this home. As you can see in the before picture, the entire corner of this home was sinking, and pretty significantly. The widest crack is close to an inch wide, which may not seem like much, but for the foundation that supports your home, this is a big deal.

In order to fix this issue, our Systems Design Specialist suggested the homeowner go with a couple of push piers to help bring this corner back towards its original position. The homeowner agreed to get the push piers installed, because he knew how serious this issue could be if left unchecked. Since the settlement was only occurring in this back part of the home, this project only needed two push piers.

The second picture shows the same corner, but after the push piers were installed, and the job was completely finished. As you can see, the crack has been pushed back together and looks completely normal. The great thing about push piers are that, when installed, they are completely covered. This is the perfect example of how we like to work, we want our work to give you all of the benefits of a great system, without having to see it!

If you've looked at any other content on our site, you may have seen wall anchors in action. This before and after is going to be a little different than some of the others. This is going to look at more of the cleanup, then the installation of the wall anchors. For this particular project, we had the crew had to install three wall anchors under the garage floor.

The "before" picture shows what it looked like once the crew had cut out the sections for the wall anchors to be installed, and had already excavated the dirt down to the level needed to install the wall anchor. As you can see, this can be a very messy process, especially in a garage. We always do our best to keep wherever we are working clean (as we can), and always clean-up after ourselves! In this garage, there was a tarp laid out to hold as much of the dirt as possible, to keep the floor from getting too dirty.

The "after" picture is a much different story than from before. The biggest difference is the fact there aren't deep holes in the middle of the garage or a huge pile of dirt. Jokes aside, our crew filled the holes back with the dirt, then poured some new concrete back into the holes. Although there will be a few "discolored" areas in this garage, it is all worth it in the end. First off, the only other option would be to rip up the garage floor and completely replace it, and two; the cuts must be made so that the outside wall doesn't get any worse.