Cracked bricks on a house are the most common sign of foundation settlement. If a house has stair-stepped cracks in the exterior brick, it is likely that the footing has broken and is settling. But just because there are cracks, does not guarantee that the house is settling.
There are many aspects of home construction that an inspector should know to properly assess foundation settlement. There are many signs that should all be considered when diagnosing how a home has settled and how it is likely to settle in the future. For an accurate assessment, we offer free foundation inspections by our trained Expert Advisors
Once you know whether the cracks are being caused by differential settlement or swollen lintels, you can proceed with addressing the source of the problem. If a crack is caused by the foundation settling, the soil supporting the footing must be addressed. Any settlement is primarily a problem with the soil once the foundation is broken or cracked. If a crack is caused by the swelling of a metal lintel, it should simply be replaced. New lintels are typically galvanized which means the metal was treated with zinc, to prevent future oxidation and damage from moisture.
As with most repairs, the best solution depends on the circumstances. Unfortunately, in the case of foundation settlement, most of the issue lies with the inadequacy of the soils so the best solutions bypass the soil directly underneath the cracked footing.
The most common and highly recommended solution for foundation settlement is foundation push piers. Push piers involve driving heavy steel pipe into the ground, bypassing the problem soils, until they reach strong stable soils. The steel pipe sections are driven into the ground using the weight of the home and powerful hydraulics to reach ‘load bearing stratum’. This essentially puts your home on metal stilts, supporting your home on the strongest soil layers. The engineering and our best practices allow us to guarantee stabilization for life and also allow us to attempt correction for a more level home.
The second-best solution for foundation cracks or cracked bricks is called concrete foundation underpinning. Concrete underpinning should only be used where foundation push piers are not an option. There are times where a footing was not installed during original construction or maybe the equipment used to install the push piers cannot access an area. Only in these instances, should concrete underpinning be used. Concrete underpinning involves digging out under the cracked area and installing a new concrete footing underneath the settled area. This is a good but imperfect system because you’re adding more weight on top of the failed soils, so it is possible for this area to settle again in the future.
Our Expert Advisors are trained to identify the causes and best repair options for your home. If you’re concerned about the integrity of your home, we offer free no-obligation inspections and estimates. When we inspect your home, we explain the problems, solutions, and explore multiple options to find the best solution for you.
“Our experience with Bay Crawl Space & Foundation Repair was outstanding. From first contact everything was smooth and made as easy as possible for us. We were kept informed every step of the process via email, phone, and/or text. The work was top-notch. The cost was extremely reasonable. We were impressed that Bay did not try to sell services that weren’t required.”
“I conducted a good amount of research before choosing Bay to perform foundation work at my home in Chesapeake. I couldn’t have asked for a more pleasant experience. Everyone that made contact with me along the way was courteous and professional. Price was reasonable and they performed quality work. Timely, outstanding workmanship at a fair price.”
Most honest evaluation we had, didn’t try to sell us on anything we didn’t need, most competitive pricing compared to 3 other companies we reached out to for the same issue! Thanks for not using scared tactics…
We had our crawlspace encapsulated by BAY three years ago at a fraction of the cost of JES’s estimate. The work was done on time and to exceptional standards. The office has been courteous, the workers arrived on time…