Foundation Repair Photo Album: Addressing Ceiling and Wall Cracks Inside Home - Tualatin, OR

Over recent years, the owners of this home had noticed cracks forming in the ceiling and walls of their home, as well as sloped interior floors. They were rightfully concerned about these structural issues, so they began researching online to find local Structural Repair Experts. After thoroughly researching their options, they were most pleased with John's. They called our office, and explained their concerns to our receptionist. She assured them that they had called the right company and got them on our schedule. When the specialist arrived at the home, he greeted the homeowners, and thoughtfully listened to them while they explained the structural issues of their home. Our Design Specialist understood both the concern and urgency behind the issues at hand, and he explained to the homeowners that the cracks inside the home were likely caused by a settling foundation and/or an improperly supported subfloor. To find the source of the cracks, he performed a thorough inspection of both the crawl space and foundation. In the crawl space, he found it to be very dirty, but thankfully dry. As for the foundation, he took measurements and found that one side of the concrete foundation wall had settled into the ground, causing uneven weight distribution inside the home, and thus creating interior cracking. This settling had also caused one of the crawl space posts to lift off the ground, preventing it from supporting the floor inside of the home. To lift the settling foundation back up, he proposed hydraulic lifting of the home through the installation of Steel Push Piers, as well as replacing the existing wooden crawl space post with a Steel SmartJack Post, which would lift the floors back up to a level height. They signed their customized job proposal, and we got them on our schedule. On the morning of the job, our crew of Repair Experts arrived at the home eager and ready to work! The first step was to lift the homes foundation back up to its correct and appropriate height. For this, they first dug out a portion of dirt in front of the foundation wall from within the crawl space, to make room to work. Next, they bolted 5 Steel Brackets directly onto the concrete foundation wall. With the Brackets firmly attached, we drove Steel Push Piers through each of the 5 Brackets, using hydraulic force to drive them deep into the weight bearing stratum of the earth. After reaching this highly dense and supportive soil, they continued driving the Piers down, until the home was returned back to its proper and level height. After the installation, the crew covered up the brackets, leaving a nice finished appearance. All 5 of the Push Piers will remain in place to support the weight of the home, and prevent future settling from occurring. To remove the slope to the interior floors, our crew removed the old wooden subfloor support post that had lifted off the ground, and replaced it with a Steel SmartJack Post. SmartJacks are "jacked up", until the overhead floor is level, and remain in place to prevent future occurrence of uneven floors. They are also highly adjustable in the future if need be. Additionally, they are much more effective, and longer lasting than standard wooden crawlspace posts. Inside of the crawlspace, our crew replaced the old vapor barrier with a new 6 Mil Black Plastic Vapor Barrier - greatly improving the appearance of the crawlspace. These repairs were not only essential, they were also absolutely imperative to protect the structural integrity of the entire home. These homeowners made an excellent decision to both protect the investment of their home, as well as the safety of their loved ones within!