Foundation repair. These two simple words can strike fear into even the most laid-back homeowner. As soon as you hear these two words, you immediately think about your bank account and how much it’s going to cost you to alleviate the problem. Well, before you retreat to a dark place and start mulling over all the seemingly terrible consequences of foundation issues, it’s important that you understand the truth. Things aren’t as bad as they may seem. Whatever you do, ignore the following eight myths:
1. Foundation Repair is Extremely Expensive
Can foundation repair cost a lot? Well, certainly. But you can’t make a blanket statement claiming all foundation repairs are extremely expensive. A major repair can set you back thousands of dollars, but it’s more likely that you’re dealing with a smaller issue. Sometimes repairs are as simple as injecting polyurethane to keep water out. Other times, you’ll need an invasive repair that requires the installation of piers and pilings.
While it’s easier said than done, it’s best to avoid stressing over the price until you discover the root cause of the problem. As you can see from this guide, small issues can be repaired for just a few hundred dollars on average, whereas a major repair involving hydraulic piers can cost well over $10,000.
2. You Should Wait Until the Repair Job is More Affordable
When homeowners get repair estimates and the quote is much higher than they had hoped for, they’ll often put off the job and wait until they’re more comfortable paying for the repair down the road. This isn’t a good idea. Foundation issues generally get worse over time. You can often save thousands of dollars in the long run by taking care of problems as soon as they’re discovered.
3. The Issue Occurred When the Home Was Built
When homeowners discover foundation problems, they almost always pin the blame on the foundation itself – or the original builder. It’s best to avoid jumping to this conclusion. While some foundation issues are directly tied to errors made during the construction process, most are a result of soil conditions underneath the slab. After all, foundations don’t move unless the soil beneath them moves.
Understanding this relationship between your soil and the home’s foundation can help you better protect your property moving forward. If you want a healthy foundation, you need to invest in healthy soil.
4. Overwatering Damages Your Foundation
Those who understand the relationship between soil and foundational stability seem to think that overwatering the soil is the leading cause of damage. This isn’t entirely true. Though water causes soil to expand – and extreme heat will shrink the soil – the differences typically aren’t enough to cause significant cracking.
5. Filling Cracks is All That Needs to be Done
When a homeowner identifies a crack, their natural response is to fix that crack and move on. There’s nothing wrong with this, but don’t assume that injecting a crack with epoxy is going to make the problem go away. It may stop leaks, but it’s not going to prevent further foundation damage from occurring. Again, this is an issue with the soil beneath your foundation.
6. Cracks Can Help Identify the Source of the Problem
Identifying cracks in your foundation is important. These are symptoms that tell you something much larger is occurring somewhere beneath the surface. However, you shouldn’t assume that cracks will help you identify the source with 100 percent accuracy.
It’s quite likely that the foundation problem did not originate from the crack itself. In many cases, the crack originated with movement in another part of the house. You should also know that cracks are not the only symptoms. Other notable signs include cracks in beams and walls, doors that won’t open or close, bulging floorboards, unbalanced floors, and more.
7. Never Buy a Home With a Foundation Problem
Are there issues to work through when buying a home that has foundation issues? Obviously the answer is yes. But you shouldn’t eliminate a house from your list simply because it has a foundation problem. With today’s sophisticated technologies and solutions, issues can be fixed and problems reversed with relative ease.
Always find out more about the problem and how much it will cost before closing on a house, but don’t let foundation problems scare you away. They can be fixed!
8. Finding a Reliable Contractor is Easy
If you have a foundation problem, who do you call? Do you simply pull out the phone book and call the first contractor you find? That’s one strategy – but it’s not the best option. Any contractor can claim they repair foundations, but can they repair them well? Messing up a repair job the first time around can lead to a much bigger problem in the future.
When searching for a reliable concrete slab repair contractor, there are five things to look for: the number of years the contractor has been in business, licenses and insurance, warranty details and guarantees, referrals and testimonials, and cost and time estimates.
Notice that cost comes in last on the list. You should never choose you contractor based on price. Instead, price should be used to differentiate between two contractors who appear to offer the same quality service.
Contact Edens Structural Solutions Today
Choosing the right foundation company for your home’s needs is an important decision. You are quite literally putting your family’s future in the hands of someone else – so make sure you trust the contractor you hire.
At Edens Structural Solutions, we would love the opportunity to earn your business. For the past 30-plus years, we’ve served the needs of customers in Broken Arrow, Bixby, Sand Springs, Jenks, Glenpool, Sapulpa, Tulsa, and other northeast Oklahoma cities. Over that time, we’ve developed a reputation for operating under the pretenses of integrity, honesty, and transparency.
If you would like more information about our company and why we’re the right company for your foundation repair needs, please don’t hesitate to contact us today for a free consultation!
