Foundation fitness? No, this does not mean that your foundation needs to join the local gym. Yes, it does mean that if your foundation is not in good shape your house will sustain costly damage.
The average one story house weighs about 200 pounds per square foot, more if your home has special amenities like tile floors or tile roof. A two-story home? The estimate is that it weighs about 275 pounds per square foot. Add another 75 pounds for a three level residence to total 350 pounds per square foot! Your foundation must be strong enough to hold all this in place and fit enough to withstand all those things that try to erode its performance.Your foundation needs to be fit and strong.
The shifting soils of Texas are not friendly to your foundation. There are some fly-by-night foundation repair companies that will do your repair but fail to support your foundation. They fail to compensate for the soil that has already shifted. You see, the official term for a concrete foundation is “slab on grade.” “Grade” is a fancy engineering term for ground. Therefore, by definition, your foundation must have soil supporting it underneath.
Any spatial void under your foundation is a threat to your home. Your foundation will be stressed trying to hold up more than 200 pounds per square foot. Imagine trying to do that without support. For example, take a five pound bag of sugar and hold it with one hand while resting your elbow on a table. You could hold that bag of sugar for quite a while before giving way to the five pounds. Now, take that same bag of sugar and hold it up with one hand without resting your elbow on anything. There’s likely to be sugar all over the floor after just a few minutes.
At Dawson Foundation Repair, we utilize mud pumping equipment to fill in any void space resulting from any interior foundation repair of your home. A slurry of mud and cement is pumped under your slab so that it rests on supporting ground. When a repair is done right with the superior bell bottom piers, there will be voids as the slab is leveled and raised leaving space between it and the ground that had shifted or settled. Mud pumping is essential to the quality foundation repair that Dawson is known for.
Other companies decry the need for mud pumping and they have two reasons to dismiss it. First, the equipment for mud pumping is very expensive. A Mud Pump unit (truck, trailer, Mud Pump, mixer, etc.) costs between $50,000 – $60,000.Those companies would rather not spend the money. Second, buying the equipment cuts into the company profit margin and that is all they exist for.
Check out this important information — The Necessity of Mud Pumping
Why Most Companies do NOT Mud Pump
1) If the cost of Mud Pumping can be avoided, this increases profits if the customer can be convinced it is bad or not necessary.
2) The cost of equipment to Mud Pump a house is far greater than any other piece of equipment used in foundation repair.
3) A Mud Pump unit (truck, trailer, Mud Pump, mixer, etc.) costs between $50,000 – $60,000.
4) It is time consuming and easier not to do. After all, the worst that can happen is that the contractor gets to sell the customer interior piers later.
The true costs of foundation repair and the contractor’s profitability should not be the determining factors in providing the fitness and strength your foundation needs to do the job. The best foundation repair method we offer is the bell bottom pier option—with mud pumping if needed. Your home is worth it.
Call Dawson Foundation Repair for a free foundation inspection and estimate for repairs if needed.