People who plan on living in their homes for some time will usually purchase higher quality materials and services for home maintenance and foundation repair. Home sellers, on the other hand, are seeking a quick and cheap exit.
It has been seen thousands of times in the 35+ years of service in Sugar Land and Houston, Texas, according to Dawson Foundation Repair. 99% of the time home sellers buy the cheapest, lowest quality foundation repair job available – and they are rubbish. The home sellers won’t be around in a few years when the repair jobs begin to fail and cracks begin appearing in the same places.
Mr. Dawson is referring to the common practice of home sellers making required foundation repairs to their properties before being accepted by buyers and mortgage lenders. Often home sellers have to make repairs to various parts of the house, such as roof replacement, carpet replacement, or new paint. And in east and south Texas the clay soils are extremely problematic – shrinking and swelling with changes in moisture content. This soil movement literally cracks and damages concrete slab foundations – and homes – throughout this part of the country.
Minimally Functional Foundations
Homeowners are hit with a triple whammy – minimally functional foundations from the get-go, dramatic and continuous soil movement, and overwhelming confusion about what constitutes a quality foundation repair job, according to Mr. Dawson. The result is that homeowners are literally wasting their money on poor, low quality foundation repair methods that will fail and usually in short order. So that leaves home buyers in asking themselves what they should do. Well, Mr. Dawson has an answer. He will tell you which companies install the lowest quality support structures during their foundation repair jobs. Then home buyers can tell these home sellers that they have purchased a low quality foundation repair job that will probably fail in a few years and that the value to them, the home buyer, is close to zero since they will have to purchase another foundation repair job in a few years.”
There is a lot of evidence to support Mr. Dawson’s claim. First, almost every foundation repair contractor in the Sugar Land and Houston metro areas include Mandatory Arbitration clauses in their contracts. The clauses work to the advantage of the contractor because home owners forfeit their right to sue the contractor for shoddy work in a court of law. In addition, the contractor is allowed to select the “for-profit” arbitration company, which is a clear conflict of interest. And the arbitrator working for the arbitration company is not required to be a lawyer, is not required to justify or explain his decision, and there is no appeal for the home owner. Nationwide consumers lose 90% to 95% of all arbitration cases. Second, virtually every foundation repair contractor requires the home owner to pay for adjustments to their supporting structures that were installed under the home’s foundation. When a home owner has to pay for adjustments every year then it is a clear indication of a failed foundation repair job.
How Much Does It Cost To Fix A Crack In A Foundation?
There are a number of variables to consider such as the Quality of the Foundation Repair Method. And the area to be supported is important. If interior piers are required then the cost is higher than strictly perimeter piers. Smaller foundation repair jobs in the Sugar Land area will cost $3500. The median cost is approximately $17,500. Larger two-story homes with extensive foundation slab damage can cost much more.
When a concrete slab foundation cracks it is usually an indication that the clay soils supporting the foundation have expanded or contracted due to changes in water content. Technically a foundation repair company will not “fix” a crack in a concrete slab. Rather, they will install some form of support structures such as piers or piles to level and stabilize the slab. The goal is to re-level the concrete slab to the original elevation, assuming the original elevation was level at the time of construction.
Bell Bottom Piers
Mr. Dawson’s company installs Bell Bottom Piers exclusively because they are the highest quality and permanent. When homeowners are educated on the differences and compare foundation repair methods they will usually select a permanent solution. The low quality foundation repair methods – called Pushed Pile – suffer from serious and inherent disadvantages. In fact the structural engineers at A-1 Engineering has described foundation repair methods using Pushed Piles as Temporary and Useless.
Mr. Dawson has stated that Dawson Foundation Repair is the premier foundation repair company in Sugar Land, Houston and Texas. They are one of the very few contractors in Texas that install the high quality and permanent Bell Bottom Piers.