Guaranteeing Hundreds Of Failed Foundation Jobs Would Bankrupt Foundation Contractors
Most foundation contractors cannot afford to guarantee or warranty their foundation work. To limit their costs and liabilities they have cleverly written contracts that are one-sided and favor the contractor. Most contracts require homeowners to pay for “adjustments” after a short period of time and multiple adjustments are evidence of a failed foundation repair job. Homeowners with multiple adjustments are effectively paying for their home’s foundation work a second time – and it will NEVER be fixed.
Reasons Foundation Repair Warranties Are Worthless
1) Low Quality Foundation Repair Method / Failed Foundation Job
The foundation repair method (pushed piles) is inherently flawed; the pushed pile method has been deemed “Useless” and “Temporary” by A-1 Structural Engineers; multiple or annual adjustments will NOT fix a failed foundation repair job.
2) Cost
Most foundation contractors are now charging homeowners for “adjustments”. The most common adjustment charge is $100 per piling. The exact wording in a competitor’s contract is as follows: “… adjust at a cost of $100** per piling after the first year, subject to the Warranty Terms and Provisions”
3) Exclusions
Exclusions are perhaps the MOST OFFENSIVE part of warranty contracts. When read carefully they can exclude almost anything. The cause of foundation issues is usually soil movement – up, down, and horizontally. Below is the exact wording from a contractor’s contract:
“Any movement of the foundation not due to settlement such as ‘Heave’ or ‘horizontal movement’. ‘Heave’ is defined as the swelling of the soils resulting in differential uplift of the structure and “horizontal movement” may be caused by soil erosion, creep, and or slough of the soils. These conditions may be caused by excess moisture from plumbing leaks, poor drainage (surface and subsurface), flooding, rising water table, trees or their removal, or other causes.”
So if the soil moves again – or if there are “other causes” – well good luck arguing those “other causes” with the contractor.
4) Restrictions / Limitations On Transfer Of Warranty
Many contracts used today are designed to restrict, limit, or reject the transfer of a foundation repair warranty. There are a number of ways to do this and they include time limits, fees, and satisfying various requirements. Below is some common language used by a foundation contractor.
- Warranty Transfer Form must be signed by both the New Owner and Prior Owner prior to the sale/purchase of the property
- Contractor must be paid a $100 transfer fee
- Failure to comply with all of these requirements within 90 days of the sale/purchase will result in the warranty being voided
5) Mandatory Arbitration
We have written pages about the rigged system of Mandatory Arbitration. It is designed to defeat the consumer (homeowner) and the business wins these arbitration disputes between 90% and 95% of the time. Read more about losing your legal rights in arbitration.
https://www.dawsonfoundationrepair.com/arbitration/
6) Foundation Contractor Is Unqualified and Incompetent
Please do some research. Search for “foundation repair complaints”, “foundation repair lawsuits”, “foundation repair warranties”, “foundation repair warranty complaints”, “foundation repair warranty lawsuits”, and similar phrases.
7) Foundation Contractors Fail To Respond To Customer Complaints
Rather than write about this aspect of worthless foundation warranties we will let homeowners do the “talking”. Below are multiple images from homeowners describing their unpleasant experiences with foundation contractors. The names of the guilty have been blacked out but you can find these complaints online with a little internet research.
