Foundation Repair

After living in our home for a bit, I started noticing cracks on the walls, doors not shutting properly and gaps between the bricks and windows.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that it’s foundation issues.  I called a few companies to come check things out and settled on Jericho Foundation.  Before they came out to do the actual job, Mammoth Plumbing came and did a Static Water Test on our plumbing system.  This ensures that there are no prior leaks in the system.  Another test is done after the foundation work to verify that the foundation work didn’t mess up the plumbing.  The static water test was pretty cool.  They dropped a rubber balloon in my clean-out pipe and filled it with air to basically stop the water from draining out.

Then they took out a toilet from the guest bath and filled the exit pipe with water to test the level.  Basically if the water level dropped over a period of time, that is an indication that there is a leak somewhere.  Luckily for me, there were no leaks!

Shortly after the team from Mammoth Plumbing left, the crew from Jericho Foundation arrived.They wasted no time and started digging.  It’s a very labor intensive process, but the theory is very simple.  A few months back the owner of the company came and took measurements on the house and identified where the house is sinking.  He located where the new piers should be dropped.  The crew followed those plans and dug the holes.  Then they use a hydraulic lift to push down pilings into the dirt.

They basically continue to push in as many pilings as possible till refusal (until they hit solid, stable ground).

One of the proposed piers called for the hole to be in my garage

Unfortunately, the builder of the house ran a copper pipe across the ground of my garage floor and the foundation crew cut through it!  A little hiccup along the way, but with any home repair project you have to expect it.  After a few hours of waiting for a plumber (with no running water) it was fixed.

Throughout the entire process I would hear the house grunt while they where pushing the pilings into the ground.  The amount of work that the team did was amazing.  I couldn’t believe how deep they were digging these holes!  The entire front of the house looked like a construction zone.  

Here’s a close up of a finished hole.

You’ll notice the metal shims sitting in between the cement cylinders and the house foundation.  This is what is used to balance out the house.  A guy comes in with a little yellow machine that identifies the level of the house. 

He would go in an out of the house to let the crew know how much higher certain areas needed to be raised.  After that, the job was basically done!  Here’s a before and after of one of the cracks.

In addition to that, the doors shut properly too!  I knew that this was supposed to be the end result, but I was still amazed when I actually saw it come to pass.  I took the day off to be there while they did the entire job.  I’m glad I did because of the waterline hiccup and to let them in the house to do the final leveling.  But all that waiting got me hungry, so I made a burger.

They’re finishing up today by getting the Missouri City inspector to approve the work.  Once they get approval, they’ll refill all the dirt back into the hole, cement the hole in my garage and driveway and replant any plants they had to move in the process.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with the work.  Everyone was really nice and informative along the way, which is something I really appreciate.  I just like knowing what’s going on and it’s cool when they keep you in the loop.  If you need foundation repair, I would highly recommend Jericho Foundation!