Avoid Costly Foundations Repairs, Homeowner spending $800,000 to repair & stabilize their home

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 Avoid Costly foundation repairs.

Here is a recent article about a homeowner spending $800,000 to repair and stabilize their home. 




Expansive clay soil is the leading cause of foundation repair. The clay swells when it is saturated with water causing the building to lift and crack at the foundation.

Determine if there is expansive soil before you start construction. Conduct a preliminary soil investigation by researching the USGA website. (United States Department of Agriculture) 

Review your area by plugging in your address and it will provide you with the soil conditions at your project site. 

If the soil has clayey material, you may want to perform a Geotechnical Soils report. 
A Geotechnical Soils report is a professional report of the soil condition below your planned foundation that will support your building loads. 

Soil borings must be performed at your project site. 
Check with your Geotechnical firm to determine the number and depth of soil borings. Typically, for a custom house project, you would want them to perform a bore at every 1000 SF of building area at a depth of 20 feet. 

The Geotechnical Engineer will determine whether the soil meets the necessary structural support. They will make the appropriate suggestions for fixing the problem in their report. 

Typical suggestions are listed but are not limited to the following.
1) Replace the expansive clay soil with engineered select fill. 
2) Perform chemical injections of the soil to a depth of 10'.
3) Support the slab with drilled piers.
4) Construct deeper footings. 

Your Structural Engineer will use the Geotechnical report to design the appropriate foundation design.

Shettig Construction Management provides Professional Design-Build Construction Management services from the inception of your project through completion. www.shettig.com mshettig@gmail.com

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