A sinking or settling foundation is no issue to ignore because it can result in the collapse of a building.
When a foundation settles, the weight distribution of your house on the foundation shifts. Hence some parts of the foundation start incurring more weight than others. As a result, parts of the foundation become stressed, resulting in the foundation losing its structural integrity.
Common signs of foundation settling include:
- Stuck doors
- Cracks along the walls
- Tilting house
If you notice the above signs in your home, immediately call a foundation repair contractor to assess and remedy the issue. By gauging the cause and severity of the foundation settling, a foundation repair contractor will determine the best course of action.
Here is additional info about two techniques used by foundation repair contractors to fix foundation settling.
1. Piering
Piering is a foundation repair method used to remedy a settling foundation by installing steel piers underneath or inside the foundation.
There are two types of piers a foundation repair contractor can use to uplift a sinking foundation. The two types of piers include push piers and helical piers.
Foundation repair contractors install push piers directly into the foundation. They first drill holes into the foundation using a hydraulic ram and insert the push piers. Some parts of the push piers stick out of the foundation to provide extra support to the sinking side of the foundation.
As for helical piers, foundation contractors install them underneath the foundation. But first, foundation repair contractors use a hydraulic jack lift to lift the settled parts of the foundation to their proper level. Afterward, the contractors install the helical piers below the foundation such that the foundation rests on the piers.
As a result, the piers prevent further foundation settling by maintaining the right foundation level. Thus, if your foundation is settling, piering is one of the best ways to prevent the foundation from sinking any further.
2. Slab Jacking
Slab jacking is a foundation repair method used to uplift a sinking concrete slab foundation without using piers. Instead of piers, foundation repair contractors use polyurethane foam to raise the sinking slab.
Slab jacking starts by strategically drilling holes underneath the sunken slab. Afterward, foundation repair contractors use hoses and special equipment to fill the holes with two-part polyurethane foam.
The two-part polyurethane foam consists of two compounds that expand when they react. Hence, when the polyurethane foam expands in the holes dug underneath the slab, it raises the settled concrete slab foundation.
But slab jacking requires precision in the measurements of the two-part polyurethane foam. Using too much polyurethane foam will raise your slab too high, resulting in a tilted foundation. Also, if you use less than enough polyurethane foam, the sinking part of the slab will not raise high enough to level out the whole slab.
Thus, it is best to have a seasoned foundation repair contractor perform the slab jacking instead of attempting DIY slab jacking.
