It seems that North Texas and surrounding areas have become the center of foundation repair scams for the entire country.

I understand there are over two hundred and fifty foundation repair companies operating in North Texas. While I don’t doubt the number it would be extremely hard to document an exact count.

FACT: Far and away the most foundation damaged homes are the result of upheaval...swelling soils... which are not corrected by piers and lifting!

FACT: Foundation companies pop up, come and go, change names, change owners and disappear almost every day! 

FACT: All it takes is a pick-up truck, a couple of laborers and you too can be a foundation repair contractor.  It is easy to be fooled by media advertising and cheap prices! (See next fact!)

 FACT: The state of Texas, as well as many others, does not license or provide oversight of foundation repair companies! 

FACT: Most foundation repair agents are commissioned pier salespeople paid to sell as many piers as possible!

FACT: Many engineers who specialize in residential foundation repair are "in bed" with foundation repair companies! (the pier salesman specs the job and the engineer rubber stamps it or the engineer specs then tells the customer who to use.)

FACT: Foundation elevations, without a benchmark and original elevations from date of build, are scams! They can not determine whether parts of the foundation has settled or lifted. (with ANY level, unless you have a benchmark to sea-level, all you can tell is the floor is not LEVEL,  you can make it appear to have settled or heaved, depending on where you set zero.)

FACT: If you pier and lift the low area, of a structure that has heaved, the job will fail when the heaved areas dry out.

FACTS: Most if not all foundation warranties are written to benefit the contractors and not the customer. (the universal lifetime warrantee is on vertical settlement of the piers only, and not the success of the job. Houses/structures OFTEN continue to move without piers settling AND without customers getting relief.)

If you question any of the above contact me and I will be happy to explain it in more detail AND explain how to deal with it.

ANOTHER FACT: The number one foundation repair scam or fraud is just plain misinformation!

Due to the pier salesmen lies many people believe believe most foundation failures are the result of droughts after construction.  This is basically not true! Droughts before and during construction can be the beginning of a chain of events that lead to foundation movement and damage but is not usually the trigger.  

The trigger comes when the soil shrinks before or during construction, then after the foundation is poured the rains come and soils swell, triggering foundation movement and  causing damage to sheet rock, door and window frames, brick siding, hard floor covering and other elements of the structure.

The reason it works this way is concrete is not usually poured in wet or expanded soil , so soil shrinking enough to cause structural problems would be extremely unlikely after the build.

Dry pre-construction soils/drought is likely to cause foundation movement down the line. Foundations poured during a drought are likely to experience swelling soils as time goes by. 

Contributing to the problem is that we have basically been in a series of droughts, off and on since the 1930’s and since concrete should not be poured in wet soil, most foundations have been. and continue to be poured during hot weather which is conducive to dry and shrunken or contracted soil. 

If our areas was not so hilly the movement would not be so wide spread.

When rains come, soils on the high side of the structure are more likely to retain water and swell than soils on the down side, where the water runs off. When the soils expand unevenly the twisting occurs.

Proper preventive foundation drainage can alleviate much of the movement and can prevent additional movement by avoiding the need for the soils to dry out and lose volume.

When you understand that foundation problems, while numerous, do not affect the majority of buildings in our area, it makes sense that those constructed on hilly terrain, with foundations poured in hot weather are the leading candidates for foundation problems and the leading candidates  for proper preventive foundation drainage.

Piers, while useful under certain conditions such as damage from earthquakes, sinkholes, mudslides and other events where soil is lost from under a structure,  are not by any means a cure all for most foundation issues in Texas or other areas of expansive soils.

In other words, proper preventive foundation drainage is usually the best way to prevent, stop or reverse foundation damage. By limiting soils expansion after initial rains, and in turn, limiting soil contracting as the ground dries, there is less pressure on the foundation which equals less chance of the foundation moving.

This will mean less chance of signs of foundation damage, which means less likely need for piers, which means a better, less expensive and longer lasting resolution to the problem of foundation movement and damage in areas of expansive soils.

Contractors don't pour foundations when the ground is wet!