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Before listing a home in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, area, homeowners often make cosmetic improvements and stage their home. But what if a home has foundation cracks? In the eyes of a home buyer, foundation cracks are a lot more serious than faded carpeting or outdated appliances. Even if a home inspector assures a potential buyer that the horizontal or vertical foundation cracks are not of imminent concern, the presence of cracks leaves doubt in the buyer’s mind. In other words, even a few visible signs of foundation problems can scare the daylights out of would-be home buyers. Whether selling a home today or in a few years, consider a few steps for repairing foundation cracks.

Receiving an official diagnosis

In addition to regular foundation inspections by a professional, take time to look for visible signs that you might need professional repair for a slab or pier and beam foundation. Inside the home, take note of cracks in the paint and bowed walls. Outside the home, are there lines that look like stairs?

Budgeting for foundation repairs

Putting money aside to fix a foundation has an immediate return on investment when selling. Not only can a seller command a higher price, but the buyer keeps the good will with skittish buyers who don’t want a fixer-upper. In addition, be aware that a buyer could sue if a seller does not disclose the foundation problems. Cash offers on homes sold “as is” are too often dismal in terms of what a solid home fetches.

Turning to the professionals

A professional knows how to judge whether you have the telltale signs of foundation damage whereas a homeowner typically experiences a bias. Misaligned windows, sloping floors, drywall cracks, uneven floor planking, cracks in the windows and tile are just a few of the signs that may or may not indicate a problem.

Who is to blame when you notice foundational cracks? In some cases, it’s Mother Nature. Soil often expands and contracts. Temperature and moisture plays a role. Homeowners with plumbing leaks sometimes notice the moisture adds stress to the foundation. Poor drainage and building site preparation are other possibilities. No matter what causes the problem, fixing before listing typically translates into a positive home sale transaction.

At Steady House Foundation Repair, we provide one stop shopping for foundation needs. For more information about scheduling a foundation repair estimate or information about foundation lifts, please contact us today. We serve clients in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area.

My House Is Sinking! This is a fixable problem. It may sound like an end of the world issue, but it is fixable. There could be many reasons why your home is sinking, it could be caused from water leaks, the type of soil your home was built on and how well the foundation was prepared during the initial stages of construction.

Common Causes:

Soil:

Soil is easily saturated by water, even if it is underneath your home. Soil is highly absorbent, and can get water from some of the most out of the place sources like a nearby lake, stream, river, or ocean. It can even be caused from heavy rain and floods, which is a common occurrence in Texas.  While all soil is absorbent, a common soil found throughout Texas is called “expansive clay soil.” The constant change in weather causes the clay like soil to rapidly expand and contract, which causes massive shifting around and underneath your foundation.

Water Leaks:

Another common problem is from water leakage. You could have a nearby pipe which brings water throughout your town, or you could have your own underground source. Even sewage pipes which are not directly connected to your home could cause water leaks. It doesn’t take much for the soil to absorb from these sources

Solutions:

There are several solutions to this sinking problem. You can detect an area in your home which has sunk by placing a ball or other round object and see how it rolls. A perfectly level house shouldn’t even allow the ball to move at all. This can be fixed by readjusting the piers which your house was built on. Sometimes, an underground water source can be removed or drained. If your home has a concrete slab foundation, piers can be installed underneath to help further secure your home.

Call us today and get that sinking feeling in your home fixed!

A shift or “settling” is when a home begins to settle or shift in a particular direction. This can be a little alarming for a homeowner to experience but there are some reasons as to why this happens. Some of the reasons can be from a poor construction job, a natural occurrence, or cracks in the home’s foundation. A home with foundation damage is one of the biggest reasons why a home shifts. This is why you should have your home inspected for foundation damage if you notice a shift happen out of nowhere. Let’s look further into the signs of shifting and foundation damage.

Signs of shifting

Here’s a shortlist of the signs that your home is shifting.

• Damaged or burst water pipes
• Slanted and uneven floors
• Doors and windows don’t open properly

Floors going from being nice and level to being uneven is an obvious sign that shifting is occurring. Other issues like windows being difficult to open or burst pipes can have other causes but they are common with shifting.

What causes foundation damage

Here are some causes of foundation damage.

• Leaking pipes
• Soil becoming moister
• An improper construction job on the property like a basement job
• Transpiration
• An earthquake or flood

These issues can cause the foundation damage that causes your home to shift. A lot of these can be a little hard to tell right away so it’s best to contact a professional if you think you have foundation damage.

Conclusion

A shift or settling is when your home basically starts to move out of position. The obvious signs of this are uneven floors and busted pipes. A major cause of shifting is foundation damage. Foundation damage can occur from things like earthquakes or really poor construction jobs. If you think that your home is shifting from foundation damage then check us out here for more information.

As a homeowner, you know that it’s your job to keep your home in good condition and take care of all necessary repairs. But very few homeowners get regular foundation inspections. It’s easy to think of the foundation as something solid that cannot change. However, this is only true when the ground under the foundation doesn’t change. If you are on expansive clay-rich soil or if your region is experiencing unusually dry or wet weather, your foundation may shift unexpectedly. It’s important for homeowners to be able to identify the early signs of a foundation problem, including foundation cracks, so that repairs can be effected before the foundation fracture becomes extensive or starts to damage the rest of the house.

Foundations Crack Before They Break

Before a foundation breaks completely, it starts to crack. If you catch it at the cracking phase, you can save your home with early preventative measures and repairs. The best way to do this is to watch for cracks that indicate foundation issues. For most homes, these can be spotted along the base of the house, usually behind low flower beds if the grass doesn’t go up to the edge of the house. For homes with basements, foundation issues are often spotted as cracks in the walls that can get quite large. Let’s take a look at the types of cracks to look out for both outside and in basements.

1) Vertical Foundation Cracks

Vertical cracks are the most common type of foundation crack and look exactly as you’d expect them to. This can be one slowly widening crack or a spider web of vertical fractures that are crumbling apart. The nature of the vertical crack depends on how the soil is shifting under your home and can be quite complex. However, vertical cracks are most likely when one section of the home is pushed up away from the rest or when one half horizontally away from the other creating a fissure. Diagonal cracks that are mostly vertical are considered vertical cracks.

2) Horizontal Foundation Cracks

Horizontal cracks are the result of a different kind of soil shifting. If your foundation is buried in several different layers of soil, one layer expanding or shifting more than the others can cause stress to hit or shear your foundation horizontally. Several horizontal cracks in a stack are indications of soil pushing in after expanding while a single crack is more likely to be shifting and shearing force pulling the lower part of your foundation away from the upper part. Horizontal cracks are sometimes hard to catch if you don’t have a basement and the crack is below your yard soil line.

3) Stair Foundation Horizontal Cracks

For home where the foundation is lined with bricks or a diagonal crack is at an even 45-degree angle, you may see a stair-step shaped crack in your wall or foundation. This is known a stair crack for obvious reasons and is what happens when brick is pulled apart by foundation problems. You may also see your brick facade up the side of your house crack as well because it is built onto your splitting foundation.

If you see any of these types of crack in your foundation or any any other signs that concern you, please call a foundation repair team right away. Foundation problems start small but can wreck entire houses if they go untreated. For more information about foundation repairs and trouble identification, contact us today.

Foundation Repair Notes For DFW Landlords

Shift Happens! Your home and rental properties are some of the biggest investments you’ll make in a lifetime. Shift happens when the ground beneath your home becomes unstable due to weather, earthquakes or earth movements, local extraction (mining), mudslides or even just years of weight bearing under your home.

Landlords face an extra risk when severe foundation problems affect the living conditions of a rental property. Sloping floors, cracks and other symptoms of foundation shift make your rental worth less to renters, affecting your bottom line. Even scarier, tenants CAN sue you if they get injured by a sloped floor or other foundation issue.

Foundation Problems on The Rise

Pay close attention to your buildings foundations, even in new homes. According to The New York Times (NYT) shifting soil is a very real threat with increased numbers of homes being affected in recent years. “Extreme weather possibly linked to climate change, as well as construction on less stable ground, have provoked unprecedented foundation failures in houses nationwide”.

Homeowners are spending a billion more dollars per year on foundation fixes than they were 10 years ago, reports NYT. Though there has been a tremendous increase in housing development as well.

Symptoms of Foundation Problems:

• Doors & windows are difficult to open/close
• Cracks in ceilings/walls/chimneys
• Strange creaking noises
• Floor cracks
• Gaps & spacing between floors and walls
• Sloping floors

Is a Texas Landlord Obligated to Make Repairs?

It depends on the severity of the situation. Loud creaking noises and bathroom doors that don’t shut are not really a health issue. But if your tenant falls and breaks their neck due to a sloping floor, or if the home separates from the concrete porch and someone breaks their ankle, the short answer is yes, you will be held responsible. Learn more about Texas tenant rights here.

Don’t hesitate to contact us if you suspect a foundation problem. Shift happens and it’s not a matter of if, but of when. Whether your unit is built on a pier and beam foundation, or a concrete slab foundation, Steady House Foundation Repair is the right company to handle your rental foundation problems.

Related Reading:

Is Landlord in Texas Obligated to Make Repairs?

Steady House Foundation Repair / Dallas Fort Worth

While the amount of times it is very wet in the Dallas-Forth Worth area are not exactly numerous, you just know as soon as you schedule a foundation repair, it is going to rain like never before. While more major repairs will need to wait until the weather dries up a bit, the repair of foundation cracks are another story.

If it is raining out, your foundation cracks can still be repaired, but only if the cracks themselves are pretty dry. If your cracks are not dry, your foundation repair company will need to reschedule. However, the small bit of good news is that they may have found a potential foundation problem before it even started.

If water is splashing up into foundation cracks when it is raining, this means you likely have drainage issues around your home that is causing shifting and cracking. If you rectify these issues, you may be able to stop potentially more expensive foundation issues down the line.

In some homes, water close to foundation can be as simple as cleaning out those overflowing gutters. In others, you may need drainage options like re-grading near your foundation or installing a French drain to deal with the excess water.

Of course, you don’t have to wait for foundation cracks to appear in order to know if you have drainage issues around your home. If you see pooling close to your foundation when it rains in any spot around it, then you will need to address a drainage issue. This means moisture is seeping down and it could be causing shifting and hydrostatic pressure.

If you have a foundation that is manifesting cracking or appears to have drainage issues, contact us today to see what Steady House Foundation Repair can do to help you get the issues fixed up fast.

If you are lucky, you will catch foundation problems early before they become more than a few cracks. As a foundation issue goes on, it can manifest a variety of problems from doors sticking to huge cracks in the drywall. In some cases, they can even be the cause of roofing problems. While repairing your foundation can normally fix issues like a sticking door, cracks in drywall and most other issues will need to be repaired separately.

While you obviously want to wait until the cause of the problem has been repaired – in this case the foundation – can you start repairing the other problems right away? In truth, it is best to wait at least six months before your do even minor repairs like replacing the drywall. Why? Well, the same reason as what caused the problem – your foundation will be settling. After foundation repair, your repaired foundation will settle again similar to how it settled after it was first installed. It will be minor and likely not to cause any new problems, but you will want to let it settle before fixing the old issues. It would be a shame to install new drywall in an area only to find it cracked again a few months later.

As for roof issues, while remodeling typically tells you to go “from the top down” in terms of replacement, you definitely want to get the foundation fixed before you fix the roof in this case. In the same vein as minor repairs like drywall, your roof will again be affected by settling. Setting up temporary fixes for a roof problem is advised before committing to something permanent.

Do you have foundation issues that are causing myriad other issues in your home? Contact us today to see what Steady House Foundation Repair can do to help you get your home back on stable legs.

If you have discovered that your home has developed foundation problems, your first step should be to call out a foundation repair company to confirm these potential issues. Once done, they will be able to give you a run down on what the problem is and what they recommend to be done to fix it. Once you have that repair scheduled, you want it to go smoothly, and here are some things you can do to prepare your home for foundation repair.

Sort Out Your Landscaping

Obviously, you don’t want to add any new landscaping by the foundation before a repair. You will also want to remove items away from the perimeter to minimize the amount of work that needs to be done by the crew. While not always possible, you may want to reserve parking close to your home as well.

If you would like to really be proactive, you can ask the contractor if there are any areas where they will need to remove landscaping. While they can do that themselves, it can save them time if you start removing some items.

Have a Foundation Repair Plan

Not every foundation problem is something extreme like a complete concrete slab replacement. However, your contractor will go over what they need to happen. It may require you to be out of your home. Alternatively, foundation repair can be loud and somewhat intrusive, you may feel more comfortable relocating elsewhere. This means that even if you don’t technically need to leave your home, you may want a plan on where to go if you need to.

Secure the Interior

Not all foundation work happens outside. Just like the exterior, you will need to clear the interior as well. For example, if you have bowing basement walls, you will want to clean out the basement so the crew can work quickly and obstruction-free. You will also want to restrain pets or wandering toddlers for their safety during work hours.

Do you believe your home has foundation problems? Contact us today! Steady Home Foundation Repair can help you determine what the problem is and can help you get it fixed quickly.

Plumbing problems are an issue all their own, but if you put off calling the plumber to get them repaired, they cause different problems. If you let a plumbing leak persist, not only are you wasting water as well as money, but you are setting yourself up for foundation issues.

While any type of foundation can experience issues from a leaky pipe left unchecked, slab foundations are a special case. Often a plumbing leak in a slab foundation is a major cause of problems because homeowners never knew that their pipe was leaking in the first place.

As slabs lack a crawlspace that provides immediate access to the pipes that run under the floors, you may never know there is a leak in your slab plumbing unless you notice a rise in your water usage. If this leak is left unrepaired, the extra water around your foundation from it causes shifting which leads to foundation damage.

If you have a slab leak that has caused a need for foundation repair, you may wonder which should be repaired first. In most cases, you will want to call a plumber out to repair the leak. However, if there has been significant shifting, then other parts of your in-slab plumbing may have been damaged as well. For example, extreme shifting can bend and break other portions of your pipe. If your plumber thinks this may be the case, you will want to get your foundation repaired before repairing the rest of your plumbing. The reason for this is simple. If you fix the plumbing then readjust your foundation, it could just damage it again.

This is a frustrating situation to be in, but a common one for those with slab foundations. If you have a slab foundation or any foundation that is manifesting issues, contact us today to see how Steady House Foundation Repair can help.

When you have foundation problems, you anticipate the problems to manifest symptoms in the foundation, floors, or even the walls if it is bad enough. However, when the foundation has issues it can affect everything from the slab to the roof top. This is why if you are having a roof problem, you may also want to consider looking into the foundation as well.

If you are having a roof leak, only to find no explainable cause, it could actually be a foundation issue. A sturdy roof can typically withstand a few inches of foundation shift, but eventually, it will start to curve and separate. This will allow rain to leak into your home and the moisture will cause further damage to the roof. The gaps will also allow animals to enter your home.

If your roofing company informs you that your roof has curved and separated, it is time to call a foundation company to see what is going on down below. You will want to fix the foundation issue before you fix a roofing issue. If you fix your roof first, the foundation may settle in a new way that could just cause the roof to separate again. You really do need a solid foundation in order to build a solid home. It is best to just temporarily patch a roof to prevent further leaking before permanently fixing it, at least until the foundation is repaired.

Are you having foundation problems in your home that are starting to affect your walls, door, windows, or even the roof? The longer you wait to have these foundation issues repaired, the more expensive they will be to fix and the more extensive the damage will become. If you need foundation repair, contact us today to see what Steady House Foundation Repair can do to help.