Foundation Repair

[Redpuma 146]

Bought a house 3-years ago. Had Quality Foundation in Austin do an assessment and took their full recommendation on what needs to be fixed on the foundation. It is pier and beam so was a fairly straight forward job it seemed. 

Started to do a full remodel a year a go and moved in just a few months ago. House within a week had huge cracks in the walls. I had the original foundation company out again, and they recommend new work saying there is about the same level of work as the original bid as there are additional piers that are failing. Am I wrong to expect them to do this work for free or at cost as they did the original assessment and I now significant have wall / roof damage because the original job wasn't complete enough to keep the house stable?

There is likely material damage and cost to the walls from the foundation shifting.  

Edited August 22, 2020 by Redpuma

[TwiceHorn 31456]

1 minute ago, Redpuma said:

Bought a house 3-years ago. Had Quality Foundation in Austin do an assessment and took their full recommendation on what needs to be fix on the foundation. It is pier and beam so was a fairly straight forward job it seemed. 

Started to do a full remodel a year a go and moved in just a few months ago. House within a week had huge cracks in the walls. Have the original foundation company out again, and they recommend new work saying there is about the same level of work as the original bid as there are additional piers that are failing. Am I wrong to expect them to do this work for free or cost as they did the original assessment and now have wall / roof damage because the original job wasn't complete enough to keep the house stable?

There is likely material damage and cost to the walls from the foundation shifting.  

If nothing had changed about the house, yes, I think that would be fair and legally justified.

The remodel, though, may be a game-changer.  From a technical perspective, it may have changed the loading on the piers.  From a smokescreen perspective, they are going to pretend that it did whether it did or not and you may have to get very surly with them to get anything out of it.

[ztejas 43419]

[Redpuma 146]

3 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

If nothing had changed about the house, yes, I think that would be fair and legally justified.

The remodel, though, may be a game-changer.  From a technical perspective, it may have changed the loading on the piers.  From a smokescreen perspective, they are going to pretend that it did whether it did or not and you may have to get very surly with them to get anything out of it.

they did foundation work for the remodel too. 

[deadshank 24652]

Did they give you a workmanship warranty?  Were there limitations to the warranty?  How long is the warranty?   

[Godzillatron 292]

Did you move walls or otherwise change structural loading? Did you regrade the yard, put in sprinklers, or otherwise change the drainage?

[Homercles 10205]

3 hours ago, ztejas said:

You gotta show the whole thing

 

Edited August 23, 2020 by Homercles

[TwiceHorn 31456]

3 hours ago, Redpuma said:

they did foundation work for the remodel too. 

All construction in Texas carries an implied warranty of good and workmanlike performance, which tends to mean the foundation doesn't yield in a matter of weeks.

So I don't think it has much to do with the prior work, they need to make good on what they did.

[ztejas 43419]

12 minutes ago, Homercles said:

You gotta show the whole thing

 

You can always use carbon fiber stucco lath.

Edited August 23, 2020 by ztejas

[Gil Bang 25949]

Bought a house 3-years ago. Had Quality Foundation in Austin do an assessment and took their full recommendation on what needs to be fixed on the foundation. It is pier and beam so was a fairly straight forward job it seemed. 
Started to do a full remodel a year a go and moved in just a few months ago. House within a week had huge cracks in the walls. I had the original foundation company out again, and they recommend new work saying there is about the same level of work as the original bid as there are additional piers that are failing. Am I wrong to expect them to do this work for free or at cost as they did the original assessment and I now significant have wall / roof damage because the original job wasn't complete enough to keep the house stable?
There is likely material damage and cost to the walls from the foundation shifting.  

Sounds like they should change their name.

[idigTexas 2288]

8 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

Sounds like they should change their name.

There's a typo in the OP.  It should be Bad Had Quality Foundation. 

[ztejas 43419]

21 hours ago, idigTexas said:

There's a typo in the OP.  It should be Bad Had Quality Foundation. 

"Why do you always hire the cheapest guy?"

"I go by how funny the sign is!"

[deadshank 24652]

3 desirable qualities for contractors:

They’re good at what they do

They’re cheap

They pay their bills

PICK 2 OF THE 3.  

 

[RexWilson 1346]

Going to piggyback on this thread. Any recommendations for foundation repair companies in the Austin area?

[High Plains Drifter 11046]

14 minutes ago, deadshank said:

3 desirable qualities for contractors:

They’re good at what they do

They’re cheap

They pay their bills

PICK 2 OF THE 3.  

 

 

I thought it was:

 

Good

Cheap

Fast

 

Pick one

[CooterBrown 18007]

Going to piggyback on this thread. Any recommendations for foundation repair companies in the Austin area?

I used CenTex for my last house. Their work comes with a transferable lifetime warranty. You’ll want that when you sell.

Prepare your anus. 12 years ago I paid $700 a pier...$35K total.

To be honest, unless the slab is still moving and severely damaged or if it’s caused plumbing issues, I’d probably just repair the sheet rock and adjust any sticking doors instead of paying a fuckton to fix it.

[ztejas 43419]

2 hours ago, High Plains Drifter said:

 

I thought it was:

 

Good

Cheap

Fast

 

Pick one

In the service industry you can at most have 2 of the 3 (or typically see that).

But contractors fucking suck so I wouldn't be surprised if they are relegated to just one of the 3.

[deadshank 24652]

8 hours ago, High Plains Drifter said:

 

I thought it was:

 

Good

Cheap

Fast

 

Pick one

Well my grandpa sent this adage to me on Facebook so it could all be a hoax.   Who knows?

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

9 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

I used CenTex for my last house. Their work comes with a transferable lifetime warranty. You’ll want that when you sell.

Prepare your anus. 12 years ago I paid $700 a pier...$35K total.

To be honest, unless the slab is still moving and severely damaged or if it’s caused plumbing issues, I’d probably just repair the sheet rock and adjust any sticking doors instead of paying a fuckton to fix it.

I'll second the CenTex transferable warranty.  The house my daughter bought next door to ours had ~$30K of piers done under the slab.  Wouldn't have bought it without the warranty.

[horn4life 3760]

Yeah I knew a gal who years ago worked with Centex and she had nothing but good things to say about them.  This was years and years ago, but she was pretty critical usually and the fact I remember this means it stood out in my mind. 

SUCKS to have new work go bad so quickly.  

[Hornbeliever 712]

On 8/24/2020 at 11:08 PM, CooterBrown said:

I used CenTex for my last house. Their work comes with a transferable lifetime warranty. You’ll want that when you sell.

Prepare your anus. 12 years ago I paid $700 a pier...$35K total.

To be honest, unless the slab is still moving and severely damaged or if it’s caused plumbing issues, I’d probably just repair the sheet rock and adjust any sticking doors instead of paying a fuckton to fix it.

ouch.  Was this for major issues?

I just bought a house that has minor shifting and looking for a tuneup.  Someone said it would be 1,500 or so and that is a huge departure from 35k!

[Hornbeliever 712]

Should have added this to message above but has anyone done minor tuneup to cylinder block pier and beam foundation and if so, how much did it cost?

Edited October 1, 2020 by Hornbeliever

[CooterBrown 18007]

32 minutes ago, Hornbeliever said:

ouch.  Was this for major issues?

I just bought a house that has minor shifting and looking for a tuneup.  Someone said it would be 1,500 or so and that is a huge departure from 35k!

In hindsight, no.

I had a large single story...3,000 sq ft. one end had dropped about 1 1/2 inches. There was cracked sheetrock and brick and sticking doors.  It was not at all noticeable in the floor due to the size of the house.

Since there was no plumbing damage, what I should've done was get it evaluated, wait 6 months and get it evaluated again. If there was no further movement, then just fix all the cosmetic issues and be done with it.  Slabs generally don't keep moving forever. They settle into a solid place. Maybe that 1 1/2" was all it needed to settle.

Also, this was a slab foundation. They add piers under to the slab to raise it up. That's why I referred to the cost per pier that they installed.

Edited October 1, 2020 by CooterBrown

[High Plains Drifter 11046]

 

My 40 yr old pier and beam house has cracks running horizontally and vertically along the seams of the drywall in various places and rooms. I assume that is just the old drywall tape peeling off. But there is one location where a diagonal crack runs across one sheet of drywall. I assume that is a foundation issue, or maybe just settling? Should I be worried about just one diagonal crack?

Are pier and beam foundations easier/cheaper to fix/level?