What to Look for the Best Residential Foundation Repair Contractors?

Residential foundation repair contractors require an expertise all their own and a company licensed and experienced to deal with them. A healthy balance between the foundation and the surrounding property equals a healthy building. 

Primary Causes of Foundation Problems:

Clay soils are predominant in this region and cause most of the foundation issues in residential buildings. They act like a sponge soaking up large quantities of water and expanding. This in turn exerts enormous pressure on the foundation. The result:

· Cracked foundations or walls

· Windows and doors that stick

· Uneven floors

· Bowed basement walls

· Separating or leaning chimney

Long dry periods can similarly cause drying, contraction of the soil, and sinking of foundations. This is characterized by; cracking around windows or vents, deteriorating mortar and cracked floors. Landscaping absorbs water, especially the trees, creating an uneven water situation or excessive dryness, causing more contraction.

Preventive Maintenance:

With large properties, the best prevention for major problems is to keep the soil beneath and around the foundation evenly moist so you need basement contractor Seattle at that time. This can be accomplished through an on-going program of proper irrigation and drainage. 

Even with proper prevention you may still need to provide repairs to foundation contractors Seattle such as; repairs to piers, concrete or steel pilings, soil injection, drainage, mud-jacking, root barriers and tunneling. Concrete piers are formed by drilling holes into the ground and filling them with concrete. They must age for at least a week after being poured, before using.

Steel or concrete pilings are columns pushed or tunneled into the ground below the house. Concrete is cheaper than steel. Both can be used right away, compared to piers. In soil injection, water soluble chemicals are injected into the soil beneath the building to inhibit its ability to absorb water and limit upward movement of the soil. This is often done in conjunction with added drainage.

Drainage can be anything from slope adjustment to rain gutters and downspouts to more extensive moisture barriers, French drains or slab drains. It is needed if you have standing water within ten feet of your foundation after a heavy rain, which can happen with homes on clay soil.

Commercial Assessment and Estimates:

Residential foundation repair should include attending to the special needs of a commercial building, be it your residential tenants' needs, your warehouse on-going business needs, such as supporting the extra weight in part of the building during repairs, or the need to provide extra entrance and egress while adjusting the landscaping for preventative maintenance purposes.