Anchor Foundation Repair has now left your property, your foundation is repaired all safe and sound. The repair crew has returned your plants to their original location, all the holes have been filled, and all that extra dirt is gone. *cue the pastoral music and deer frolicking in your yard*
Things are returning to normal and you are getting back into the swing of things. Now you are starting to think a bit more about this warranty situation. What’s the deal with that warranty anyway and how does it work?
After investing a significant amount of money into this project, you want to have some security and peace of mind that this repair decision will last a lifetime. That’s not too much to ask, is it?
When it comes to small businesses, and in this case foundation repair companies, the promise of a warranty is only as good as the strength of commitment to the community they serve. At Anchor Foundation Repair, we want you to know that we have been dedicated to maintaining your faith in our workmanship for over 35 years and offer a lifetime transferable warranty to prove it.
This article will help you understand the following in plain language:
- What is the Anchor Foundation Repair warranty?
- What is covered by this warranty?
- What is not covered by this warranty?
- Is there anything that voids the warranty?
- What do I do if I need warranty work?
- What if I sell my home and need to transfer the warranty to the new owner?
Let’s dig in and unearth the information you really want to know about your Anchor Foundation Repair warranty.
1. What is the Anchor Foundation Repair warranty?
Technically, we call this warranty a “service agreement” and provide this explanation in our proposal to you:
LIFETIME SERVICE AGREEMENT: If any raising is necessary due to settling during the first five years from the date of job completion. The contractor will re-raise the settled area WITHOUT COST TO THE OWNER. Servicing for additional years, if required, will be done at the rate of $XXX, per adjusted pier, labor and materials included, plus or minus the U.S. Consumer Price Index each year. This service agreement applies only to the piers Installed by the Contractor.
Let’s break this down a little bit for you. Once a foundation is repaired, there is always the possibility for further movement or settling of your foundation. This is because the dirt under your house is still the same stuff we have here in the Brazos Valley. The soil can continue to expand and contract depending on moisture levels and continue to impact your foundation.
Anchor Foundation Repair will come out and lift the settled area again to bring it back into a level position. This is a fairly simple process of lifting with the jacks at each pier location again and adding more shims to hold the home in place. This takes about 1 to 2 days to handle. If the need for this arises within the first five years after the repair date, there is no cost to you.
What happens if it’s after 5 years then?
We knew you were going to ask that for some reason. . . so after five years, there is some cost to you, but it’s not as much as a full repair. Remember that most warranty work after time goes by does have some cost. Think about home appliances and car service agreements. They will fix things but it’s not completely free after a certain amount of time.
Let’s look at the language in the service agreement again where it says this:
Servicing for additional years, if required, will be done at the rate of $XXX, per adjusted pier, labor and materials included, plus or minus the U.S. Consumer Price Index each year.
So let’s give an example here. The average foundation repair job requires about 20 piers on the high end; however, not all piers will need adjusting. We only want to adjust piers that need it, not all of them. Let’s say in this example that only 6 piers need adjustments. The current rate for warranty service work after 5 years is $195 per pier and includes all labor and materials in this one price per pier.
So taking the price per pier times six: $195 x 6 = $1,170
By comparison, the original project cost for 20 brand new piers at full install price would have been within the $15,000 to $20,000 range. Warranty work after the 5-year timeframe is a significant saving compared to how much a homeowner might have spent on the initial job, costing only 5 to 7% of the original work.
What in the world is the U.S. Consumer Price Index?
Basically, this means we will adjust the price for inflation or deflation depending on the cost indicated on your specific service agreement. We do keep copies of our service agreements and can refer to them when needed.
We can’t really predict the cost of things in 20 years if you are needing service agreement work that far in the future. So this allows us to make price adjustments to the cost per pier as needed and it could go up or down depending on the economy.
2. What is covered by this warranty?
We like simple lists. We cover the labor and materials for accessing and adjusting pier locations and putting things back afterward. Here is a list of things covered by this warranty:
- Adjustments to any previously (Anchor) installed piers needed: We will re-level existing pier locations by adding additional shims to bring the home back to level
- Re-patching of concrete surfaces if any were opened up to access pier locations: If any pier locations need to be accessed by breaking through a patio or porch, we will patch up those holes with new concrete.
- Re-mortaring brick lines if needed: If brick mortar was lost due to more settling, we will add mortar back once the home is level again.
- Adjustments to doors/door hardware if needed: Any doors that got out of alignment will be re-adjusted to make them close/latch/stay open properly again.
3. What is not covered by this warranty?
We can’t cover everything, unfortunately, but here’s another easy list for you:
- Adjustments to piers that were not installed by Anchor Foundation Repair
- Addition of Anchor piers to replace piers installed by another contractor
- Repair of drywall or painting due to wall cracks
- Repair of cracked flooring due to settling
- Repair of broken sewer lines or tunneling needed to repair sewer lines
Why don’t we cover these things? Well to put it plainly, these are things we don’t repair on a new job and also don’t repair on a warranty job because that’s not part of our scope of work. Those repairs are something the homeowner must get done separately in any case. Here’s what it says in the original service agreement:
It is understood and agreed that in order to perform the above-described work, It Is possible that sheetrock. wallpaper or other rigid material may crack. Therefore, the above figure does not include any redecorating, repairing, electrical work, or the replacement of any material not called for in this Agreement.
In another area of the agreement:
The contractor assumes no responsibility for any under-slab plumbing. It may currently be cracked, broken, deteriorated, or may do so in the leveling process. Any repairs, if required, are the sole responsibility of the owner.
So even when you have a job done the first time, we don’t fix drywall or cracked flooring caused by the foundation problem. You will always have to pay separately for sewer line repairs with a plumber or if tunneling is needed that is a separate charge.
In other words, we fix the original source of the foundation problems by leveling your foundation, but do not make the cosmetic and other system repairs. Those types of repairs are a job for a contractor specializing in that work.
We are also not responsible for piers installed by anyone else. If we didn’t install them, we don’t offer a service agreement on them.
4. Is there anything that voids the warranty?
Great question! We try to make things easy for you and can’t think of a single thing that would void your Anchor Foundation Repair warranty. This is one of those things that sets us apart.
Now, this is not likely to be true for other repair companies. There could be lots of fine print on other company contracts that will find ways to void your warranty.
There is one thing we would ask of you. . . please contact only Anchor Foundation Repair to complete warranty work on a job that was originally done by Anchor. We want to take care of you, your home, and your warranty needs to ensure that things get done properly. Don’t risk your home by calling someone else.
5. What do I do if I need warranty work?
Really, just contact us! We have records of your repair job and can look up our previous repair plan. We would have to come back out again though to assess the home and make a new plan for the warranty work. This should take about a week’s time and then we can get you on the repair schedule.
We try hard to work in warranty jobs as fast as we are able.
You may recall that we often have jobs scheduled in advance, so we will get you on the books as soon as we can. Always remember that this type of work is rarely an emergency.
6. What if I sell my home and need to transfer the warranty to the new owner?
As per the language in your original proposal and service agreement:
THIS AGREEMENT IS TRANSFERABLE TO NEW OWNERS. NOTIFICATION MUST BE TENDERED IN WRITING WITHIN 90 DAYS OF OWNERSHIP.
Although this is on our agreement and sounds *super serious*, it’s not as dire as it looks. We assign the warranty to the address rather than the owner. We keep records of all the properties we have worked on and will certainly honor any warranty work of any new owners whether the transfer policy has been met or not.
Again, this is unlikely to be true of other companies and sets us apart. We are confident in our work and don’t see any reason to deny warranty work for silly “90-day” reasons.
We are still professionals and we do have a letter that can be drawn up and provided to new owners to make the warranty transfer official if it makes you feel better though. Don’t hesitate to use our Contact Form to send in a request for transfer.
What are the real chances of needing warranty work?
This is a question we didn’t seek to answer at first, but it’s one you might really want to know. Honestly, we don’t have that many warranty work calls in a year due to the Anchor Foundation Repair technique and process.
Over the 35-year lifetime of our business, we have done more than 4,000 slab-on-grade foundation repairs in the Brazos Valley area. We do between 15 to 20 warranty repairs on average per year, about half of those will be beyond the 5-year mark.
In a completely non-scientific approximation, we would say that there’s less than a 5% chance your foundation might need warranty work in the future. We see our past customers primarily at the grocery store or out around town, but not usually at their homes again for more foundation repairs. We like it that way.
Those 5% cases are usually caused by extreme drought conditions in the area. We certainly can’t control mother nature when she doesn’t give us enough rain! At any rate, the chances are low due to the specific bell-bottom pier method that we use that can generally withstand our regular climate.
What are the real chances that Anchor will be there when needed?
We know that repair contractors can come and go, and some businesses don’t last long. Some companies or contractors might make it really hard for you or find any excuse to not “make good” on warranty work.
The chances are 100% that we will be there for you when you need us. We are not going anywhere. Even if it was my father, Ken Tripp, and his professional crew that actually repaired your foundation, Anchor Foundation Repair is here to stay and prioritizes warranty work.
We work, live, shop, and play in the Bryan-College Station area. Our reputation in the community and the high-level service we provide is the foundation (pun intended) of our business model.
Many homeowners choose Anchor Foundation Repair solely because of this lifetime transferable warranty as it speaks volumes about the confidence we have in our repairs and our dedication to the community we serve.
If you feel like warranty work might be needed, contact us to get the process started. It’s that simple.
Were you happy with your experience with us?
Now that the work is done at your home, we would love to know how you feel about our service and professionalism.
If you have not yet had work done by Anchor Foundation Repair and are reading this article for informational purposes, we look forward to hearing about your satisfaction in the future. (We now grant you permission to stop reading this article if desired, but it’s not too much longer so you could always keep reading for some comedy gold at the end).
Oh . . . you’re still with us then? So, reviews are a big way to help others in our community, especially when it comes to big-ticket items and repairs. Maybe you used consumer reviews to help you find us? Don’t you want to help others with your words of wisdom and advice about your experience?
People have really begun to depend on the reviews of others on the internet to help them make the best choices for their home. Would you like to share your review now? Here’s our Facebook Reviews Page.
You might have also received an email from the office with some other review outlet choices. Feel free to complete your review through that correspondence instead.
We would really appreciate your feedback and so would your friends and neighbors!