You’re not super clear on what foundation repair is and what it’s really supposed to do. How is it going to help your home? Does it fix cracks in your slab? Does it fix the cracks in your walls? What exactly are we talking about when we say, “foundation repair”?
At Anchor Foundation Repair, we’ve been fixin’ Brazos Valley foundations since 1985. We are more than qualified to explain the meaning and goals of foundation repairs since we’ve been doing them for decades.
In this article, we will define foundation repair by explaining the primary goals for this type of home repair. We further define traditional slab foundation repairs by also discussing what they do not do i.e. what is not included in the repair process.
Please note that our focus is on slab foundation homes for this article as other types of foundations will have slightly different explanations, even though the goals might be similar.
Understanding What Foundation Repair Is and Does
What is foundation repair attempting to do for your home? There are three main goals for most foundation repairs:
- To stabilize your foundation by lowering its base into less reactive soil levels,
- To raise your foundation to its proper elevation, and
- Correct the signs and symptoms of foundation issues in your home.
We will elaborate on these primary objectives below and later we’ll talk about what *doesn’t* happen during foundation repairs.
1. Stabilizing Your Foundation
Slab foundations move because they rest at a shallow depth usually on expansive clay soil. This soil type moves throughout the year, expanding and contracting depending on the rainfall levels in each season. To stabilize a home and keep it steady on this shifting soil, foundation repair dives deeper into the soil to avoid these movement extremes by going past them.
Think about water movement on the ocean’s surface vs. deeper below. The deep water is less choppy and wavy and is more still. Similarly, foundation repair puts your home’s foundation down into areas where the soil is less subject to movement and seasonal settlement and rebounding.
Stabilizing the home at a deeper level achieves goal #1 and sets the stage for keeping your foundation more stable in the future. The idea here is to prevent more settlement issues from recurring later.
2. Raising Your Foundation
When a home sinks due to foundation settlement, it needs to be raised back up to its original position. That’s where foundation repair comes in with goal No. 2: to lift your foundation back into place.
Raising a foundation is no small feat. Let’s just think about this for a minute. Your house is already built and it needs to be lifted up out of the ground some. In other words, your house needs to be picked up and held in a higher position . . . without damaging it . . . in many cases it’s done with you still living inside of it! This is an amazing thing to accomplish, don’t you think?
Putting the home back where it was when it was built is what helps to correct the visual and functional problems you’re experiencing. When your home sinks, it pulls things out of whack like door frames, trim pieces, cabinetry, drywall, etc. So if you return the foundation to its original elevation, these issues correct themselves and come back into alignment.
3. Correcting The Signs and Symptoms
Well, this has already been explained somewhat in the last section, but it’s worth keeping as the 3rd goal of foundation repairs. Annoying and troublesome signs and symptoms around your home are distressing.
You want to be able to look at your wall and not see cracks. You want to be able to open and close all your doors easily without little sticking points or pounding. You want to feel like you can safely put things on your built-in shelves and cabinets.
Perhaps most importantly to some, you want your home to look nice and presentable to yourself and others. You want to enjoy your home, and not be irritated by it, amirite?
A foundation repair contractor should work to correct signs and symptoms as much as possible. Sure, they do it by achieving goal #1 to help prevent future settlement and goal #2 by raising the home. However, a focus on correcting the bothersome issues is also an important part of the repairs.
Keep in mind here that the signs will be corrected through the raising process as much as possible as the home allows. But there’s still more repair work that you might need from another type of contractor (keep reading for an explanation).
What Foundation Repair Doesn’t Do
To fully understand what foundation repair is, it’s important to also discuss what it isn’t. Don’t be dismayed here, a foundation repair contractor is *not trying* to do these things when they repair your home. You should not expect any foundation repairs to accomplish these acts.
It’s not what they are there for, it’s not what they are doing, and it’s not part of the plan.
Foundation repair does not do these things:
- Does not mend, seal, or erase foundation cracks,
- Does not result in a 100% perfectly level slab,
- Does not repair, spackle, or paint over cracks in your drywall,
- Does not repair finishes like tile, brick, or trim that were broken by settlement, and
- Does not mean that your home will never move again.
The above items are not the point of the foundation repairs, though some issues might still be things you want to take care of. In some cases, you will need to get them handled by another type of contractor who does that sort of thing. Don’t worry, we’ll elaborate on why foundation repair doesn’t take care of these things next.
Foundation Repair Does Not Mend, Seal, or Erase Foundation Cracks
You cannot make cracks disappear on a slab surface that already has cracks in it and a home that’s already built on top of it. We can’t stitch up the cracks, or put a band-aid on them and cure them. Slab cracks will not go away with foundation repairs. The only way to truly remove a foundation crack is to tear down your house and pour a new foundation.
Some foundation repair companies offer to caulk, epoxy, or paint over slab cracks in some way to seal them up. But that’s not a part of every foundation repair contractor’s process. These types of cosmetic masking procedures are optional and are not automatically included in foundation repairs.
However, if you do want cracks sealed, it’s definitely a choice you can make. You either need to ask your chosen contractor if they will add it to their scope of work, find a handyman or general contractor who will do it, or try the DIY approach.
Check out this article for more of our thoughts on sealing slab cracks.
To end on an optimistic note here, hairline cracks and surface slab cracks should not send you into a spiral of worry about the stability of your foundation. Surface cracks in a slab are most often cosmetic and more importantly, don’t affect the structural integrity of your home in most cases.
Before this section gets too much longer, allow me to refer you to another article for deeper insights: When Are Slab Foundation Cracks Bad and How Can You Tell?
Foundation Repair Does Not Result In a 100% Perfectly Level Slab
Slab foundations are never mathematically perfectly level to begin with. Engineering guidelines allow for deviation from level by up to +/- 1.5 inches. Foundation repairs do not raise a foundation beyond its original elevation. So if your slab was *a little off* to begin with, we’re not going to correct that initial imperfection during foundation repairs.
Also, the goal is to return the foundation to its original elevation as much as possible, but the home doesn’t always allow for a full return. When homes have been out of position for extended periods, materials like wood can warp. We might have to stop raising before reaching the *original elevation* because more damage starts to occur.
Foundation repair generally should not cause more damage to your home. Ideally, slab raising improves all issues and brings cracks back together. But there are exceptions to this when warping has impacted your framing or other rigid materials in the home or if your home has recently been remodeled. So perfect levelness will not be reached if it would result in creating new damage to your house.
For more on this issue, we’ve got this article for you: Will My Home Be Level After Foundation Repairs Are Completed?
Foundation Repair Does Not Repair Drywall
We’ve danced around this already but let’s state it plainly here: raising a foundation should close up drywall cracks, and like slab cracks, the drywall cracks will not be healed or truly disappear.
If all goes well with foundation repairs and there is no warped material, drywall cracks should visually close up. They might look like they disappeared and even be barely noticeable. However, those drywall cracks are still technically there.
The vast majority of foundation repair contractors do not repair your drywall for you after raising the foundation – it’s just not what they do, it’s not part of the job description. You really don’t want them doing it anyway. They are foundation repair experts, not drywall experts.
If you want your drywall repaired in some way afterward, you have to contact a drywall contractor to complete those additional repairs at additional cost. Drywall repairs range from cheap and easy to complicated and expensive. Check this out for some potential options on how to handle drywall repair after you’ve had your foundation repaired.
Foundation Repair Does Not Mean Your Home Will Never Move Again
While foundation repair gives your home more stability, that doesn’t mean it won’t move in the future. Your house is still resting on expansive clay soil and is always susceptible to further movement or settlement.
Yes, your home will be more stable than it was before repairs because the base of your foundation is lowered to less reactive soil depths with foundation repair. This gives you the best chance at keeping more movement at bay.
However, your home will not be 100% immune to all future movement after repairs. That’s impossible. We can’t remove the dirt and we can’t control the weather either. For more info on this issue, check out: Is Foundation Repair Permanent or Will My Home Settle Again?
Will Foundation Repairs Work?
Now that you fully understand what foundation repair aims to do (and what it doesn’t do), will any of it actually work? Yes, all foundation repairs should theoretically work at first and will achieve the three goals laid out in the first sections. But the real and probably better question is *how long* will the repairs last?
At Anchor Foundation Repair, we offer fair and impartial assessments, empowering education, and a fully transparent repair process. After 40+ years in business, we want you to know as much about foundation repairs as we do and we’ve got no secrets to hide from the Brazos Valley community.
We have an article that addresses the foundation repair effectiveness and longevity question here: Will Foundation Repairs Really Work for My Slab Home?
