So you’ve got a home addition and a possible foundation problem? Now you’re wondering if that extra room or garage or sunroom is going to make things more complicated (or more expensive). You might even be thinking, “Does my addition need to be repaired differently than the rest of the house?”
At Anchor Foundation Repair, we’ve seen a lot of additions in our 40+ years of foundation repair work around Bryan, College Station, and the Brazos Valley. Whether your home has one addition or several, we know what to look for and how to handle the repairs so that everything stays in sync.
This article will explain how to tell if your addition needs foundation work, how our repair process handles homes with additions, and how we keep your whole structure – old and new – safe and steady.
What Are the Signs My Home’s Addition Needs Foundation Repair?
Your home’s addition might need foundation repair if you’re noticing some of the same classic signs as the main part of the house. That includes:
- Cracks in the walls or ceilings,
- Problematic doors or windows that are hard to open or close, and/or
- Floors that feel uneven or sloped.
But with additions, the symptoms can sometimes stand out even more. That’s because additions don’t always settle the same way or at the same rate as the original house. You might also see:
- Gaps forming where the addition connects to the main home, or
- Visible separation or movement between the two structures.
These red flags usually mean the foundation under your addition is shifting or sinking in a different pattern than the rest of your home. That doesn’t mean all is lost, it just means it’s time to get a professional look at what’s going on beneath the surface.
Do Homes With Additions Need Different Slab Repairs?
Good news! There’s no extra fuss or drama when it comes to repairing homes with additions – at least with our drilled bell-bottom piers anyway. Here at Anchor, we treat every home with the same thorough process, whether it’s one continuous slab or a mix of original structure and newer spaces.
Additions are often built on their own foundation slab, so we inspect and assess each section of the home carefully. Our main goal is to make sure both the original home and the addition get stabilized as one cohesive unit.
That said, there are some cases where we need to make small adjustments. If your addition is moving sideways (called lateral movement), we might need to install buttress piers or steel brackets to resist and/or prevent additional slipping, sliding, or lateral movement. These are special fixes for specific situations but are still part of our tried-and-true approach.
So even if your addition has a mind of its own, we know how to bring it back to its original alignment with the rest of your home.
Raising and Stabilizing the Addition While Keeping the Main House Intact
We only use drilled concrete piers for all our slab foundation repair jobs, including those with additions. This repair method gives us the strength and control we need to lift and stabilize both parts of the home carefully.
Here’s what we do:
- Place piers under the affected areas of both the main home and the addition,
- Lift each section slowly and precisely to keep the whole structure aligned, and
- Add any necessary interior piers or buttress piers if the addition is pushing inward or shifting sideways.
We understand that additions sometimes move differently than the main structure. That’s why we take extra care to bring everything back to level as much as possible and in a way that considers the entire home. We treat the home as an interconnected whole, not as independent pieces.
Our goal is always to stabilize the entire home, additions and all. So, you should not have to worry about future tug-of-war between your old and new spaces.
What You Can Expect When You Have an Addition and Need Foundation Repair
Now you know that:
- Additions can show signs of foundation issues similar to the main home (or homes without additions), and sometimes even more clearly,
- Anchor Foundation Repair handles homes with additions just like any other job, with a few extra tools if needed, and
- Our careful repair method using drilled piers ensures everything gets aligned and stabilized together.
We’ve been handling foundation repairs with and without additions for over four decades. You can trust that we’ll take care of your whole home (from the front porch to the back room) like it’s our own.
Still wondering what foundation repair looks like from start to finish? Check out our step-by-step foundation repair process so you can feel even more prepared.
