You have just scheduled an In-Home Assessment for Anchor Foundation Repair to look at your pier and beam home. Here’s you: Hmmm, is there anything I need to know about this visit? Do I need to prepare? I don’t really know what will happen.
Here’s us: We had a feeling you were going to ask that.
Here ya go: After doing foundation inspections and repairs for 35+ years here in the Brazos Valley, we know that homeowners want to know what to expect. Since we’re the ones doin’ these inspections, we can tell you all about ‘em.
This article will go over your most important questions about the In-Home Assessment process specifically on a pier and beam or other crawlspace foundation types. These questions will address our particular process at Anchor.
- How long will it take?
- Who should be there?
- Where will you look and what are you looking for?
- Do I need to do anything to prepare?
- How much does it cost?
- What do I get in the end?
Let’s get started so you can feel prepared for this important step in getting your foundation inspected by Anchor Foundation Repair. *Most* of this information is general and can also apply to any foundation repair contractor’s inspections for pier and beam homes.
1. How Long Will a Pier and Beam Foundation Inspection Take?
You should allow about 2 hours for a thorough In-Home Assessment from Anchor Foundation Repair for your pier and beam home. We will be reviewing and confirming your concerns and viewing the problem areas. We can discuss any questions you have if we haven’t already talked about them before the appointment.
Before the visit, we want you to read this article that covers many of the frequently asked questions that come up during an inspection. Here it is: “Anchor Foundation Repair Common Questions: Timing, Impact, Payment.”
Reading this article before we come out will save everyone time and could shorten the length of the visit by heading off common questions in advance. Everyone wants to save a little time, don’t they?
2. Who Should Attend the Pier and Beam Foundation Inspection?
We strongly recommend that all key decision-makers be present for the visit. Having every important person there during that time will prevent repeating questions and misinterpretations through secondhand information. Everyone will hear the same conversation and hear the same questions and answers.
Do whatever it takes to make sure that whoever contributes to making big financial decisions for the household is there. This is an important time saver and a miscommunication saver for you.
3. What Is Looked at During a Pier and Beam Inspection?
We will need to have access to your entire home, both inside, outside, and underneath to do the inspection. If a room can’t be accessed, we would have to make assessments based on adjacent rooms and may miss something. It’s best to make sure that everything is open and accessible to view.
We will be looking for confirmation of true signs of foundation issues in your home. We want to see in person all the cracks in walls, sticking doors, and trim separations that you shared over the phone or via video before the visit.
For a pier and beam home, we especially need to see underneath the home and be able to get into the actual crawlspace to inspect the piers and sill beams, as well as floor joists and all the other good stuff under there. Please make sure there is an easy way to gain access.
We are also looking for those specific visual cues to tell us exactly where the problem is with your home and allow us to design a repair plan to overcome your foundation issues. This is where we are putting together the full picture of what foundation settlement is happening in your home, as well as if and how it should be repaired.
Before the visit, we just have some of the puzzle pieces to go by. But the on-site foundation inspection process is key to putting the whole puzzle together and seeing your complete home situation for our best recommendations.
What We WON’T Be Looking at During Your Foundation Inspection…
We won’t be looking at your stuff, your furniture, your decor choices, or your clutter. Don’t worry about how your home looks. We are not coming for a dressy dinner party. Please don’t worry about the appearance of your home, we are not coming to give you more work to do or stress you out with cleaning.
4. How Do I Prepare For a Pier and Beam Foundation Inspection?
So we have already said, don’t do any cleaning to prepare for the inspection. But for a pier and beam home, there is ONE MAJOR THING we need for you to do in advance and that’s to plan on access to the crawlspace area.
Many times, getting into the crawlspace of a pier and beam home is done through an access hole in the floor, maybe inside a closet or cabinet somewhere. If a bunch of stuff is in the way of that access, we ask that you move it before the visit so that we can inspect the area without any on-site delays.
So, please clear out that closet and move clothes, boxes, and stored items aside so that it’s easy to get underneath your home.
A minor thing you can do to prepare for your In-Home Assessment with Anchor Foundation Repair is to write down any questions you may have that were not answered in the advance reading materials. Once the inspector arrives, it’s easy to forget what questions you thought about asking if you didn’t write them down.
We are all about being efficient with your time and having the access cleared and a few notes prepared will make sure that you get your home thoroughly inspected and all your questions answered. Can you take the time to prepare a few questions you want to be sure get answered?
5. How Much Does Anchor Charge to Inspect a Pier and Beam?
We charge $275 for an In-Home Assessment on a pier and beam or crawlspace home.
Please know that the cost of a foundation inspection with Anchor would be applied to your approved repair contract. So if you end up having your pier and beam foundation repaired with us, then it doesn’t cost you anything beyond the final project cost.
6. What Is Included In the Cost of the Pier and Beam Inspection?
If there is a confirmed problem that we can help with, you will have two important pieces of information after the In-Home Assessment:
- A written repair plan
- The total cost for the repair project
Here’s a deeper explanation of the value of these items, making your In-Home Assessment worth the price.
What Does a Pier and Beam Repair Plan Tell Me?
The repair plan diagram is a to-scale drawing of your home showing where repairs are generally needed to properly raise, and support settled areas. The repair plan also notes any foundation materials that need to be replaced under the home due to wood rot or termite damage.
Our plans do not include an elevation assessment. Elevation information can be misleading and we do not use that kind of data to develop a repair plan. Elevation measurements are left to structural engineers. Most homes and homeowners do not need that level of detail to determine if crawl space repairs are needed.
What About the Cost of the Pier and Beam Repairs?
The other important piece of information you gain from a foundation inspection is the contracted price to complete the repair project. This is the main result homeowners want in getting a bid or quote from a repair contractor – the price!
We know that hearing the cost for the repairs is what you are really waiting to find out.
At the end or soon after the inspection, we provide you with the repair plan and the price. Then you will have time to decide what to do next. You might decide to get started on foundation repairs right away. You might want to wait a little while to do the repairs or seek a second opinion if you choose.
Need Cost Estimates For Pier and Beam Foundation Repairs?
With all this talk about getting a cost proposal at the end of your inspection, you might begin to wonder what price range to even expect. Like, what is the average cost of pier and beam foundation repair with Anchor?
Knowing what to expect as far as cost is concerned is a good idea. The best way to prepare you for hearing a price at your inspection is to give you some average project price approximations.
Anchor Foundation Repair has been inspecting and repairing foundations and leveling homes in the Bryan, College Station, and Brazos Valley areas since 1985. While we are in the business of repairing foundations, we don’t want to fix foundations that don’t need fixing. We want to provide 100% transparency about the condition of your foundation and the potential costs too.
Check out our house leveling pricing estimates for some ballpark figures and we will see you soon for your In-Home Assessment!