You’ve got foundation issues and even confirmed them with a foundation inspection. You’re staring at this repair quote for big, big money and are feeling the dread creeping in. If you spend all this dough, will the foundation repair fix things? What are you signing on for when you get your foundation repaired? Will this take care of your problem?
Will foundation repairs really work for my home??
At Anchor Foundation Repair, we understand the stress and anxiety that comes with overwhelming repair projects. You don’t know what to do or who to trust. Not only are you concerned about your home’s safety and stability, but you’re also worried about spending your money wisely on effective repairs. After 40+ years in business, we’ve seen how repairs pan out and can fill you in on this tough foundation repair question.
In this article, we will talk about the *elephant in the room* when it comes to whether or not foundation repairs work and for how long. We’ll go over what results to expect from foundation repair so that you have a better understanding and realistic expectations and can decide on moving forward with foundation repairs or not.
Understanding What Foundation Repair Is and Does
I want to take this opportunity to remind you of what foundation repair is 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.
In the upcoming sections, you’ll find brief explanations of what foundation repair aims to do. If you want the long version, check out: What Is Foundation Repair? Top 3 Goals for Your Home.
Goal #1: Stabilizing Your Foundation
Slab foundations shift because they rest on expansive clay soil, which expands and contracts with seasonal rainfall. Foundation repair addresses this by extending deeper into stable soil, beyond the normal range of these movements.
Think of ocean water: the surface is choppy, but deeper waters are calmer. Similarly, a deeper foundation stabilizes your home, reducing future settlement issues and ensuring long-term stability.
Skipping foundation repairs leaves your home on unstable soil, allowing settlement problems to persist and potentially worsen.
Goal #2: Raising Your Foundation
When a home sinks due to foundation settlement, foundation repair lifts it back to its original position. This process is remarkable—your house is carefully raised, often with you still living in it, without causing damage.
Restoring the foundation to its proper elevation corrects the visual and functional issues caused by sinking, such as misaligned doors, trim, cabinetry, and drywall – bringing everything back into proper alignment if possible.
Remember that these are *goals* to be shooting for. In some cases, getting your home back to its original elevation and level may not be 100% achievable due to many factors. Check this out for more info along these lines: Will My Home Be Level After Foundation Repairs Are Completed?
Not doing foundation repairs means your home stays misaligned, and you will continue to see and experience potentially worsening issues.
Goal #3: Correcting The Signs and Symptoms
We’ve already hinted at this in the previous section. Foundation repair also focuses on resolving the visible and functional problems caused by settlement. Cracks in walls, sticking doors, and misaligned shelves or cabinets can be frustrating, but repairs aim to correct these issues for a better living experience.
By stabilizing the foundation and restoring its original position, contractors help prevent future problems, and at the same time, improve your home’s appearance and functionality. Paying attention to the correction of signs and symptoms ensures a positive outcome and greater homeowner satisfaction.
Keep in mind that not every sign will be *erased* – foundation repair contractors can only do so much when dealing with warped and/or interconnected home parts. But foregoing foundation repairs altogether leads to repeated cosmetic fixes like rehanging doors, releveling cabinetry, or patching drywall. Fixing the foundation reduces the need for repeated corrections.
Will Foundation Repairs Work?
Now that you understand what foundation repairs are trying to do, will it actually work? Well, in the short term, any method of slab foundation repair will work for a time.
All foundation repairs should theoretically work at first and will achieve in some way the three goals laid out in the first sections. But the real and probably better question is *how long* will the repairs work?
Some repairs will last for a while. Some repairs will last for longer periods. Some repairs will last for quite a long time.
The best way to gauge how long foundation repair results will last is to look at the company’s warranty on their repair product. Think of a warranty as a *confidence level* meter on how long the repairs are expected to be effective.
- If a warranty is 10 years, then they safely feel like the repairs will last for 10 years.
- If a warranty is 20 years, then they safely feel like the repairs will last for 20 years.
- If it’s a lifetime warranty, then the company is pretty darn confident that the repairs will offer the greatest longevity.
On the other hand,
- If a warranty is for 5 years or less, then the repairs are not expected to last for long.
- If there is no warranty period offered, then you have no reason to feel confident that the repairs will last at all.
You see, no contractor actually *wants* to do warranty work. So the timeframes are set to cover the most effective period of the product. Companies are hoping that all will go well during the warranty period. After that time, there is no further responsibility to go back and fix anything once the warranty expires.
Don’t think of warranties as a bad thing that contractors don’t want to *make good* on though. Warranties do offer you protection for the stated amount of time. Warranties exist to make sure that things last at least as long as they say they will. Conversely, warranties end because they recognize that most things can’t last for an eternity.
Will Foundation Repairs Last Forever?
So will your foundation repairs be permanent? You guessed it, probably not. But they should work initially and last for a good while – at least the length of the warranty period.
Listen, nothing man-made for a residential home is going to *last forever* unless it’s your never-ending pile of laundry. Everything has an expiration date at some point. It could be far in the future, or nearer. The trick for you as the homeowner, is finding the foundation repair longevity that you are looking for.
- Some homeowners only need quick repairs to satisfy a buyer and then sell their home.
- Some are fine with a 10 or 20-year warranty and don’t feel that more time is necessary.
- Others want the *longest longevity* in foundation repairs as humanly possible.
It’s not always the same for everyone. Some people won’t care if it lasts forever or not.
What About Lifetime Warranties?
Even lifetime warranties have an end, they only last as long as your house is standing. A lifetime warranty might last longer than your lifetime, but your house is not likely to last forever. Typical residential homes are not built to withstand centuries of wear and tear. At some point, your home will be torn down and the lifetime warranty will expire with it.
The big things to remember about lifetime warranties and foundation repairs are that:
- Only the areas of the home that were repaired are covered. Most of the time, foundation repairs are done on a portion of the home, not all of it. So the lifetime warranty only applies to that area and doesn’t include other parts of the home that could settle later.
- Lifetime warranties are not free for a lifetime. Warranties typically have a period of time when warranty work is free. Then, at a later timeframe, the warranty repairs will have some cost (usually a lower cost than new repairs).
In all honestly, lifetime warranties are only good as long as the company that offers them remains in business. This lifetime promise means a lot more coming from a company that has been around a long time, rather than a new company. We’ve seen many businesses closing in recent years, so keep that in mind when you’re looking at choosing a company and you want a lifetime warranty.
Check out this article for more clarity on warranties: Decoding Foundation Repair Lifetime Warranties: Top 8 Misconceptions.
P.S. Anchor has a lifetime warranty for our slab foundation repairs.
Reasons Foundation Repairs Can’t Work For All Eternity
Even though warranties are there to cover you, everyone still wants to know why, “Why can’t foundation repairs last forever?” There are quite a few reasons these kinds of repairs are not permanent.
- Expansive clay soils and Texas droughts
- Faulty original construction of your slab
- Errors during foundation repair installation
- Intrusive landscaping
- Poor drainage around your home
- Good ol’ gravity
- Expected lifespan of repair materials (even concrete and steel can deteriorate)
In a nutshell, all these reasons center around a.) nothing is perfect, and b.) the environment is always changing. Your home was made and repaired by imperfect humans with non-eternal materials. The soil, rainfall, weather, plant life, and everything around your home fluctuates and responds as a living system.
Environmental conditions are only so controllable, and preventions only go so far. Foundation settlement can happen again, unfortunately. It can happen again to the same part of your home that was repaired before or it can happen to a different part of your home. A tree could die and impact your foundation. Here in Texas, we are at risk for drought nearly every year.
However, by lowering the base of your foundation into those less reactive soils (i.e. stabilizing, aka goal #1), foundation repairs give you the *best chance* at withstanding these environmental factors. So just because foundation repairs don’t last forever or could have future issues, doesn’t mean they don’t help your home in the long run.
What To Expect In Your Home After Foundation Repairs
Your home is not in a bubble, it’s still on Earth. Because your home exists in an ever-changing environment, your home could experience some foundation movement after repairs. This is normal and expected.
Here are some examples of things you still might encounter even after foundation repairs are done:
- Small amounts of movement (especially during years of extreme drought)
- Small cracks potentially opening up
- Sheetrock seams appearing (could be from movement or the age of the home)
Remember, foundation repairs give you the best chance at withstanding future environmental factors. But even with the best chances, more movement is still a possibility. It’s all about managing your risks the best you can with the available options.
Anchor’s Goals For Your Foundation Repairs
Speaking of what’s available, if you live in BCS or the surrounding Brazos Valley area, Anchor is available to repair your home. Now that you know how foundation repairs work and the goals we aim to achieve, we also pledge a well-planned, well-communicated, well-executed home project because you deserve the best that your hard-earned money can buy.
With Anchor serving your foundation needs with excellence, you’ve got 40+ years of expertise and a 5-star Google rating too. On top of that, our drilled piers are the gold-standard, tried-and-true foundation repair method with a lifetime guarantee.
If you’re interested in maximum longevity and effectiveness, it’s important to understand the methods of foundation repair. Not all foundation repairs are the same. Check this out now – Foundation Repair Methods Comparison: Drilled Piers vs. Pressed Pilings.
