Do I need foundation repair? This is a common question for many homeowners in the Dallas Fort Worth area. Don't ignore your concerns. At the first sign of a foundation problem it's time to have a professional evaluation by Granite. An inspection by a trained foundation repair specialist can provide you with answers, practical solutions, and peace of mind. We understand the Dallas and Fort Worth area clay soils. When the soil gets dry, problems appear. When the soil gets wet, foundation problems seem to go away. A foundation problem should be fixed as early as possible to minimize foundation repair costs and reduce or eliminate the cost of collateral damage to walls, ceilings, tile, roofing and plumbing. This is true for both concrete slab and pier and beam foundations. Early signs of foundation problems are shown in the photos here as well as in other parts of our web site.

Your foundation rigidly supports and interacts with every element of the house. Foundations may: sag, heave or tilt. Whether a foundation sags and drops or heaves and rises: walls bend and crack, roof rafters separate, shingles separate, and the seeds are sewn for plumbing damage. When a foundation tilts, the whole house becomes out of level.

As we mentioned before, your foundation problem may appear to be seasonal. Cracks appear during the hot Dallas Fort Worth summers and close up in the wet winter and spring. Seasonal foundation movement damages floors, walls, ceilings and roofs.

The problem is that your house is built of rigid building materials that weren't meant to flex with the seasons from a foundation problem.

With seasonal foundation movement:

• Roof rafters separate - nails are pulled loose
• Roof shingles crack and leak
• Wall studs pull away from the floor or ceiling
• Plumbing breaks and leaks
• Cabinets separate from walls
• Floor tile crack and break

Separation of brick at window frame is often mistaken as caulk failure.

Trim separation indicates failing foundation

Sticking door, door frame misalignment

As post tension concrete slab foundations have been made stronger with deeper and more closely spaced beams, the whole house may tile. In a house with tilt, the walls remain perpendicular to the floor and there are seldom cracks, stuck doors, or other visible signs of damage.

How bad can foundation tilt be? A 40 foot deep house with a 1 percent tilt from front to back will have a front door that is almost 5 inches higher than the back door. That is a noticeable problem both with the floor as well as with leaning front and back walls. If house tilt is stopped early, repair costs are low. When allowed to progress, the cost of foundation repair grows exponentially with time.

At Granite we strive to identify the underlying cause as well as fix the foundation problem. All of our foundation evaluators work under the direction of a Certified Foundation Repair Specialists, and many of them are Certified Foundation Repair Specialists. These people know how to evaluate foundations and develop comprehensive repair plans that look to the underlying cause. The underlying cause of a foundation problem may include: soil consolidation, soil compaction, retainer wall failure, a plumbing leak, or poor foundation drainage.

The cost of delaying foundation repair is often an even more expensive foundation repair. Once foundation failure begins it tends to spread across a house. Many times a delay of as little as a year has caused the cost of foundation repair to double.