Foundation Repair

Foundation damage of all kinds is very serious, but settlement is arguably one of the most serious and hard to deal with, because it affects the entirety of your property over time. Settlement is a process of fragmentation and sinking that can be caused by a number of issues, most of which begin in the soil. The limestone and shale rich soil that is commonly found around York, PA, is has very good drainage capabilities, but the climate here can be wild and a particularly bad storm can have a serious impact on the soil around and under your home. 

The issue most likely to cause foundation settlement is a process called soil washout. This can occur when the soil is saturated over a long period of time, or when serious issues like flooding cause intense and short-lived saturation. Washout can displace soil from under your home and leave large voids or area of loose, unstable soil which fail to provide proper support. Over time, this can lead to your property’s foundation cracking and fragmenting as the unsupported areas begin to break away and fall into the voids beneath them. 

This is a serious issue and can lead to cracked and uneven flooring as well as wider structural issues like bowing walls. Here at Baker’s Waterproofing, we can repair a foundation that has suffered from settlement with the installation of foundation piers. These piers are used to lift the damaged sections of foundation back into place and transfer their weight to stable soil far below the surface, thereby preventing the recurrence of settlement at a later time.

Foundation damage is a serious issue that should never be underestimated. As well as being severe, foundation issues are notorious for growing at an exponential rate and having an impact on the wider structure of a property. From your walls to your floors and all the way to your roof, every part of your Pittsburgh property is dependent on your foundation for support and stability. Any movement or destabilization in your foundation will leave the door open for serious damage.

So, as you might imagine, we recommend that you deal with foundation damage as soon as you see the warning signs. Many property owners prefer to wait until a problem becomes impossible to ignore before they act, of course, but there are a few good reasons as to why you should not do this. The dangers of waiting too long are very simple. The longer you wait to fix foundation issues, the more likely they are to grow and spread to other parts of your home. This can lead to all forms of secondary and tertiary damage like dampness, wood rot, and mold formation. All these issues present unique dangers to your health and home.

The benefits of acting as soon as you see signs of foundation damage, of course, are just as simple and powerful as the drawbacks of waiting too long. If you deal with foundation damage as soon as you see it, then you will make the process of repair much simpler and far less expensive. In fact, the cost of repairs will get more and more expensive over a very short period of time. It will also prevent the formation of secondary issues (for example, the formation of mold, which could be harmful to your health and wellbeing). There is also a lower chance that you will need serious cosmetic repair if you act quickly.

Much like the basement and crawl space solutions, many of the foundation and concrete lifting repair options tend to overlap each other. Some of these include the various pier systems. Foundation repair experts may recommend push piers, helical piers, or slab piers depending on the type of damage and foundation you have. They also differ in their shape, installation, and is dependent on the soil type of your home.

There are also many reinforcement systems for strictly foundation walls. The SettleStop Wall Anchor System is installed deep into your soil to support weakened foundation walls from the outside. For a less invasive solution, there is also the SettleStop IntelliBrace™ that can be installed directly onto the inside of your foundation wall and can work to prevent further damage and may even straighten it over time. The SettleStop Carbon Fiber Wall Reinforcing System is ideal for those who have less space or those who want to simultaneously pull wall cracks closed as well.

For concrete lifting, SettleStop PolyRenewal™ injection foam is dually functional. It is an incredibly lightweight foam that expands and can support even the heaviest of concrete slabs and even lift it back into its original position over time. It is also waterproof, so it can protect against soil erosion and thus, soil compaction, and concrete settlement.

Foundation damage can be caused by a number of issues, but they can all be generally split into three categories: pressure, lack of support, or defects. Each of these issues is distinct and unique, but they tend to present themselves in the same ways. The main signs of foundation damage are spreading cracks, unevenness, dampness, sinking, and heaving. You may also notice wood rot or mold as secondary issues if the damage to your Central PA foundation has been at work for some time. So, because the signs are fairly uniform no matter the cause, it is important to contact a professional so that they can determine the cause and the correct solution.

A fundamental flaw or defect in the design or structure of your Central PA property’s foundation is the least likely underlying cause but simultaneously the most serious. Defects can occur as a result of poor design (for example, the architect miscalculating the depth of the foundation) or because of the materials (for example, poorly mixed or cured concrete). Either way, the damage will be hard to rectify, and it will be more likely that foundation replacement will need to be carried out in part or in full. Damage caused by pressure or a lack of support, however, can generally be repaired and prevented from recurring.

Few things can exert enough pressure to damage a property except the earth itself (and incidentally, issues with support tend to be soil-based as well). The soil around Central PA is generally loamy or chalky, which means that it is non-expansive or minimally reactive. As such, its capacity to exert direct pressure is lower than soils that are expansive and clay-based. However, this kind of soil can begin to move if faced with prolonged flooding or heavy rainfall. When this happens, the hydrostatic pressure levels around a home can skyrocket, and soil washout becomes far more likely. Both of these issues can cause foundation damage like fragmentation, sinking, cracking, and lateral movement.

Soils rich in clay and silt have the greatest potential to damage a foundation. Clay absorbs water easily, expanding in volume as it becomes more saturated. So-called “expansive clays” can cause foundations to crack, heave and shift.

When clay soils dry out, they shrink and crack, leaving gaps around a house where water from the next storm can penetrate easily and deeply to repeat the expansion cycle. Clay-rich soils usually cause more foundation damage by expanding than by contracting.

Hydrostatic pressure is a natural force that exists around all homes in York and throughout the country. To put it simply, this pressure is created by the weight of the soil and the water that it contains. All homes are designed and built with this in mind, and are very capable at resisting hydrostatic pressure up to a certain point. They have a threshold, in short, and once hydrostatic pressure levels exceed their threshold, damage becomes more and more likely.

Sudden or significant increases in hydrostatic pressure can be caused in a number of ways. In and around York, or Pennsylvania as a whole, this is most likely to occur because of heavy rainfall and storms during the fall. If your area is contending with soil washout, even your limestone soil won’t be able to prevent localized flooding, and properly draining soil may struggle to keep up after a large amount of snow thawing in the spring.

When this happens, structural damage is almost certain (especially if you have a basement). This is because hydrostatic pressure is often applied laterally. Concrete, which is what most properties’ foundation and foundation walls are made from, is a durable material with huge compressive strength, but very little tensile strength. This means that it really cannot bend or flex and, as such, lateral pressure can cause it to crack and buckle. Bowing walls and foundation fragmentation are common outcomes when hydrostatic pressure gets too high.