Do you understand how damage contractors operate? Many people do not have a good understanding of the industry. This lack of knowledge can cause confusion when people need to use the services offered by damage contractors. Before I hired a team of damage contractors, I didn't know the first thing about damage contractors. Thankfully, the blokes who came to repair my damaged home took the time to fully explain their role and the work they would be carrying out. Over a couple of weeks when the team were working on the job, they also gave me lots of top tips and advice
Your foundation does the integral job of holding up your home, but in some cases, it needs a bit of extra help. In particular, you may need to talk with a contractor about foundation underpinning. This process involves repairing your original foundation and adding extra supports to it. Here are the four major signs that you may need this work.
1. You Want More Depth in Your Basement
Do you have a crawl space that you want to turn into a basement? Do you have an old basement with low ceilings that you want to be higher? In all cases, if you want your basement to be deeper, you need to dig further into the ground, and underpinning helps to ensure that your home doesn't sink into this space.
2. You Want More Height
On the reverse side of the spectrum, you can also turn to foundation underpinning if your home needs more height. If you want to add another story to your home, you may need to reinforce your foundation. In contrast, if you just plan to put up a home extension, you may need to put in a new foundation under that part of your home, but you don't necessarily have to do underpinning on the rest of your foundation. That said, your contractors may need to take measures to connect the existing foundation and the new one.
3. Your Foundation Has Extensive Damage
If your current foundation has extensive damage, underpinning can help you to avoid an unexpected collapse. When foundations are damaged, they can't hold up your home properly. As your home starts to lean to one side or sink into the ground, that places pressure on all of its components, potentially leading to the destruction of your home.
Visible cracks can indicate foundation damage, but don't panic if you see cracks because sometimes they are just cosmetic. A damage contractor, like those at Pro-Pin Professional Underpinning, can assess the situation and help you decide if you need underpinning or not.
4. The Ground Around Your Home Is Shifting
The ground around your home plays a big role in the foundation's survival. If the ground is shifting due to weak soil structure, erosion due to nearby waterways, or for any other reason, you may also need to reinforce the foundation. Sometimes the shifting ground causes foundation damage and you need repairs as explained above, and in other cases, you can do the underpinning proactively before the damage occurs.
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19 January 2019
