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It's all about checks and balances.Use proper due diligence and contact a consultant.
Foundation Usually Fail for One of Two Reasons:
| Built not to fail |
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Structures, from frame houses to high-rise buildings are build not to fail. Concrete, wood, sheetrock and other materials
do not settle. If your structure moves it is because the area of ground holding the foundation has moved. What does that
tell us? That it has settled? Not necessarily. The same soil that can contract from drying can also expand with the addition
of moisture. Elevations do not tell us if a building has moved unless the "as built" elevations are available.
Was the slab or beam poured level? Maybe, but not likely. Clay soils in our area of discussion do shrink as they dry. They
also swell as they accept water. Soil that shrinks, under and around a building, removes support from under the building,
and part of the building will often settle to the lower elevation. Conversely, waters added to the soil can, and often do,
cause the soil to expand and lift or, heave the building.
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Elevations, without original numbers to use
as a benchmark, can not determine settlement from heave. A trained eye and climatic history will beat a level most every time. The point to be made: Piering or lifting
can adjust a structure that has settled, bringing it back to near grade. Piering
does not do well on buildings that are already partially above grade. When trying to raise portions of a building from grade
to above grade, to match an area already heaved, problems arise. Problems, from the plumbing under the house, to the covering
on the floor, to the studs in the wall, to the shingles on the roof.
richardrashinc@tx.rr.com
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