House Leveling

[J008]

I have a roughly 1,000 sqft pier and beam house that is starting to show visible foundation problems (crack along the base of the west wall is growing).

Does anyone have any advice or experience on who to call and what to expect when getting your foundation repaired?

[SilverJK]

I have a roughly 1,000 sqft pier and beam house that is starting to show visible foundation problems (crack along the base of the west wall is growing).

Does anyone have any advice or experience on who to call and what to expect when getting your foundation repaired?

I had Bill Marks from All Texas Foundation raise my 1300 sqft pier and beam one block (8 inches) as well as repair any damaged or broken peirs, and add an additional 'shaker' beam. I had some cracking in the walls, but nothing too bad. One thing to consider is a plan for what to do with your porch if it is not attached to the house, i hadn't thought of this and now have to add a step for the front door.

Bill is a nice guy and his crew were great. They were done in like 3 days if I remember correctly.

[ricco67]

But be sure to remember that the drought is playing havoc with foundations all around the city and there us a substantial backlog. Unless its something that is driving you insane, or your home is going to collapse, you might want to wait a bit.

[J008]

But be sure to remember that the drought is playing havoc with foundations all around the city and there us a substantial backlog. Unless its something that is driving you insane, or your home is going to collapse, you might want to wait a bit.

I could probably go 6 more months if I have to, but there is about 1/4 inch of sunlight that shines through and the floor is getting more noticably sloped and keeping the house hotter than usual, so I am going to need to do something soon.

Hopefully I can get enough pricing and technical info to bargain accordingly.

[J008]

I had Bill Marks from All Texas Foundation raise my 1300 sqft pier and beam one block (8 inches) as well as repair any damaged or broken peirs, and add an additional 'shaker' beam. I had some cracking in the walls, but nothing too bad. One thing to consider is a plan for what to do with your porch if it is not attached to the house, i hadn't thought of this and now have to add a step for the front door.

Bill is a nice guy and his crew were great. They were done in like 3 days if I remember correctly.

Thanks I will look Mr. Marks up. Please PM or reply any price info you have, I don't know whether to expect to be a $1,000 or $10,000 or more job.

[Original Timmy Chan's]

My biggest fear about leveling during this drought is that it's just throwing money down the drain.

I bought myself a bottle jack several years ago to jack up one corner of the house that keeps settling such that I can't lock the deadbolt on the french doors out back. In years past I've had to jack up that corner by about 1/4", and I'd have to do it once or twice a year.

Several times this year my front and back doors have become either stuck or unlockable due to the house shifting. Tonight I'm going to jack and shim under the front door for the second time this year (also only the second time in the 8 years we've lived here), and the back door for about the 4th time already this year.

This drought is a serious pain in my rear.

[jo pascuall]

i have to lower my front door this weekend, it is starting to stick up top...

[s3mh]

I bought myself a bottle jack several years ago to jack up one corner of the house that keeps settling such that I can't lock the deadbolt on the french doors out back.

Friends of mine rented a jack and fixed up some minor leveling issues. They were not in any way skilled dyi-ers. It can be done. However, it is a good idea to get someone to come out and crawl the building first to be sure that the problem isn't a rotten beam or crumbling pier (my house has many of the original brick and mortar piers which are all in various states of decay).

Bill Marks is a straight shooter and very fair on pricing. His company is AllTexas Foundation Repair. http://www.alltexasfoundationrepair.com/

I have also heard that Bonilla Fondation Repair does good work on pier and beam in the Heights and is very fair and reliable. http://www.bonillafoundationrepair.com/

A lot of people in the Heights will tell you that John Pfister is the end all for foundation repair. On the positive side, he has tons of experience in the Heights and understands the engineering (or more accurately, the over-engineering) of the old homes. As a result, he can frequently be a lot cheaper because he knows how to do the minimum amount of work for the maximum benefit, whereas others may want to take out every beam that has been chewed on by bugs. The problem I have heard is that he is in such high demand in the Heights that it can be very difficult to get him out to do estimates and work. Although, I did not have trouble with him.

Whatever you do, definitely get more than one estimate.

[J008]

My biggest fear about leveling during this drought is that it's just throwing money down the drain.

I bought myself a bottle jack several years ago to jack up one corner of the house that keeps settling such that I can't lock the deadbolt on the french doors out back. In years past I've had to jack up that corner by about 1/4", and I'd have to do it once or twice a year.

Several times this year my front and back doors have become either stuck or unlockable due to the house shifting. Tonight I'm going to jack and shim under the front door for the second time this year (also only the second time in the 8 years we've lived here), and the back door for about the 4th time already this year.

This drought is a serious pain in my rear.

I am really anxious to see the drought end as well. I am really afraid I waited too long to try a DIY repair, as the floor has begun to separate from the baseboards in a couple spots. So I need to do something in the next month or so.

Ideally in the future I could make minor DIY leveling rather than this (or ideally it would rain as normal).

[intencity77]

Friends of mine rented a jack and fixed up some minor leveling issues. They were not in any way skilled dyi-ers. It can be done. However, it is a good idea to get someone to come out and crawl the building first to be sure that the problem isn't a rotten beam or crumbling pier (my house has many of the original brick and mortar piers which are all in various states of decay).

Bill Marks is a straight shooter and very fair on pricing. His company is AllTexas Foundation Repair. http://www.alltexasfoundationrepair.com/

I have also heard that Bonilla Fondation Repair does good work on pier and beam in the Heights and is very fair and reliable. http://www.bonillafoundationrepair.com/

A lot of people in the Heights will tell you that John Pfister is the end all for foundation repair. On the positive side, he has tons of experience in the Heights and understands the engineering (or more accurately, the over-engineering) of the old homes. As a result, he can frequently be a lot cheaper because he knows how to do the minimum amount of work for the maximum benefit, whereas others may want to take out every beam that has been chewed on by bugs. The problem I have heard is that he is in such high demand in the Heights that it can be very difficult to get him out to do estimates and work. Although, I did not have trouble with him.

Whatever you do, definitely get more than one estimate.

I'm sorry but my partner and I had a totally different experience with AllTexas and Bill Marks in particular. We had our pier and beam house leveled in the summer of 2010. We chose Bill Marks after getting a few leveling quotes and hearing the many positive recommendations given, as yours. He charged a reasonable price and his years of experience made the choice even easier. First of all, Mr. Marks told us our combination of brick/mortar and cinder block piers were sufficient and did not need replacing, even though some were a bit crooked. I also stressed to Mr. Marks that our main concern was the forming of major cracking in the sheetrock. The previous owners had totally gutted and remodeled the house, before we had purchased it, without leveling it first! Anyway, he told us there would be minor cracking (which we had fully anticipated), but assured us nothing major. His workers, who are all Spanish speaking only, came on the day of the leveling around 10am and were done by 1pm! Apparently, Mr. Marks failed to stress to his workers about our issues about major cracking in the sheetrock and to be gentle. The leveling process was performed so erratically fast paced that not only did we end up with major cracking but tearing and even bowing in the sheetrock! Many parts of the baseboards had also separated from the wood floor. A non-support beam was also added under the middle of the living/dining room floor to reduce bouncing. The new piers for this beam were installed very crooked and unaligned. After the nightmare inside was over, we discovered our air conditioning unit outside was up on cinder blocks like some old car. Mr. Marks never told us during the walk through that this would be necessary. During the WHOLE process, Mr. Marks was no where to be found and was not answering his phone nor responding to calls from his secretary. Bad customer service! Days after his work and several calls from us threatening legal action, he stopped by, saw all the damage and agreed with the issues at hand. He had his men return a few days later, readjust the leveling on certain piers to realign some of the gaps and tears inside. He also had the new piers and footings for the non-support beam readjusted. Even though a majority of the issues were fixed, I am still to this day unhappy with the unprofessional style of his workers. The total was over $3K for the leveling plus another thousand for sheetrock/paint work and a busted gas and water pipe, which wasn't told to us until later in the day! So please BEWARE if you go with All Tex, make sure that the workers do not begin until Mr. Marks arrives (if that even helps). To make things worse, the drought this year has caused the original cracks to reappear! All that money down the drain, so I would definitely wait to level any foundation till after the drought subsides. Honestly, if I had to do it over again, knowing all the money, stress and work that was involved, I would have let the house remain unleveled.

[ricco67]

Geez. Sounds like you could have a HAIF leveling party over a few weekends. This should take care of the member's homes.

[SilverJK]

intencity77,

that is weird because my experience (march 2011) wasn't like that at all. Bill came by everyday during the process, and was very easy to reach. There were also at least 1 or 2 guys on the crew that spoke enough English to communicate with me. Bill made sure they did a good job, and the piers all look great to me (i actually have a little experience leveling houses too). I'm guessing the workers didn't know your walls were all sheet rock (do you know if they removed shiplap to put the sheet rock up?) Mine went up about 6" the first day, but the old shiplap/plaster/10coats of paint held up very well.

Bill was always quick to call me back if he didn't answer when I called. Sorry to hear it was different for you. I'm guessing that is more of the exception than the norm.

[heights_yankee]

Geez. Sounds like you could have a HAIF leveling party over a few weekends. This should take care of the member's homes.

No kidding. We are having some pretty major issues, including a crack above the window and the a crack in the tile of the bathroom we just totally gutted and remodeled last November. Huge bummer. A kitchen cabinet is coming loose from the ceiling and the assorted small cracks are worsening. I knew we would have to have the house leveled at some point during our time here. I don't think the previous owners had it done when they did the partial (and not great, mostly DIY) renovation more than 10 years ago now. While some of the issues are getting serious, I think we are going to really hold out until the drought is over. I'm anticipating pretty bad cracking and a whole lot of work being needed. No fun.

[jamesw]

I was very satisfied w/ Pfister - he did work on my first house, and he came out to look at our new place and told us that it was within 3/4 of level and no work was needed. The first house, half of the piers had settled and weren't even touching the beams anymore! After he shimmed them it was a lot more pleasant to walk around in that house...

I would recommend him and use him again. If he's not available it's because he's got a lot of business. Not a bad thing IMO - especially if you're not in a hurry and can wait until he's available.

Cheers

James