What to Look For in a Foundation Repair Bid

It’s no secret, foundation repair isn’t the cheapest process in the world. You want a contractor who fixes what is actually wrong with your home, at a price you can understand. That means knowing what a good bid looks like before you read one.

If your gut tells you not to move forward with a contractor, listen to it.

Dalinghaus Foundation Repair has completed more than 2,000 foundation projects since 2011 in Southern California, Arizona, and Nevada. What follows is the evidence we think a homeowner should be able to see on any foundation repair plan, including ours, before agreeing to it.

Ask for the Measurements That Justify the Scope

A repair plan has a scope: which part of the home gets piers, and which part does not. That scope should come from measurements, not from a description of what might happen.

The industry standard is half an inch of differential over a ten-foot span, or an inch over a 20-foot span, before it’s recommended the area of the home affected should have some type of piering. Those are the thresholds that indicate foundation settlement or heaving.

If the measurements we make on your home come in under those thresholds, we suggest monitoring the area instead. You might not see signs and symptoms of a failing foundation at all. You can still have piering done if you are worried about further settlement, and we will tell you that is what you are buying.

Piering a whole home is only warranted when the whole home is moving, which is rare. When one corner is affected, the piers belong under that corner. Addressing the areas affected is more affordable and more practical, and the elevation readings are what show the difference.

Ask for the same thing from every bid you receive: the floor elevation readings, the plan drawn on top of them, and a clear line between the area that is moving and the area that is not.

You will also see signs and symptoms of foundation issues in specific areas of your home.

Here are the signs and symptoms to look for

• Drywall cracks
• Stucco cracks
• Concrete slab cracks
• Ceiling cracks
• Tile cracks
• Chimney cracks
• Leaning chimney
• Sloping floors
• Doors and windows are hard to open and close
• Water leaks

When looking for these signs and symptoms, it usually won’t be one problem on its own that indicates foundation issues. More than one of these symptoms together is the stronger indicator.

Make Sure You See Proof Before You See a Price

Don’t agree to anything if tests haven’t been done. You need a basis for the recommendation.

A recommendation to put piers all around a home is an engineering call, and it should rest on a soil engineer’s or structural engineer’s report.

Make sure the floor elevation readings are in your hands and that the damage the plan describes is damage you can go and look at.

If a plan arrives without floor elevations, ask for them. A plan you cannot check is a plan you cannot compare.

Phrases Worth Slowing Down On

These are statements you may hear from anyone, including us. None of them is automatically wrong. Each one is a point where you should ask for the evidence behind it.

”The whole house needs piers”

Rarely the case, and easy to test. Ask to see the elevation readings across the whole floor plan. If the readings show movement everywhere, the scope follows. If they do not, the scope should be smaller.

”This is going to get worse”

Often true, and still worth a baseline. Take the first set of readings, then take another a month or two later. Two measurements turn an opinion into a trend you can see.

”This is urgent”

Foundation heaving and foundation settlement are slow processes unless something like seismic activity accelerates them. If what you are seeing is cosmetic damage, you have time to get bids, read them, and think.

That said, if you can see daylight through a crack, move sooner rather than later.

Take the time you need before signing a repair contract.

You Are Allowed to Take Your Time

An evaluation is a conversation, not a closing appointment. If you need a week to think, take the week.

Dalinghaus Foundation Repair will do a free 60-90 minute foundation evaluation of your home to look for any potential problems. We’ll let you know of any foundation issues. We’ll also let you know if we don’t find any issues. As simple as that.

Repair Methods You May See Quoted

Different bids solve the same problem with different materials. Knowing how the methods differ is what lets you compare two prices that are not for the same thing.

Concrete Underpinning

Concrete underpinning covers several variations, including concrete piers, concrete pads, and caissons. Caissons are effective and typically around twice the cost of galvanized steel underpinning. Steel is what we install, and the reason is depth and verification: steel sections can be driven until the ground itself proves the capacity.

Read our comparison of concrete underpinnings vs galvanized steel piers for the full picture.

Mudjacking and Polyurethane Foam

Mudjacking pumps a cement based slurry under a slab to fill voids and lift it. It is proven and it is inexpensive, and the tradeoffs are cure time and weight, because the slurry adds load to the same soil that settled.

Polyurethane foam cures in about 15 minutes, weighs a fraction of the slurry, and does not shrink as it sets. On soft soils that difference matters, which is why we quote foam for most residential slab work.

Watering Your Soil

Watering expansive soil can close a gap for a season, because the clay swells as it takes on water. It is not a repair. When the soil dries out, it shrinks again, and the movement comes back.

Compare the Bids Side by Side

Get bids from more than one contractor, then read the contracts next to each other.

Check that they are quoting the same scope, the same number of piers, the same depth assumptions, and the same warranty terms. Two prices are only comparable when the work behind them is.

Ask each contractor what triggers a change order, and get the answer in writing. A change order is not a failure on its own, but you should know in advance what would cause one.

Look at Reviews

Third-party reviews on Google, Yelp, and Angi give you a feel for how a contractor behaves after the contract is signed. Read the three-star reviews as well as the five-star ones. That is where the detail is.

Listen to Your Gut

If someone is walking your home and something feels off to you, that is worth paying attention to.

And don’t be afraid to say no.

You now know what to ask for. Make sure you get multiple foundation repair bids.

You know which phrases to test, how the repair methods differ, where to read reviews, and that the elevation readings belong in your hands. The last step before choosing a contractor is to collect more than one bid.

That is what lets you compare repair plans instead of comparing sales presentations.

Learn more in-depth about why you should receive multiple foundation repair bids. That way you can take on the next challenge.

If you’re comfortable, consider having Dalinghaus Foundation Repair do a FREE 60-90 minute foundation evaluation.

Schedule a Free Evaluation

Foundation movement is easier to judge in person than from a photo. Schedule a free evaluation and a Dalinghaus specialist will walk the property with you and explain what the evidence shows.