Foundation repair fiasco - frustrating!

[TrapperL]

This is one case where the government should've stepped in and said, hey, since there is no easy and profitable way houses could be built in this kind of soil, let's just simply prohibit homes from being built here in the first place instead of passing all the headaches to ordinary homeowners or at the very least, there should be a special set of building codes implemented for these certain areas.. tsk...

You obviously are not familiar with new home construction in the area. That would encompass the area generally from Brook AFB north to 1604, out IH 35 well past New Braunsfels and anything east past and including Houston Texas. So you think the Feds should outlaw construction there? I'll bet the folks that own the land would disagree with you. Enacting special codes would be shot down pretty quick as discriminatory. We don't need any more political footballs in the industry either. There's enough morons already in the industry, we don't need more elected officials making decisions about something they have no clue about. But then, that's what we seem to elect anyway.

[Moniquinga]

Has anyone had any other experience with hiring Structural Engineers in San Antonio? Mine suggested having more than double the amount of piers that I am getting bids on by the foundation contractors. Any recommendation for honest engineers?

[TrapperL]

As I stated earlier in this thread, if you have foundation issues, you need a Forensic Engineer, not a simple structural engineer. If you want the best, call Homer Parker of Round Rock Texas. He's not expensive but he is the best. He's been in the industry since 1979 so he's no beginner and he doesn't use guess work.
Parker Engineering

[huckster]

Concessions need to be made for soils engineering in areas where soils plasticity is of huge importance. C'mon it just makes sense, but Texas will always lag behind in this sort of thing we are so resistant to change until it is too late.
Eventually it will happen- when insurance Cos. begin to balk. Florida, the state, not feds. have changed building codes there in order to hurricane- proof new construction homes.
New Home Foundation elevations in Florida now, must be 5 ft. higher than street grade to prevent flooding since 2004. All roofs are gable roofs now. These are far less likely to blow away in a hurricane. Windows, doors and even garage doors are now hurricane proof. Window shutters are put on all new construction homes as standard. Aluminum studs are used now , not wood for the frames. Bolted down they are too, right to the concrete foundation.
I think it was hurricane Charley that wiped out so many homes in north central Florida that it was time, time to change building codes. Too much damage occurred. Only then was it realized. Now, State Farm does not offer homeowners in Florida any more. Homeowners ins. is pretty expensive there too.
It is just common sense to alter the laws so that so many homeowners will not be wiped out by building improperly to substandard codes in the first place.
It is akin to not building earthquake resistant buildings in Los Angeles. The "Big One" is coming and everyone knows this, a major earthquake is inevitable. One can't hide one's head in the sand and pretend there is no problem and keep on building collapsible buildings on top of the San Andreas Fault.

Originally Posted by TrapperL

You obviously are not familiar with new home construction in the area. That would encompass the area generally from Brook AFB north to 1604, out IH 35 well past New Braunsfels and anything east past and including Houston Texas. So you think the Feds should outlaw construction there? I'll bet the folks that own the land would disagree with you. Enacting special codes would be shot down pretty quick as discriminatory. We don't need any more political footballs in the industry either. There's enough morons already in the industry, we don't need more elected officials making decisions about something they have no clue about. But then, that's what we seem to elect anyway.

[LadyinSA]

Hello,

It’s been a while, but I wanted to post again. Had a problem with our plumbing last Fall, slow drains, drains backing up, etc. Had three different plumbers come in. The first one said we needed to hire another plumber who could power wash the plumbing lines. The second one came in and said he power washed the lines, but thought we should get a plumber who could perform leak detection. The Leak Detection group said the lines under our home were severed in multiple locations and that due to the excessive temperatures last summer, they have been seeing this a lot lately. I contacted our insurance company because one of the backed up lines flooded part of the kitchen area. Total invoice for repairs and tunneling was $27k. Insurance paid the bulk of the invoice, but wouldn’t pay the $8,500 for tunneling labor. The insurance adjuster also stated he had been seeing this problem a lot.

I am not sure if this was caused by foundational issues, but wanted to share this information because
the lead plumber mentioned they affixed the new plumbing lines to the foundation itself, so if the house moves, the plumbing moves. He said the original plumbing sat on the ground when the foundation was poured. He asked if we passed the static test after the foundation repair was completed. I said we did, and showed him the paperwork.

I am afraid to ask what else could go wrong.