Best Foundation Repair Dallas Texas

Frequently Asked Questions

1. QUESTION:
   what are the first steps to having my own foundation repair company?
   i live in dallas texas and i don’t know how to star the process.

   • ANSWER:
     First you need to know what you are doing. You will need a bond and to get bonded you will need good credit to get that bond depending on your state requirements on the size of the bond. Then you will need insurance. Some states require you take a contractors test, after you pass the test you can submit the required bond, required insurance and application to the state and you should be good to go after the state issues your license. Its going to cost ,000 to 00 out of pocket just to get your license. Then if you have employees you will need to have L& I insurance and you will have to have a Federal ID number and pay quarterly taxes on the employees and state L&I on the employees, and make payroll every week, you will also have to file quarterly B&O tax statements and pay that. You will also need a state license and city license, besides your contractor license. Also you will need all the tools you will need. You will also have to setup accounts for materials you will need at your suppliers, that also takes good credit. You will also need a business checking account and accounting software for your computer. Someone to do payroll and do your accounting. Now you have to find jobs and bid on the jobs. Good luck.

2. QUESTION:
   Post-tension or steel-rebar foundation for a home?
   We are considering building a new home in the Dallas,Texas area. The builder uses post-tension foundation versus the steel rebar foundation that we currently have in our Dallas home. I have read both pro and con articles for both sides of this argument. I would like to know what type of foundation is better for this area. Anyone that can shed some light on this issue would be greatly appreciated. I would rather find out on this side of building a home than have expensive foundation repairs after the home is built.

   • ANSWER:
     I have a friend who has a good bit of commercial rental property in and around Tyler, Tx. He says he has never had a cracked slab when you has used post tensioned slabs.

     He built a home for his daughter just down the street from me and that is what he used there.

3. QUESTION:
   The soil is pulling away from the foundation of my house. It is only happening on one side, what should I do?
   I live in Texas. The side of the house where the soil seems to be shrinking is on the east side, where I get full morning sun. I water 3 times a week in the summer, but this isn’t helping. Should I add more soil along that side of the house?
   If it’s because of the clay content in my lawn, what can I do about the problem?

   • ANSWER:
     I have lived in Dallas for 25 years (if that’s where you are) and our clay soil is horrible. The best thing you can do for your foundation is put soaker hoses along that side of the house, about 2′ from the foundation. Run them in the very early morning before the sun hits the area for at least 1 hour. Then again in the evening after the sun has left, for 1 hour. Do it for a week and see if the soil is tight against the house again. If so, go to once a day or once every other day to keep it damp.

     DO NOT add soil. Adding soil become another problem when it starts raining again and it expands and pushes your foundation in another direction.

     Over time you may need foundation piers installed under the foundation. Keep an eye on the side of the house for brick movement and inside at the tops of windows and doors. If you see cracks getting bigger, call a foundation repair company before it gets really bad.

4. QUESTION:
   what are the legal steps in to starting a foundation repair company in dallas texas?

   • ANSWER:
     try yahoo

5. QUESTION:
   roughly how much would it cost to build a small 3 bedroom pier and beam home in texas?

   • ANSWER:
     While I am not sure of the price here is a company that can tell you a huge amount of information.
     http://www.bedrockfoundation.com/pier-and-beam-foundation-repair-dallas-tx.html
     These people repair pier and beam houses. They can tell you what to build and how to build it. Based on what repairs they do, it seems that houses fail later on because they build with cheaper products in the beginning. By this I mean they use small timber supports where larger ones are recommended. This company has good answers on repairing and based on that they sound like they can offer you great information on building.
     I live in Australia and until I read this question didn’t know anything about the company I am telling you about.

6. QUESTION:
   How to find history of Texas? To all the archeologists?
   How can I find old detailed maps of Texas? I want to become an archeologist one day and im trying to find old and ancient historical places in Texas so I can study rocks and layouts…etc But I cant find old maps where it would show me where to search for an abundant old town or maybe where some battles happened “not in San Antonio” where it would be a good place to learn. Or how do I go about finding historical places like that? For example: I went from Dallas to El Paso one day and took some small road in the middle of no where and end up finding a very old abundant place, it was probably 1800’s or so stone building that had only about 2 small broken walls sitting on a some sort of foundation… This is kind of stuff im looking for, old history where I can study and understand what kind of a building was there, try to re build it on my computer to see what it possibly looked like in those days, and from there I want to find out what happen, who lived there…etc And I have no clue how to find all this information… I think practice like that will do me good in college and work.
   Any help from archeologists would be much appreciated! Im not a digger- “black archeologist” and I dont believe in messing with historical places, I just want to understand and recreate old 1800’s and older places on my computer for my portfolio.
   I forgot to mention that one archeologist, long time ago, told me that I need to use Topography Maps?!? I cant seem to find it for Texas…

   • ANSWER:
     Try the Handbook of Texas website, links are in this Wikipedia article :
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handbook_of_Texas
     The Handbook of Texas is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Texas geography, history, and historical persons published by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA).

     I don’t know what part of the state you are closest to, the oldest Texas history (after the Europeans arrived) is along the Gulf Coast. The French, then the Spanish occupied many areas there between what is now Austin and the Gulf Coast. Much of the area is still rural and may have some buildings from that era still standing.

     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidio_La_Bahia
     You can visit the Presidio La Bahía in Goliad, Texas.

     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goliad,_Texas

     There are a lot of magnificent houses built in the late 1800s still standing in Cuero and Gonzales, Texas. Unfortunately, a lot of houses from that era have been torn down, probably because the owners died and the heirs could not find a buyer for the properties and the houses became derelict.

     The old jail in Gonzales is now a museum.

     Most of the area has been low-population rural, but the fracking oil business moved in that part of Texas around 2010 and now there is a lot of traffic on the county roads of large trucks hauling sand, gravel, chemicals, and water to remote drilling sites. It is not pleasant driving. Many abandoned farm houses have been renovated to become housing for drilling crews, if not bought outright.

     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ghost_towns_in_Texas
     List of ghost towns in Texas
     This list of ghost towns in Texas might be a start, but some of them simply no longer exist; they were wiped out completely by hurricanes, or burned down by Indians or Spaniards, or the people abandoned the town when the railroads stopped running by and the buildings all decayed from the elements.

     One ghost town to look at would be Concrete, Texas. There are a few people living in the area. There is a two story brick building whose wood roof and second floor have rotted away; it looks to be sturdy enough to repair and use again.

     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unused_highways_in_Texas
     no useful information here

     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_places_with_fewer_than_ten_residents
     Interesting list that might be out of date, you will have to search for the Texas links.

     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luckenbach,_Texas
     Luckenbach, Texas
     this very small town gets a lot of visitors and was made famous by the Waylon Jennings song:
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luckenbach,_Texas_(Back_to_the_Basics_of_Love)

7. QUESTION:
   Dry wall cracks in the ceiling, around the doors and some corners. Is this foundation issue or just dry wall?
   I live in Dallas, Texas I put a new roof on June 2008. After that I started noticing increasing number of cracks in my ceiling and around the doors. All my outer doors are working fine. Except the closet door and the one door in the upstairs room. Both of these doors are not closing since the top corner is hitting the door frame.
   So I had initial inspection from accurate foundation in September 2008, he mentioned that he is not seeing lot of movement. So I planned to the fix dry walls.
   Again I called accurate foundation guys this time a different person showed up and they recommended foundation repair.
   pictures at
   http://picasaweb.google.com/mahas.email.in/DryWallCracks#

   • ANSWER:
     Nice pictures but it is a little hard to draw any conclusions from them. One is above a set of steps for sure but what about the others?

     Let’s go back to the roof. Was the new roof put over the old and thus added weight to the roof and foundation? Were roof shingles or other heavy supplies piled up on the roof in one location before work was begun on the roof? Was that near the cracks? Was there any other unusual demolition around the cracked area? Did it rain while a roof was stripped off allowing water to enter the house? Was additional insulation added to the roof that possibily cut down on ventilation and increased interior condensation? Was existing ventilation in the old roof removed or modified in any way? Was there any other work done on the house during this time or for 2 years prior? Is there a bathroom above these cracks with a possible leak? All these things might lead to cracking of the walls.

     These cracks are in corners of rooms and not around door jams from the pictures. A better view of the surrounding area would help as well of any idea of the shape of the roof above.

     Cracking in walls can have a number of causes. The cause most often seen is a water problem above or below. Changing stresses is the next thing to look for. Drywall is not going to simply crack on it’s own without some kind of movement and usually more movement than if it were a plaster wall. (Although plaster may resist movement more.) If the problem that caused the cracks is still present then they will reappear after repair.

8. QUESTION:
   I need a foundation repair service, dallas tx?
   looking for good recommendation for a reputable company that has been a round and is experienced in this industry.
   please help, my house is falling a part
   Thanks

   • ANSWER:
     Advanced Foundation Repair in Dallas did a great job for me when I lived in Roanoke, Texas. The number should be in the yellow pages. Good luck!

     PS…I looked up the #. It’s (817) 429-4658. I don’t remember who I dealt with directly, but I do know they got the job done for a reasonable price.

9. QUESTION:
   How do I tell the difference between a subterranean termite and formosan termite by looking at the wood?
   I had an exterminator visit and he told me I have drywood termites. I think he was wrong. I have determined that my house must not have drywood termites because of all the termite demographic maps I found on Google image search shows that north Texas is not in the drywood zone. My reading of numerous pest control articles has revealed that Drywoods cannot live in freezing climates. North Texas does receive 20 degree winters in addition to occasional snow. So, my dilemma is now to determine what type of termite I have. I have never seen an outdoor Subterranean mound ever in my life, any where in Texas (Austin, Houston, Dallas and the wilderness where I go hiking/camping.) This is mystifying. At my house (slab foundation) I have never seen mud tubes. However, I have seen flying termites outdoors once in the past 10 years. I thought they were flying ants. I thought only drywoods swarmed. So, the issue here is that I have Google image searched all the different termite species with the keywords “wood cross section.” All these wood pieces look alike to me. The distinguishing feature is that there is what I would call mud left on the wood stud from bottom to top and a cabinet that was removed had a large mud patch (20 inches round) on the back of it where there was an infested stud. This mud is brown with white flecks in it. The termites appear to be eating only half of the wood on the outer edge and the paper on the drywall.

   This is a small, brick 1500 sq. foot house. These termites have only been found in the kitchen (wood siding on kitchen only) and the bathroom walls. It appears it has taken them 10 years from when the house was purchased to now to make their way around the circumference of the dining room and both bathrooms. I had to repair the bath tub faucet plumbing and when I opened the wall from the back the wood was not termite damaged where you would expect it to be. My guess is that the termites entered the kitchen pipes, moved along the bottom 2×4 that supports the studs, made their way down the length of the house to the bathroom. They only appear to be infesting outside walls and one bathroom. They are however, moving up the studs to the attic in two places.

   Can anyone tell me what kind of termites leave mud on the wood studs? And how do i tell a Subterranean (Florida) from a Formosan (Asian.)

   Just a note, the red flags were there when we previewed the house before buying, the bathrooms were totally tiled from floor to ceiling with wood paneling slapped up floor to ceiling on the back side of the adjoining wall. It would have been impossible for a termite inspector to investigate these walls.
   During all of my repair work I have not seen any live termites except once when I removed a portion of a door frame. I saw only the little wiggling white back ends in the exposed end of the bottom plate – it reminded me of maggots. They have moved on from that timber now (that was five years ago) and I couldn’t take a sample because it was the bottom plate.

   • ANSWER:
     Texas A&M is on the ball with this one, with some excellent people behind their work. They have lots of stuff online, including a formosan distribution map that can help or you can contact them directly. Start here: http://urbanentomology.tamu.edu/termites/formosan.cfm

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