Home Foundation Repair Houston

Frequently Asked Questions

1. QUESTION:
   Warranty if foundation repair company goes out of business?
   I am selling my home. It had foundation work done by previous owners. Structural engineer says everything is fine right now. I have an old warranty, but just found out the company went out of business. How do I find out if the warranty was bought by another company?? Their phone number does not work. Any central place I can go to find out the info. The company was Golden Foundation Repair in Houston.
   essentially I want to leave the warranty for the new owners

   • ANSWER:
     If you know what company manufactured the product that they installed you can speak with them about the warranty. Quality manufacturers like Earth Contact Products keep a file of warranties for a situation such as this. You can also contact the engineer that presided over this job to see if he has any information.

     Situations like this stress the importance of using quality products and quality experts to oversee and install the products.

2. QUESTION:
   I have 1/2 inch gap all around my home… what is it?
   I moved in to this house before a year. Home is now 5 year old. Yestearday while cutting lawn I noticed there was 1/2 inch gap almost all around the permimeter of my home. I am not sure if that is how it is supose to be or there is something that I need to take care of. Can one of you experts guide me on this issue. I am disqualified to be a handyman, so please answer in detail:)

   • ANSWER:
     Soil shrinkage from drying. Water well. If you’re in an area with expansive clay soils, like Houston, it’s well worth while to run some drip irrigation tubing around the house and run it enough to keep the soil snugged up to the foundation.

     If there’s a BIG bunch of entries in the phone book for foundation repair companies or mudjacking, you’re probably in an area with expansive soils. The water bill is much cheaper than the foundation repair.

3. QUESTION:
   Does my concrete patio need to be attached to my home’s foundation?
   I am currently getting bids on building a concrete patio with a patio cover that matches my home (same shingles, brick, paint, hardieplank, etc). My home’s backyard faces the west and the sun is pretty bad in the afternoons, so I would like the patio to span the width of the house (36′) and stick out 20′ to meet with my detached garage on the northwest corner. The patio cover would be attached to the home’s frame. We currently have a small concrete patio slab that connects to the home’s foundation via expansion joints. I’ve gotten three conflicting opinions on the concrete patio:
   1) One contractor says he can pour concrete over/around my existing concrete patio and put a stamping on it so it looks even
   2) Contractor #2 says I must remove existing concrete and re pour entire patio slab, and that the new slab needs to be connected to the home’s foundation by driving re bar into it since the patio cover will also be attached to the home’s structure
   3) Contractor #3 says I must remove existing concrete and re pour entire patio slab, but I do NOT want to attach concrete patio slab to home’s foundation because if I ever need to repair my home’s foundation then accessing the tension rods will be very painful and expensive.
   While I don’t like the first contractor’s idea too much (his quote is the most expensive, anyways), I don’t know if contractor #2 or #3 is right. My geographic area is Houston, TX (hot, humid summers, mild winters for the most part, hurricanes are main weather concern). Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

   • ANSWER:
     im no contractor or concrete person, but i wouldnt know why the patio would need to be attached to the houses foundation.

     C1–i suppose one could pour over/around existing concrete. if you dont mind running the risk of separation (how is his so high if hes not tearing anything out???)

     C2–i know that the new roof would be connected to the old, but shouldnt the existing house footing support that?

     C3–so hes saying not to attach it?

     sounds good to me.

     other than your attaching the 2 roofs, what reason is there to tie into the houses foundation??

     oh, yeah…wont you need a footing on this patio being that it is going to be supporting the weight of a roof?
     wouldnt be a bad idea to have one anyway, in case you want to enclose it and make it an extension of the house.

     added–i forgot. a city inspector could probably tell you–MAYBE.
     but when they get involved, theres all kinds of permitting fees to pay…

     actually. i think i would contact a city college or university and ask an architect teacher.

4. QUESTION:
   Does anyone know of a good lawyer in Houston to sue a large home repair contractor?
   My parents contracted with Atlas foundation to repair their foundation in Brenham and Atlas charged them thousands of dollars to literally wreck their house. They botched the job and now my elderly parents are attempting to sue them but have to use arbitration per the contract. The lawyer they hired out of Bryan is a joke and has taken several thousand dollars from them and no results. They went to mediation and the lawyer was encouraging them to accept K (that won’t even cover his fees!) He is now offering to “dump” them to another lawyer since they are not happy with him. I smell a second lawsuit.

   • ANSWER:
     You can call the state bar association and ask for a referral to construction law attorney. If they can’t afford to hire another attorney, then they can look into getting free legal services from a legal aid clinic. Also, there are organizations that legal aid clinics that focus services for elderly clients only they may not be able to take the case but they may be able to give her a referral to a reputable attorney in the area.

     Also, arbitratiion clauses are not necessarily binding, if they are not mutually binding, meaning that both sides have given up their right to go to court.

     You may also look into the agency in your state that grants construction licenses and look into filing a complaint with them as well.

     Hope this helps, good luck.

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