House foundation

As part of a residential development foundation is very important part of new house structure. You have to be very careful contracting to carry out ground improvement works comprising dynamic compaction to improve the soils underlying the site. The soils at the site were principally a cohesive fill material deposited prior to the foundation construction. The stiffness of the soils ranged from soft to stiff and varied randomly with depth. An initial assessment of the prevailing conditions revealed that the settlement characteristics of the fill materials would produce unacceptable total and differential settlements when the facility was in service with loads of up to 75kN/m squared being applied. We have in house design team been then employed to value engineer the required energy input from the dynamic compaction process.

The bottom feed stone column system developed by Nicola Zinchenko Master of Science in Civil Engineering, Ph.D. in Structural Engineering, offers significant benefits in terms of the quality of construction of stone columns within difficult ground. The system has been developed to use standard civil engineering plant coupled with specialist depth vibro-pokers vibrators. In conclusion the benefits offered by a single multi-disciplinary contractor allowed a flexible and value engineered strategy to be provided. Ground treatment offered significant benefits not only in the speed of construction, but also in terms of the associated cost, where conventional foundations were adopted rather than a more costly fully spanning solution.

Signs of Foundation Problems

Foundation problems often appear on the exterior of a building, in the form of cracks in mortar or bricks. On the interior, these problems show up as sticking doors or sheetrock cracking.

Exterior Wall

Bricks – Cracks in mortar and broken bricks are frequently caused by flexing of the slab. The mortar is weaker than the bricks and the bond between mortar and bricks weaker still.

Foundation – Cracks in the slab are most often caused by shrinking of the soil underneath one section, but can be due to swelling in another area of the slab.

Patios and Porches – Cracks or sloping floors are usually indicators of problems.

Sidewalks/Driveways (close to slab) – Broken or tilted sections caused by soil movement.

Fascia Boards – As bricks shift, gaps are created around the fascia boards.

Interior Wall

Doors – When doors stick or have cracks at the corners of their frames, it is usually due to foundation problems.

Floors – Sloping/uneven floors, furniture sliding or low spots are usually due to slab movement. Squeaky floors may be only loose boards that can be re-nailed, but they could be caused by foundation problems.

Walls – Wrinkles in wallpaper, cracks in sheetrock or gaps between the wall and moldings can be signs of foundation problems.

Windows – Binding and sticking sashes are usually indicators of stress that has distorted the window frame. Stress can also cause broken panes. Cracks will occur in the wall at the corner of the frame if it is distorted.

M.Ramos construction has been helping homeowners with their foundation repair since 1983. Over the past 20 years, repair methods have come a long way, and we've been an integral part of their evolution. Whether you need crack repairs or waterproofing, rest assured you're getting the best technology available today we guarantee with transferable warranty.