Cracks in the concrete foundation slab? Cracks in the corners of Windows? Cracked porcelain tile? It must be foundation problems, we'll remedy it for $25,000. That's what you'll hear from most Foundation repair companies. Most with the times, you do not have foundation problems.
There are quite obvious truths about building materials as well as their behavior in construction that any honest and knowledgeable structural engineer knows, and this is among the secrets of understand potential foundation problems. For instance, concrete hardens as time passes, as it hardens it shrinks thus cracking. Concrete will expand and contract with temperatures changes which further causes cracking. This is popularly known as temperature and Shrinkage cracks - they've got not even attempt to do with what everyone associates with foundation problems, which is mainly the muse shifting, moving up and down, on account of expansion or settlement from the soil.
What about Cracks in the ceramic tile? Tile is "glued" towards the concrete slab, so any movement or crack occurring inside the slab will likely occur in the tile, including temperature and shrinkage cracks. Not as a consequence of foundation problems.
Cracks within the corners of doors and windows are incredibly common, usually a result of the information itself, gypsum board, which in addition, is a concrete product, and yes it too cracks because it gets older. As it turns out, concrete doesn't like corners for the reason that geometrical form of a large part usually creates stress concentration. Many residential and commercial foundations have chipped concrete right inside the edges of the corners because this is this is the way concrete behaves, this is just the information properties of concrete. With windows and doors you have also wind pushing up against the house, as well as with an above average structural engineer designing your home, more than likely you will still build a crack within the corner of windows and doors.
There's an interior joke among contractors and structural engineers and that's "the only thing we can guarantee is the fact that concrete will crack".
We're definitely not suggesting that nobody has foundation problems but we are on the grounds that most from the problems homeowners consider as foundation problems are in fact, not foundation problems. No foundation problems means no structural problems. The fix for such non structural foundation problems is patching, and infrequently there's no fix, such as inside case of temperature and shrinkage cracks inside the foundation.
Therefore, it is critical to choose a seasoned structural engineer, but a majority of importantly, a structural engineer that doesn't offer foundation repair services. A structural engineer who works for a company providing you with foundation repairs posseses an enormous and inherent conflict of interest. Our experience is always that many times, these structural engineers treat everything as foundation problems and this could end up costing you several thousands with the result that your foundation won't be any benefit of computer originally was.
If you've got doubts about your foundation, just engage a structural engineer which doesn't offer repair services. structural investigation mining 'll perform a foundation inspection and will let you know what problems, if any, your foundation has. Also, be sure you consult your local board of professional engineers in order that the engineer you hire is in reality licensed to train structural engineering.