Foundation Repair in North Richland Hills, TX

Foundation repair in North Richland Hills begins with a simple question: why did the house move? A cracked brick wall or a door that won't latch is a symptom. The cause is usually the soil under the house getting wetter or drier than it used to be, and sometimes a leak, a tree or water pooling against the slab. A repair that ignores the cause can leave the house moving again, so every job here starts with measurements and a look at what is happening around the foundation.

Why houses move in the Metroplex

UT Dallas geologist Robert Stern describes the Metroplex as a mix of limestone, sandy Woodbine soils through the Mid-Cities, and clay-rich shales such as the Eagle Ford, whose swelling clays sometimes cause problems for construction. Expansive clay soils swell when they take on water and shrink when they dry. DFW's weather puts that cycle to work: the National Weather Service recorded 71 days of 100 degrees or more at DFW in 2011, the most in any year on record, and the average first 100-degree day arrives around July 1. A long hot summer pulls moisture out of clay, and heavy rain puts it back. Slabs that rest on that soil rise and drop with it, and they rarely move evenly.

What the free evaluation includes

• Floor elevation readings across the house, so high and low areas are measured
• A walk around the outside: brick and mortar cracks, gaps at windows and trim, gutters, downspouts and grading
• A look at trees and beds close to the foundation
• For pier-and-beam homes, a look into the crawl space at piers, beams, shims and moisture
• A written quote with the cause we see, the repair we suggest and where any piers would go

If the readings or the history of the house call for it, we recommend a structural engineer's evaluation before you decide.

Repair methods

Slab repair is done with piers placed under the foundation's perimeter beam, and sometimes under interior beams, to support and lift the low areas. Pressed concrete piles are precast concrete cylinders pressed into the ground one on top of another. Steel piers are driven deeper, toward firmer material. Drilled piers are holes drilled in the soil and filled with reinforced concrete, sometimes with a widened bell at the bottom; Wikipedia's summary of deep foundations notes that under-reamed piles suit expansive soils that change with the seasons. Pier-and-beam houses are often leveled by reshimming or adding piers in the crawl space. The right method depends on the soil, the house and the budget, and we explain the trade-offs in the quote.

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Permits in North Richland Hills

The City of North Richland Hills lists foundation repairs among the projects that require a building permit, and contractors must register with the city before applying for their first permit. The city also says it is the homeowner's responsibility to make sure the contractor pulls the proper permits, and that the permit should be displayed on site until the work passes inspection. We can help prepare the permit application where the city allows. Other cities in the area have their own rules, so confirm them with your city.

Work we leave to other trades

Texas law requires plumbing work to be done by licensed plumbers, so plumbing tests and slab-leak repairs are not part of our work. If you want the drain or supply lines tested before or after a repair, the owner hires a licensed plumber, and we schedule around it. North Richland Hills also requires plumbers to document slab-leak repairs under a foundation with video or photos for the building inspector. Sprinkler systems that need to be moved for drainage work are handled by a licensed irrigator the owner hires.

Older homes and newer homes

North Richland Hills grew from a 268-acre dairy farm subdivision in 1952 into a city of about 70,000 people. Its population grew from 8,662 in 1960 to 45,895 by 1990, so many neighborhoods were built over a few decades and have been through many dry summers and wet springs since. Newer homes are not immune: a slab poured a few years ago can move when the soil under it dries or a downspout empties against it. Age changes what we look for, not whether we look.

North Richland Hills is home base. From there we serve 29 more communities: the neighboring Northeast Tarrant cities of Richland Hills, Haltom City, Watauga, Keller, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, Colleyville, Grapevine and Southlake; Saginaw, Haslet, Lake Worth, Azle, River Oaks, White Settlement, Benbrook, Kennedale and Fort Worth itself to the west and south; Roanoke, Trophy Club, Westlake, Flower Mound and Coppell to the north and northeast; and Arlington, Irving, Grand Prairie, Mansfield and Burleson across the rest of the Metroplex. Soils change from sandy ground to heavy clay across this area, and each city handles foundation repair permits its own way, so each area page covers what applies there.