Are You a Candidate for Piering? Ask Our Home Foundation Repair Team

Find the Signs that Could Mean Foundation Piering is Needed

Your home is only as strong as its foundation. Yes, this may seem like an easy concept, but your home's foundation withstands a lot, including the weight of the home, environmental factors, climatic differences (droughts, flooding), and of course settlement. The way your home was originally built, specifically the way your foundation was originally laid, directly correlates to the longterm foundation situation you'll see as a Kansas City homeowner. Let's dissect this a bit further.

So, you just purchased a home in the Kansas City metro that was built in the early 70's. So over 50 years old at this point. Although the home's exterior and interior may be in great shape and could have undergone a remodel, it's imperative to know the integrity of the foundation is sound and safe.

Let's take look at new homes to determine why the foundation's initial setting is important. New home builders are in the market to build homes the most cost effective way, which is not a new concept. However, ideally when a home is built, piers are installed under the foundation to strengthen, provide ongoing support, and stabilize the foundation. This isn't always the case with new construction, as it is a more costly option to no piers. Although a more costly option, it will serve the homeowners with safety, peace of mind, and stability in knowing their foundation is safe. Check out this case study: Foundation Piers for Stabilization

RELATED: 3 Reasons Why Waiting to Have Your Foundation Repaired Is a Bad Idea

How to Find Out If You Are a Candidate for Piering

Let's continue with the suggestions for, Are You a Candidate for Piering? As the go-to foundation repair specialist in Kansas City, we have identified several factors that outline reasons a home may need piers, including:

• Bowed walls
• Windows that won't shut
• If your windows stick in place when you try to open or close them, it could be a sign that your foundation is sinking.
• Doors that won't close
• Homeowners can find ways to level their doors (hardware), but without finding the source of the issue, the issue will worsen. Eventually, you need to address the root of the problem: a sinking foundation.
• Uneven floors
• Cracks in the home's foundation or walls
• Cracks in the drywall running at an angle from the corners of your doors and windows can indicate foundation issues. Your ceiling may also begin cracking. Some settling is to be expected with any home’s foundation, but if the cracks in your drywall become longer or widen, it’s time to call a Kansas City foundation repair company like PierMagic to take care of the foundation problem.

To take it a step further, Kansas City homes are built on clay soil. This is a tough soil to build on, as it contracts and expands with the freeze/thaw or drought/flood cycle, causing settling issues that are tough on the foundation.  Here are seven reasons a home may need foundation repair.

1. Evaporation: Hot dry wind and intense heat will often cause the soil to shrink beneath the foundation. This settlement may cause cracks to appear throughout the structure.
2. Transpiration: Tree roots may desiccate the soil beneath a home causing the soil to shrink and the home to settle.
3. Plumbing Leaks: Water from plumbing leaks is often a cause of foundation problems.
4. Drainage: Improper drainage is one of the leading causes of foundation failure. Excess moisture will erode or consolidate soils and cause settlement.
5. Inferior Foundation Construction: Insufficient steel and inferior concrete will contribute to movement in the slab.
6. Inferior Ground Preparation: Soft, low density soils and/or improperly compacted soil beneath a home is the leading cause of foundation failure. Cut and fill methods area leading cause of foundation settlement.
7. Poor Soil Conditions: Poor soil and its expansion and/or contraction contribute to foundation failure.

RELATED: Causes of Foundation Problems 

PierMagic's Foundation Piering Solutions

When searching for foundation repair companies, you'll pull up many options even within the Kansas City local area. However, one specific company, PierMagic, is recognized as the highest rated foundation repair Kansas City company. We truly take the time to listen to each homeowners' concerns; formulate a plan; present the solutions; and allow the homeowner to make a decision based upon the information provided. Our team is not a high-sales pressure group. We will not push the homeowner to sign within our initial visit. When it comes to foundation specialists specific to piering, we typically offer:

DynaPier Concentrically Loaded

The DynaPier® system is patented and designed as the strongest foundation pier in the industry by combining steel and high strength concrete. It is installed centrally beneath the footing, rather than outside of the footing, thus transferring the structural load directly on top of the pier. 

Here are a few of our customers that have used the DynaPiers in their homes.

I used the DynaPier System on two of my houses within the last 3 years. I love the idea of the pier being concentrically loaded. I know the steel filled with concrete will be there a lifetime! I’m 100% confident that my houses will be stable for life!

– John T., Overland Park, KS

We were getting ready to list our house and reached out for DynaPier installation. We wouldn’t have been able to sell it as quickly and without issues without the piers.
– Jessica M., Lee's Summit, MO

More about DynaPier

The patented DynaPier® is comprised of high-strength concrete that is pre-cast in a steel sleeve which provides superior shear strength and compressive resistance as proven by independent testing labs. The outer steel casing is filled with a concrete core, and cured for maximum strength.

The DynaPier® segments are hydraulically driven into the ground one at a time. After one DynaPier® segment is driven, another segment is connected to the pier, and the process is repeated until the foundation pier hits bedrock or a dense strata of subsurface material. A temporary platform is attached to the pier so that the structure can be lifted. Once the desired lift is achieved the pier is extended up to the footing and the pier cap is attached to the pier.

• The pier is located centrally and directly beneath the foundation footing.
• ALL shims are contained within the pier cap.
• Installation does not require removal or breaking of the footing; footing remains completely intact.
• The result is a foundation that far exceeds the home’s original structural integrity, making your foundation better than new.
  

Retrofit Helical Pier

Helical piles are used worldwide to secure residential and commercial buildings, tower foundations, heavy equipment foundations, and many other deep foundation  applications. These are used to transfer load weight to bearing plates located in stable soil. Preconstruction applications are available.

Book a Free Foundation Repair Estimate

PierMagic is able to offer the signs of determining if you are a candidate for piering. If you are in doubt, ask a foundation repair Kansas City expert for a free estimate.