Foundation Repair all it's cracked up to be?

Question

First off, sorry for the pun. I recently purchased a property in Fort Worth, TX from a flipper that had some foundation work performed. They placed steel piers all around the foundation, absolutely overhauling it.

The property comes with a foundation warranty, which covers only the foundation. The inspector pointed out some issues with the house that may suggest that there were foundation issues present including some sloping floors, cracks in exterior walls, or poorer drainage. I felt somewhat comfortable ignoring that because the seller just repaired the foundation, so I would expect that there would be signs of damage, since I knew the foundation was recently in disrepair.

This leads to my question. Some exterior walls still have major cracks in them. They are not bowed out or seem to be on the verge of collapse. (see below). I know cracks can be scary as a homeowner because they can indicate serious foundation issues. Are cracks by themselves dangerous, or are they scary because they indicate foundation problems? In other words, if the work was already done, should I be concerned? Should a high-quality foundation fix have closed these cracks? I talked to the company that performed the work and they indicated the only work they did on the cracks was putting nonstructural foam in them for aesthetic reasons. Is that standard?

Of course, I plan on talking to a professional about this but was hoping to get some unbiased, educated opinions first. Thank you everyone and hopefully someone reading this can learn from my mistakes :)

Jeffrey Donis · Answer

It looks pretty good to me! Hope it all works out @Peter Buccowich

Andrew Postell · Answer

@Peter Buccowich having cracks in your walls is pretty common here.  That does mean that "shifting" has occurred...which will occur on 99% of properties in our area.  The foundation repair is only as good as the warranty. And the warranty is only as good as the company.  Make sure you are following the rules of the warranty (if there are rules/instructions) on how to transfer it.  But for a moment, let's work under the assumption that the foundation is in good condition and within tolerance of being level (usually 1 inch).  You would just fill in these areas appropriately and just repaint if you wanted to.  A masonry working might be a good option but I have seen some homeowners just caulk it and call it a day.

Peter Buccowich · Answer

Returning with the outcome and lessons learned in case another newbie stumbles upon this:

• I got a third-party structural engineer (a company that does not do foundation work) and sure enough, the house was in bad shape. 
• A warranty is only as good as the company that did the work. In my case, both the work and the warranty were bad. I was seeing a lot of movement in the house so took corrective measures. 
• I got in contact with 5-6 foundation companies. It was immediately obvious which companies were trustworthy/knew what they were doing and which did not. 
• I picked a company that recommended interior mudjacking and 17 exterior piers. Total $14k
• During the repair, they identified a leak in my pipes under the house (a potential source of the sinking). Plumber work was $4.5k total
• After/during the repair about 7 large drywall cracks appeared. Easily remedied in a weekend.

Lessons learned:

• A foundation warranty with measurements only along the outside may be hiding something. What do the interior numbers look like?
• Exterior cracks are pretty meaningless when it comes to identifying areas that may need foundation work. The regions I was most worried about due to visible cracks had moved the least. 
• Mudjacking is preferred on older (1960s) homes to interior piers since the slab is weaker. The mud distributes the load better.  Mudjacking, however, is not permanent and may only last as few as 5 years.
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Jay Hinrichs · Answer

Every property I ever did in that area had foundation issues like these.. its not if its when..

Mike Reynolds · Answer

That wasn't the one I used. I used a different company for some commercial property in Maypearl. I am sure they will come out though. Let me know if I can help out in some way.

Peter Buccowich · Answer

@Mike Reynolds Done by Mr. Foundation Repair - I've been trying to get them out to talk about the changes they did but it sounds like they may be in high demand. However, now that I know it's a thing I've noticed similar cracks in plenty of other surrounding homes.

Additionally, something the inspector didn't point out but has me concerned is this bowed out wall next to the garage:

Hopefully, when the people that did the work come out we can talk about this wall. I appreciate all the feedback, you all have been incredibly helpful!

Mike Reynolds · Answer

@Peter Buccowich I may know the crew that did that work. It looks good from here but we really cant get a good feel just from pics. If it is warrantied then I would pass that on to whoever you sell to. If you dont want to sell then I would just keep a copy of it. I am sure it will be fine for many years.

Crandall Thomson · Answer

If the piers are installed correctly you should be fine. Unless we have a earthquake large enough to dislodge the piers. When I was an agent I had a seller that was trying to sell their house that had huge problems. The 3 story house was next to a creek that was 20-30 feet below the average grade/land. During the construction (when no sod or vegetation was installed) a large rainstorm came by and a large part of the 'ravine' collapsed aka MudSlide, but very localized to the property. The owner wanted to just call it quits and sell for whatever someone would buy it for and call it a loss.

I was able to do the research and find out about the mudslide. Contacted my attorney about it. Sent a letter to builder demanding they pay for the piers or the loss on the sale (with full disclosure to buyer this time). The builders forked over the cash for the piers, around 120k for this property to get to bedrock. Then the owner decided to sell anyway. price went from around 350k to a sell price of 780k.

Last I looked at the house it was solid as stone, 15 years later. They have since put up retraining walls along the creek as well.

The point is piers installed correctly work, and with full disclosure increases property value, or at least prevents decrease.

What you are seeing should only be cosmetic but you may want to follow up with another company you trust to give an honest opinion.

Aleksandar Popivoda · Answer

@Peter Buccowich Thank you for sharing your experience and particularly the lessons learned. When it comes to rehab in general, most of us, new investors, greatly underestimate the learning curve that comes with construction. We don't have a time in the day for the extensive learning in the new subject so we either learn through our mistakes (expensive, can bury a novice) or put an effort and find a mentor who can help us along the way (not easy, but pays off big time). Thanks again.

Peter Buccowich · Answer

@wayne brooks Thanks for the reply! They placed 24 beams around the entire house, so they stabilized everything

Foundation Repair all it's cracked up to be?

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