Protect Yourself from Unqualified Foundation Repair Contractors

Homeowners: 10 Steps to Protect Yourself from Unqualified Foundation Repair Contractors

Selecting the right contractor for your project is the first step in insuring the job is done right! Unfortunately, not all contractions, foundation repair or otherwise, are qualified to be providing the services they advertise for.

Protect yourself and your investment by asking the hard questions:

1. Do you get paid (or evaluated) based on how much you find? Most foundation repair salespeople are evaluating and recommending repairs and getting paid or evaluated on the dollar value of those repairs. That is potentially a conflict of interest.

2. Has the inspector received any formal training? Most foundation repair salespeople only receive training from their supplier. Few have received degrees in university for soil mechanics or structural engineering….. or any other training beyond their supplier.

3. Is the analysis done on the spot? I have polled hundreds of engineers and ask them the question: “would you be comfortable in going to a home and coming up with a repair plan on the spot?” Bear in mind that these are professional licensed engineers who are trained to understand these problems better than anyone else. Not one of them said they would feel comfortable doing it.

4. Are the recommendations from a licensed engineer? The Post Tensioning Institute says the evaluations, recommendations and repair plans should come from a licensed engineer. This is not the same as engineering calcs for pile spacing on a permit. This is for the initial problem identification, and for solutions to remedy that identified problem.

5. What industry recognized inspection protocols are you following? Are you following The Post Tensioning Institute standard? Or the Foundation Performance Association? Or any recognized standard? Many foundation repair salespeople don’t even know about these.

6. How will you gauge how severity? Is it just the opinion of a sales person being paid on a commission to sell something that day? You can see the conflict with that proposition. Are there any industry accepted consensus standards being used to judge the severity of the problem? If not then the recommendations are purely opinions that carry no credible weight.

7. Does your company offer multiple solutions for both settlement and heave? If you only have recommendations for settlement and offer no services for heave…. How will foundation repair sales people interpret every problem? No one wants to go home hungry. Its not just accuracy on the target that counts… but also aiming for the right target.

8. What is your Google rating for inspections? This is different than their reputation for performing the repairs. Their reputation for doing the investigation, analysis, recommendations and conclusions.

9. How objective is this investigation? Will there be data driven conclusions? Or will it just be nebulous opinions?

10. How can I be assured that the initial recommendations are followed? Will the engineer who made the recommendations for the problems discovered sign and seal a letter approving of the final product to solve the problem he diagnosed?

If the contractor is not able to address the above questions with confidence and ease, they may not be the right person to take on your foundation repair project.