Camas, WA Foundation Repair

The stability of a concrete surface is highly reliant on the soil underneath it. Over time, the weight of the concrete and what it supports, coupled with natural soil erosion, can result in sunken and uneven concrete surfaces. Arto L. in Camas, WA, experienced this issue when he noticed that his back patio walkway had settled, creating a tripping hazard. To address the problem and stabilize his back patio, Arto reached out to TerraFirma after hearing about them on the radio. 

System Design Specialist Manny Ancira went out to Arto’s home and evaluated the property. The back patio was indeed a tripping hazard that needed to be repaired, so he recommended that the best solution to lift and stabilize it would be TerraFirma's Concrete Leveling Solutions, which include polyurethane foam and Nexus Pro. After gathering the necessary information, Manny worked with Ken Lomax and his crew to develop a plan. 

Within one day, the TerraFirma team stabilized Arto's back patio and eliminated the trip hazard.

The Pacific Northwest is know for it's beauty. Mountains, rivers, lakes and forests are everywhere you turn. Even in your crawl space. Norm E.'s home had tree root intrusions in the crawl space, which resulted in interior soil settlement. By disrupting the soils underneath load beams and other supporting posts, cracks had began to appear in the dry wall. In fact due to the sunken beams and posts, there wasn't anything supporting the actual home anymore, and a noticeable slant to the floor had developed.

The home owner had two goals that he wanted to achieve working with us. The first was to find a permanent solution for his sagging floors. The second was to provide extra moisture and temperature control to his crawl space as, upon inspection by Josh Anderson, there were elevated levels of humidity in the area which could have also contributed to the settlement. So, two systems were put in place. A series of 15 Smart Jacks were installed to restore structural integrity to the load beam. The Jacks are adjustable to increase or decrease pressure as needed. And secondly a 10 Mil vapor barrier was laid throughout the crawl space to help protect again moisture and humidity irregularities.

Norm can now be easy that his home is leveled and be confident it will stay this way. Also with his new vapor barrier, he can enjoy improved air quality in his home and a healthier foundation under his home.

Glenda R. built a custom home 2 years ago in White Salmon, WA with the assumption the foundation was build structurally sound and on stable soil. The home builders must have blinked on this one. The front portion of the home has already began to significantly settle up to 1/2" in some places. This same settlement trend continued to interior portions of the home. Upon inspection in the crawl space, the load beams had shifted, settled and sunk 1/2" as well. The settlement didn't stop there. In the back of the home, a cement patio slab has settled nearly 1" and, Glenda is concerned this will continue to worsen if nothing is done about it.

A combination of systems were installed to level Glenda's home. For the front portion of the home, a series of 4 helical piles were attached to the foundation footing and mechanically driven to acceptable load bearing depths. These piles will permanently stop the front foundation from settling any further. 2 Smart Jacks were placed under the load beam to account for the interior settlement. These adjustable jacks provide extra support to interior beams plus the amount of force can be increased or decreased as needed. Addressing the sinking slab out back was easy. Our concrete leveling solution is a wonderful new technology that pumps a lightweight polyurethane through a penny size drilled hole to fill voids under slabs. the polyurethane expands, fills the void evenly and cures within 15 minutes. 

3 simple solutions for 3 different foundation issues. Glenda can now enjoy her brand new custom home and be confident she can for many years to come.

As high precipitation cities and states continue to develop their lands and economy, "good" building land is running at a high premium. Home builders are beginning to recognize this growing epidemic and taking precautionary actions in order to prevent, what seems like inevitable foundation, waterproofing, humidity and health issues. By installing a proper waterproofing system in your basement or crawlspace, or by installing a foundation stabilization system before the rest of your home is built, many of these foundation, water, humidity and health issues can be prevented, not to mention installed at a cheaper cost. Portland Development Group recognizes these potential issues in Portland and Southwest Washington and has taken action.

By installing a basement/crawl space waterproofing and insulation system pre-construction, new home owners can be confident that they are building or purchasing a home that will not give them expensive home improvement projects soon after they move in. This, though, is just a side benefit. The real advantage of getting these projects completed pre-construction is that your basement/crawl space will stay stay dry and insulated ALL the time from the beginning. What this means for homeowners is reduced heating and cooling bills, more comfortable living condition and most importantly, elimination of mold development and other various health concerns.

As this home building mindset continues, pre-construction waterproofing, crawl space encapsulation and foundation stabilization will become a normal piece of house development. We are very excited to be the leader in this industry and look forward to helping build more energy efficient and healthy homes for our community.