TerraFirma serving Clackamas, OR

This homeowner is getting water in her crawlspace. It has been a problem they have been dealing with for a long time. After trying a variety of waterproofing units and numerous french drain systems none have provided a lasting solution. the crawl space is about three feet tall and will be in need of a newer more powerful sump pump along with added drainage line to remove water permanently and dispose of away from the home and out of danger.

In this particular case there was no indication of high humidity levels, just high water levels, which worried the home owner about possible settlement issues. Upon inspection by Chris Kelly, a simple change was made. The current sump pump was not strong enough, so we upgraded the unit to a Triple Safe, the strongest most effective sump pump on the market today, and the discharge lines were not effective placed to completely remove the water away from the home foundation. So the fix was simple, and all it took was some critical thinking, a great understanding of drainage systems and good analysis.

A majority of foot traffic in any home is in the kitchen and dinning room. Over time, these support posts began to sag and the floor along with it. In West Linn, the middle of the home, right underneath the kitchen and the dinning room began to noticeably sag. 30 posts underneath the home needed to be replaced by Smart Jacks, an easy to install adjustable support post that will restore structure and strength to your once sagging floor.

Shimming is an older way of thinking for foundation post repair. Posts constantly need to be re-shimmed and re-shimmed until it looks more like a stack of books rather than the supports posts to your house. Smart Jacks allow you to easily adjust and monitor the amount of sagging and the extra amount of upward force needed to keep floors from sagging and bowing. Don't think twice about sagging floors. Be happy and confident with your repairs much like these home owners.

David H. has seen his home, year after year, sink and settle. The combination of improperly packed soil around the perimeter and heavy rain fall has created voids under the home which the foundation has settled in to. This is a common event in many homes in the greater Portland area. To the concern of the homeowner, he was worried his home would continue to settle until the foundation had completely failed and found himself with a much larger problem. The solution is simple and it starts with a phone call to TerraFirma.

Adam Lounsbury, upon inspection, noticed significant settlement of roughly 2 inches in one corner of the home. 8 push piers were installed around said corner to permanently stabilize the settlement and restore the strength to the foundation. After proper geo-technical inspection and a stellar diagnosis by Adam, David's home was ready for stabilization. By connecting each pier to a centralized hydraulic system, we were able to achieve proper stabilization evenly throughout the corner or the home. David now has a permanently stabilized foundation, a 75 year warranty and regained piece of mind.

There are a variety of products you can install throughout the house to turn your home into an energy friendly, money saving, health providing system. Insulating windows, using proper light bulbs and unplugging appliances when not being used are all great options; However, there is a solution that trumps all those results combined. By encapsulating your crawl space, you can turn your energy and money glutton home into an efficient, environmental system.

Frances H. was experiencing standing water, musky odors and high energy bills year round before transforming his crawl space. As we all now know, venting your crawl space only allows for good air to leave your home and bad air to enter. This air brings in moisture (among other things), elevates temperature and humidity levels causing the development of mold. The result is elevated energy usage, higher average energy bills and air born mold spores floating throughout the house. By encapsulating his crawlspace with Cleanspace liner, sealing off vents, installing a dehumidifying unit and proper water drainage and removal, Frances has seen a complete turn around in home efficiency.

Like Frances, homeowners seek the best options to improve their home living quality and increase the value of their investment. By encapsulating his crawl space, Frances achieved all of this.

In the northwest we have a diverse climate, terrain and geography. All of these factors affect the types of soils that we have under and around our homes. Two problematic soils that are abundant in Oregon and Washington are clay soils and sand soils. Clay soils are problematic because they are highly expansive and change volume in relation to rainfall or lack of rainfall. Sandy soils too have their concerns because they are easily washed out from under homes during a rainy period, leaving voids for the house to sink in to. Sandy soils are found at the beach, and home owners Lee and Barbara G. of Florence were experiencing soil wash out and a settling foundation.

After inspection by Patrick Dunn, a 6 push pier, upgraded C6 steel system was installed around the settling area of the foundation. By hydraulically pushing the piers through the sand layer to load bearing soil or bed rock, we were able to find a solid foundation to anchor the home to, permanently stabilizing the foundation.

Lee and Barbara now have piece of mind that their home will cease to settle any further and will do so through the tests of time.

    Generally caused by concrete shrinkage, large cracks in concrete foundations can form. Cracks can continue to grow by expansion and shrinkage of the cement over time and lead to bigger problems. These weak points become the entry path for unwanted water, unconditioned air and sometimes insects and critters. The permanent solution not only is an air-tight seal that prevents water, unconditioned air and critters from entering the home, but is also flexible to expand and shrink with the cement without sacrificing the air-tight seal. The answer, FlexiSpan.

    Local West Linn, OR resident Brian L sealed a large concrete crack with FlexiSpan and is confident he has the best solution on the market to repair his foundation crack and will continue to be effective long term.

    Jeanne C. of Oregon City, OR owns a home in need of complete foundation repair. It is hard to which issue came first. Was it the perimeter foundation settlement? Interior settlement? Or her sinking slab. Needless to say she has an issue and needs to be addressed immediately before complete foundation failure is the result. After being referred to us by a friend, Jeanne C. scheduled a free appointment to have her foundation inspected.

   There are three problems here with three unique solutions. To solve the perimeter foundation settlement issue, five push piers were installed around the back corner of the home. Brackets are permanently secured to the foundation footing and steel piers driven down to load bearing strata or bed rock. This will permanently stabilize the foundation. Three Smart Jacks were installed under the main load beam under the house to restore structure and stability to the interior portion of the home. This reinforcement will stabilize the "bounce" and "sagging" along the middle area of the house. Lastly, our concrete leveling solution, which is a lightweight polyurethane will be injected underneath the sinking cement slabs to lift and level all uneven slabs.

    Three efficient fixes for three unique problems. Jeanne can now be confident that her house is permanently stabilized and her and her family can enjoy it for many years to come.

    Converting a crawl space from a wet, cold and moldy environment to a completely encapsulated, insulated, dry and conditioned environment is an improvement any home owner show make. Crawl spaces were constructed instead of basements because they were cheaper to build. By leaving the home exposed to the earth below, two major problems arose. Moisture problems and unconditioned air.

    Darlene B. of Oregon City, Or had both of these issues, and Darlene was looking to address them immediately. The excess water in her crawl space caused cracking in the foundation wall as well. To repair the cracking, Carbon Armor was applied directly to the wall crack to provide and restore support. To cure the moisture and unconditioned air problem a variety of systems were installed. A trench waterproofing drain around the perimeter and through the middle to collect water and redirect to a sump pump for removal. Cleanspace liner to isolate the earth from the house. A dehumidifier to condition and control the air quality and Everlast Vent Covers to completely encapsulate the area. to go the extra mile SilverGlo wall insulation along the walls to keep air warmer and lower heating bills.

    Darlene can now be happy and excited about her new living space. It is warmer, healthier, and more comfortable year round.

    Crawl space moisture and air conditioning issues are a huge concern for Oregon and Washington home owners. The heavy rain fall and poor initial foundation construction lead to moisture issues and eventually air quality problems. West Linn, OR home owners are all too familiar with this including Chris and Jackque M. After noticing an increase in heating bills and a damp smell throughout the first story of their home, they decided to find someone with the right skills and technology to permanently resolve their problem. TerraFirma is the "leader in the industry".

    System Design Specialist Josh Anderson of TerraFirma found two issues in their crawl space. the first was a moisture problem. Improper waterproofing had caused pools of water to build up. The moisture from the pools softened the load beams causing the floors to sag. To fix the water issue (which was the root of the problem), smart drain and drain tile was installed around the perimeter of the crawl space draining to a sump pump located at the lowest point in the crawl space. From there, water was safely discharged away from the foundation. Secondly, soft load beams and sagging floors needed to be addressed. 10 Smart Jack Post Replacements were installed to apply force and re-support the sagging interior home.

    Pauline and Tim can enjoy the freshness of air in their home once again. The sagging hallways are fixed and stable, and they couldn't be happier with the outcome.

    Home owner Gordon L. of Oregon City, OR began noticing sign of  foundation settlement a few years back throughout his home. Cracks have widened in the dry wall, a few windows that were once just sticky, were now jammed shut 5 years later and the floors had began to sag. These are the classic symptoms of foundation and interior settlement. After seeing a TerraFirma commercial, Gordon called our offices to schedule a free estimate.

    As inspected by System Design Specialist Ryan Lahley, he confirmed that there had been comprehensive settlement of Gordon's exterior and interior foundation. The interior settlement was solved by the use of 2 Smart Jacks to support the main load beams. The foundation settlement issue was solved by an 11 push pier system around nearly 1/3 of the home perimeter. The crawl space was nearly 4 feet tall and allowed foreman Jon Kaes and crew to work inside. The work and final result is the exact same as though they worked from the outside of the foundation as we usually do, but now Gordon won't have to worry about any destruction to his yard or garden.

    Since stabilization, Gordon's floor doesn't sag and he can be confident his foundation will be permanently stabilized for many years to come.

    There is a problem with home projects. Typically, they don't fix themselves. And, Typically they get worse over time especially if not addressed. Lake Oswego, OR, home owners Jim and Glenda D. have a worst case scenario. Their crawl space was humid and wet causing structural damage and mold development. Because of the pooling water the  foundation settled vertically, horizontally and torsionally. After searching for options to save their home before it went flushing down the hill, he found TerraFirma who could help with all of these issues.

    The services we performed on Jim and Glenda's home were as follows. A Cleanspace crawl space encapsulating system that would stop groundwater seepage, separate the cold earth from the house, condition the air and close off crawl space vents. These products, working together, keep air warmer, control all water issues in the crawl space, save money on heating bills and cleanse the air. The root of the problem was solved. Next we solved the side effects, the settling foundation. to stabilize vertical settlement, push piers were installed along the back side of the home on the downside of the hill. these piers were secured to the foundation footing and anchored into load bearing soil below. To stabilize horizontal and torsional settlement and stress, helical anchors and wall plates were installed. 10 to be exact. These anchors grabbed soil working against the direction of horizontal settlement to halt all movement.

    This project took Jim and Glenda 2 years to get city approval and schedule a date of installation. Luckily we got there in time before the entire foundation was sacrificed. Jim and Glenda look forward to enjoying their dream home until they are old a gray and don't have to worry about it sliding down the hill anymore.

    Happy Valley, OR is located in the hills on the eastern border or Portland with a collection of beautiful homes overlooking the west side of the city. Happy Valley is also the location of multiple "Street of Dreams" events. The "Street of Dreams" is a home builders dream in which million dollar homes are built to inspire creativity and wow the imagination with a focus of home efficiency. So it is no wonder that Happy Valley home owner Henry Liu was interested in encapsulating his crawl space. Henry searched the internet for a qualified installer and called TerraFirma for a free estimate. 

    By encapsulation your crawl space you achieve many things. One of which is energy efficiency and healthy air conditioning. The goal of encapsulating your crawl space is to condition and control ALL the air under your home. By controlling groundwater seepage, isolating the earth from the home and blocking off the vents, Henry is able to control 100% of the air in his crawl space. Crawl space air accounts for 50% of the air on the first story of your home, and 50% of that for each additional floor. With healthier, mold free air, we have achieved one of Henry's main goals. By insulating the crawl space, air stays warmer under the home. This means less energy is used to heat the house making it not only more comfortable but cost effective to maintain. 

    A simple three day project gives home owners, like Henry, healthier, more comfortable and cheaper living. The project pays for itself after a few years. 

    For home improvement projects there are tens and hundreds of different solutions out there; However, There are two key pieces to a successful home improvement or repair project. 1, Finding an efficient, durable, long lasting solution. 2, Finding a qualified installer of that system. Lake Oswego, OR home owners Amy & Shane M. had their crawl space encapsulated a few years back by a different company, but as of late are noticing moldy smells throughout the home. After seeing a TerraFirma ad in Portland Monthly, they called the real experts for finally solve their crawl space issues.

    After inspection by Josh Anderson, they had the right product and solution under their home, but they failed to find a qualified installer. Our improvements included a drainage system collecting ALL the water entering the area, and closing off the vents. By closing off the vents, and removing all the water Amy and Shane now have 100% control over the air underneath their home.

    Not all solutions are created equal, nor are they installed equally. Do your research and make sure you are using the real experts in the industry.

    A new restaurant is opening in Lake Oswego and the new owner wanted to make sure not only was the food excellent but the ambiance, feel and venue was as fantastic as the food. This included repairing a retaining wall along the side of the building that, over the years, has began to lean and now rests at a 15 degree angle. Bryce B. wanted to straighten the wall to look better, but also to restore the structural aid it provided. After asking around to his friends and family he found TerraFirma and scheduled a free inspection.

    To provide lateral stability, 3 Geo-Lock Anchors were installed. Anchor plates are secured on the outside of the wall, and a fews feet back into the soil. They are connected with a rod. The plates act as an anchor and the wall is literally cranked back upright. Since the plates are secured in place, the wall is the only thing that can moves and is eventually straightened. With the use of 3 Geo-Lock Anchors, Bryce was able achieve both of his goals. Ready for grand opening late summer!

    There is no worse situation than foundation failure for a home owner. Watching your home and investment crack and crumble away right in front of your eyes is something no one wants to be a part of. Soils expand when they absorb moisture and contract when dried. The cycle repeats itself every year. Some years more severe than others. This was the case for Gladstone home owner Brenda Q. who, over the years has noticeably watched her house creak, crack and moan as it settled into the ground. Doors and windows were misalign. Dry wall cracks appeared in every corner. Her home was literally separating away from the steps that lead up to it. After searching the internet for foundation repair, Brenda found TerraFirma and scheduled a free inspection by Bryan Cantrell. 

    Upon inspection, there was a lot of high attention areas, but the main settlement had occurred around the garage. The settlement had pulled other parts of the home, steps and surrounding structures down with it as an aftermath to the original settlement. A combination of 16 helical piles and push piers were designed to permanently stabilize the foundation, steps and surrounding structures not only preventing them from further settlement, but were also used to lift the foundation back to level. To solve the unevenness and cracking of the garage slab and driveway, Our polyurethane foam concrete leveling solution was injected into the sub voids, lifting, supporting and leveling the sinking slabs.

    This was a comprehensive solution to one serious problem. Soil settlement can cause great damage to a home and property. In the northwest, these events are unfortunately inevitable in some cases. Just make sure you know the signs and who to call if this were to happen to you.

Eric B. worked for a local tree service company, and during a tree removal job at a residence in Canby, Oregon, a portion of the tree accidentally fell and damaged the concrete sidewalk. Fortunately, no one was injured, and the equipment was safe. However, the homeowner's smashed sidewalk needed repairs. Eric called TerraFirma, trusting them to take care of the homeowner and fix the sidewalk. 

System Design Specialist Austin Morton promptly arrived to evaluate the damaged concrete and worked with Kevin Cochran and his crew to devise a plan. They effectively removed the crushed concrete, eliminating the hazardous conditions caused by the tree's impact, and replaced it by installing new concrete on the sidewalk. 

Concrete is a highly durable material, but it can crack and sink when the soil underneath it moves. Jim M., who lives in Welches, Oregon, faced a similar problem when his driveway and front entry walkway settled, creating a major tripping hazard for him and his family. To find a solution, he researched online and decided to trust TerraFirma for the repairs. 

System Design Specialist Manny Ancira met Jim and assessed his home. He discovered that the driveway area near the garage door and the front entry walkway had settled, causing visible voids underneath. Manny shared this information with Timothy Cranley, Casey Thomas, and their crew, who then developed a plan to repair and lift the concrete.

With a solid plan in place, the team used TerraFirma's Concrete Leveling solutions, which included polyurethane foam and Nexus Pro, to repair and level the concrete. This eliminated the trip hazard in front of Jim's home.

George and Judy F. from Clackamas, OR, became concerned when they discovered water pooling in their crawl space, knowing that it could lead to mold and rot due to increased humidity. To address this issue before it caused any damage, they turned to TerraFirma for assistance.

System Design Specialist Tony Ghiz quickly came out and evaluated the crawl space it was evident that there had been previous instances of water intrusion and to prevent future occurrences, Tony recommended the installation of a SuperSump Plus and drain tile.

Acting swiftly on Tony's recommendations, Christian Zavala and his crew efficiently waterproofed George and Judy's crawl space in just one day.