Just got a bid to fix the foundation of my house

CR83 - 3-6-2008 at 06:52 PM

$19,180. Totally sucks.

The back wall of our basement is being pushed in by expansive clay soil and water. This is going to be a fucking mess.

newbreedbrian - 3-6-2008 at 07:22 PM

ouch. that's rough man.

BDx13 - 3-6-2008 at 07:32 PM

i need some details...
how old is your house?
how long has this been happening?
is it causing water to leak in?
are they going to replace the soil?
redo the foundation?
you want us to grab some shovels and come over?

JawnDiablo - 3-6-2008 at 07:49 PM

D if I pick you up on the way we could be in Clevo in 7 hours if I keeps the civic @ 80 the whole way....

XHonusWagnerX - 3-7-2008 at 09:20 AM

wow... that sucks.... I would lend a hand if its possible.

Dave - 3-7-2008 at 09:37 AM

crappy

clevohardcore - 3-7-2008 at 11:32 AM

Ya pick me up In Clevo and we'll journey to the Reeds house. I'm down. Reed can get us to work out and we'll party down and fix a foundation.

Discipline - 3-7-2008 at 11:58 AM

That's an insane amount of cash. Will your house insurnace cover any of it?

CR83 - 3-7-2008 at 12:13 PM

Thanks Dudes, much appreciated.

Here's the story sorry for the length (that's what he said):

When we bought the house it had a sump pump in the back wall of the foundation and we had cracks in the walls but they were epoxied properly. This wan not the right solution for our home.

My backyard is sloped towards my house. My back foundation wall acts like a dam. The water either goes around or under. The water that is going under is "heaving" my basement floor. Very typical and doesn't cause structural damage. A crack showed up in the floor about a year ago and was getting bigger by the month. I called a structural engineer in. He gave me the low down.

My back wall has bowed in (like if you pushed in the long side of a shoe box) about 2 inches. Also, we discovered my house is not bolted to the foundation. We lucked out with that because since the foundation moved and it wasn't bolted, it didn't take the house with it.

We have a side wall that is bowed in 1/2 an inch.

So to Answer BD's Questions:

how old is your house? --built in 65

how long has this been happening?--Not 100% sure but probably as long as the house has been built

is it causing water to leak in?-- No thankfully, but it will soon because we are getting more cracks in the back wall

are they going to replace the soil?--Yes, they make it eventually look like nothing changed. It will actually improve my landscaping and gutter drainage. They are also going to help grade another part of my yard that has washed out.

redo the foundation?-- No, since it only moved 2 inches, they put stress braces (see link below) in and pull it back into place

you want us to grab some shovels and come over?-- Ideally yes but only if you all are experienced at this shit. If not, come on over for a party and we can watch these fuckers. I am also making it very well known that I have a rather protective dog.

I get to have 5 of these bad boys put in my yard:

http://www.freemancontracting.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=...

Then I get one of these bitchin' trenches too with external sump pump:

http://www.freemancontracting.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=...

Fuck Yeah!

CR83 - 3-7-2008 at 12:14 PM

Inurance covers none of this. Because it wasn't an "accident" of any sort. This is a home equity loan type of situation. We have been real lucky that the area we bought in blew up in price. We have about 75k in equity in the house since we boght 7 years ago. We are real fortunate.

clevohardcore - 3-7-2008 at 12:32 PM

Best of luck. I am so thankful to have sold my house last summer. I was facing the same exact situation but my city LORAIN has a serious sewer problem as well and the basement kept backing up with sewer water. 2 to 3 feet deep each time. My back wall was stress cracking near the center at a X axis(algebra term) and was getting worse by the year. The worst part of it was the city UNLIKE THE REEDS was depreciating like crazy and in 4 years of owning the home we lost equity even with a down payment and always paying on time. Insanity.

I want to fucking move out of the Clevo area, but am worried about finding a good job to start over with the family. Still need a year and a half of college to have my degree.

O and again, I hope everythign goes well with you guys and this project. After its all said and done you can rest easy with your house.

chris - 3-7-2008 at 12:51 PM

Stinks, good luck with everything.

CR83 - 3-7-2008 at 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by clevohardcore
Best of luck. I am so thankful to have sold my house last summer. I was facing the same exact situation but my city LORAIN has a serious sewer problem as well and the basement kept backing up with sewer water. 2 to 3 feet deep each time. My back wall was stress cracking near the center at a X axis(algebra term) and was getting worse by the year. The worst part of it was the city UNLIKE THE REEDS was depreciating like crazy and in 4 years of owning the home we lost equity even with a down payment and always paying on time. Insanity.

I want to fucking move out of the Clevo area, but am worried about finding a good job to start over with the family. Still need a year and a half of college to have my degree.

O and again, I hope everythign goes well with you guys and this project. After its all said and done you can rest easy with your house.

Clevo, come to STL. It is a great metro area. I run a staffing agency here in town. I can help you. Get your degree and send me your resume Man. We will help you.

This goes for anyone on this board. If you need help searching for a job, let me know. I may not be the person to place you but I'll help you search the right way.

BDx13 - 3-8-2008 at 08:15 AM

man, that is some wild stuff, chris.
those yard anchors are crazy.

i love how the estimate is $19,180.
round that shit off!
have you gotten more than one estimate?

CR83 - 3-8-2008 at 09:07 PM

I had another group out on Friday. He told me he will be in the 12 to 15 range. He also offered to build me a deck over my patio as a side job. He will most likely get my business.

Home equity loan, here I come!

BDx13 - 3-10-2008 at 06:48 AM

make sure to get some references on these companies.
or check sites like angielist.com

clevohardcore - 3-10-2008 at 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BD
make sure to get some references on these companies.
or check sites like angielist.com

^^^^^^^^^ That is so true.

CR83 - 3-10-2008 at 10:44 AM

Thanks for the list info, I will for sure check it out. Thanks Dudes.

BDx13 - 3-10-2008 at 10:55 AM

yellowpages.com allows people to post reviews now and the bbb.org is a must.

Discipline - 3-10-2008 at 11:05 AM

Especially when it comes to contractors. Every year you see so many stories about people getting ripped off by shitty contractors who do horrible work.

Furly - 3-10-2008 at 04:31 PM

I use servicemagic.com and bidclerk.com for everything I do to my house. They supply the references and all that crap. I also get about 10 different estimates, the more people that look at the project the better.

BDx13 - 3-10-2008 at 04:53 PM

i've heard of servicemagic, but not bidclerk.
how do you feel about them?
do they take a cut of the job?
do you think prices are inflated if you use them?

Furly - 3-10-2008 at 06:18 PM

I know servicemagic charges the contractor just to find out my information, for that I'm sure they charge more, but I don't think they get an overall cut. SM also calls me during/after each project to see if I'm happy. Their contrators are all licenced with all the proper insurances.

When i put a job on bidclerk, I get called by 10-20 people within the first day (which can be annoying), but I try to get everyone out here to check out the job. BC does not require (or atleast does not verify) insurance/licences, so I usually get cheeper bids through there, but that ofcouse will also put a toll on your outcome. I don't know what they charge the contractors, but I'm sure it's not as much as SM.

When doing a major job I also call every Moe Larry and Curly in the phone book to see if they want to check it out and bid. The more the merrier, and as I'm sure you know, there is a million different "right" ways to do a job, so I like hearing everyones opinion.

Your job is ofcoure a HUGE project. This is your home, and you're going to spend some money, don't go the cheepest way posible, you will only end up spending more money later.

One major lesson I learned the hard way is, make sure your contract with who you do hire has a completion date. Contrators can get worried about this. You could explain that if they think the job is going to take one month, don't mind if they put down two. You don't want them to have to rush, but you don't want them moving in either.

barc0debaby - 3-10-2008 at 06:32 PM

Just do it like homer simpson.

BDx13 - 3-10-2008 at 10:56 PM

great input, Furly, thanks.

have you ever used angieslist? businesses pay to be listed, consumers pay for access, then leave reviews after the fact. the angieslist people act as mediaries if necessary.

Furly - 3-10-2008 at 11:31 PM

Never used it, I'll check it out though.

CR83 - 3-17-2008 at 02:13 PM

Well, I just signed a contract. After getting three bids, having each reviewed by a structural engineer (without showing him the pricing) and talking to references I went with the lowest at $15,950.

We are going to get a home equity loan for some of it and the rest will be paid out of our savings.

Work starts on 5-12-08. I will post before, during and after pictures. It will be cool to watch the progress. One main drawback is that we are going to send our dog to my in-laws while the work is being done.

He is still young and would wind up in one of the trenches or go for a run since part of our fence is being taken down to accomodate the equipment.

clevohardcore - 3-17-2008 at 04:24 PM

Cool. Post those up when it happens.

BDx13 - 3-17-2008 at 06:40 PM

interesting. so what did the engineer say, basically that all three proposals would be sufficient in addressing the problem? 16's better than 19.

...wait, what did i just say?

newbreedbrian - 3-17-2008 at 11:02 PM

that's alot of scratch but at least you're gettin it done before it becomes a major problem. i'd definitely be interested in seein pics

CR83 - 3-18-2008 at 11:30 AM

Cool, I'll post them up in a new thread. This is the only time in my life I have really been watching for the Fed to drop rates. I'm officially old.