Foundation Leveling in Tucson Brick Home

Wednesday, March 24th, 2021 by Jessica LaFlesch

Challenge

The owners of this 1980 Tucson area brick home reached out to us after noticing multiple signs of a foundation problem.

These foundation issue warning signs included:

Pinched, sticking doors
Floors that are out of level
Cracks in the interior drywall
Gaps between baseboards & the floor
Pinching, sticking windows
Exterior / outside concrete out of level
Cracks in the exterior walls
Cracks in the foundation outside
Cracks on columns

The Homeowners wanted to repair their home to restore peace of mind and prevent future damage to the home as a result of the underlying foundation problem. They wanted a structural engineer to assess the damage and compose a repair plan.

After an initial level A foundation inspection was completed, a Forensic Foundation Inspection was completed to not only determine the cause of the foundation issue, but a repair plan that is engineer approved for more than pier spacing on a permit.

Forensic Foundation Inspection or FER Report

After examining the home and performing the manometer survey, Arizona Foundation Solutions believes the home could be experiencing foundation settlement in the central and eastern portions of the home as shown by the damage (also known as Signs of Stress) and lower readings on the Topographical Map. The drop off in floor elevations on the topographical map is consistent with a foundation settlement pattern. Settlement can be caused by one or any combination of many factors including sub-grade saturation of moisture due to poor drainage, years of storm runoff, plumbing leaks, improper compaction, the lack of a proper foundation system, and/or (in most cases) natural earth movement.

Solution

Arizona Foundation Solutions believes that the proper way to permanently stop the perimeter foundation settlement is to underpin the areas that are experiencing movement. Underpinning is the process of installing deep foundation elements called piles. Piles are engineered foundation supports that are driven down past the unstable soils and are then locked up into load bearing strata, which can support the loads that are transferred to them. Once the piles have been installed, they can be used to lift the perimeter foundation up to its Highest Practical Maximum. The piles should be spaced approximately six feet on center and should start and stop near the hinge points of movement (exact spacing to be determined after load bearing calculations). In this case, the piles would be located at the northern, southern and eastern portions of the home.

The slab can then be treated by injecting a lightweight expansive polyurethane to fill existing voids and lift the floor slab. This is done by drilling small 3/8” holes in the slab after which polyurethane grout is injected directly under the slab to raise it up to it’s Highest Practical Maximum. Using the expansive materials will help prevent additional slab settlement by compacting the upper layer of soil as it