Four words you never want to hear: "Your house is sinking.". I bought my home in 2018 since 44 piers were installed in 2014. All Pro Foundation would not honor their "lifetime warranty", so I sought quotes from three highly ranked foundation companies. One wanted to polyfoam lift the home. Another simply wanted to "adjust" the existing piers by shimming (even though they failed in 10 years!). Pinnacle's consultant, Grant, brought a sonar depth detector to the initial visit to determine whether and where grade beams were present. That alone gave me confidence that Pinnacle had its act together!
Pinnacle's plan was to leave all existing piers in place (unless encountered in their dig) and install 15 transitional piers (double walled steel pressed to resistance then filled with concrete and concrete piers and steel shims to level) outside and 6 all steel piers with angle iron support due to the lack of grade beams inside. Ruben's crew worked in 22° weather. Within 1.5 hours, they were driving in the steel piers. By the end of the first day, all exterior piers were placed, and the interior holes were jack hammered and excavated. Upon opening the first hole, Ruben showed me that my foundation was "floating" with at least a 2-inch gap between the bottom of the foundation and the top of the dirt. He called his supervisor, Agustin, who came to the house to investigate and discuss with me the need for an additional pier inside due to the significant void and lack of grade beam and another outside. Ruben's crew was so patient with me watching the process and answering all my questions. Once all the piers were set, Agustin arrived to supervise the lift. He showed me the before readings and with each round of lifting, the current reading. Agustin was extremely cautious to not overlift the house and damage the two bathrooms that were completely remodeled in 2020. The entire process was completed in three days. Ruben's crew and Agustin are to be commended for the professionalism and care they demonstrated to doing a top-notch job that they can stand behind for a lifetime.
Given the significant void, I chose to perform a void fill. I cannot understand why anyone would raise the foundation and not fill the void. When the slurry of dirt and concrete "cures", it not only fills the void to provide additional support to the foundation, but it also acts as an additional vapor barrier. The void fill supervisor, Miguel, discussed with Brian and his crew where to drill the 3" holes to inject the "mud" to fill the void and where additional pressure would be needed to "mud jack" (raise the foundation). Brian's crew worked until 8 PM to ensure the entire void was filled. The crew made sure there was no splattering inside and cleaned up the concrete/dirt mixing area so no cured mud was left behind. A different crew, but the same professionalism and care!
There are many foundation companies to choose from. My experience demonstrates it is imperative to have the work done right the first time by a company that will stand behind their work/warranty. Of the supposed 44 piers installed by All Pro in 2014, only two were encountered. One had a single round pier below the block used for the lifting.The other just had the jacking block and the two round piers above. Neither were touching the foundation.No wonder the house sank back to original levels in 10 years, and they wouldn't honor their warranty! Pinnacle drove piers to a depth of 12-16 feet! They also stand behind their work. When an issue arose (sink hole at one dig sites), I texted Augustin. Within two minutes, he called me and told me it would be fixed. Brian's crew came out the next day.
No one wants to do foundation repairs, but Pinnacle made the whole process manageable. Thanks to Grant Gunderson (Foundation Consultant), Ruben and his crew (foundation lift), Brian and his crew (void filling), and Kristen Cenkus (Project Administrator), but a special thanks to Agustin Lopez for overseeing the entire project. read more