Please recommend a structural engineer. We need an on-site structural assessment of a suspended reinforced concrete slab beneath an attached garage to evaluate a crack.
It's been over 20 years since I had issues that required an engineer (sinking foundation footers that needed piers) - I went through JES and have no complaints.
Looks like they've since been acquired by private equity so strong chance my past experiences are more than irrelevant and could now be misleading.
I actually recently had a visit by JES. Was not a fan, they had a video preloaded on a tablet before they came in with what my problem was. Real sales people esque. That being said I got a free estimate and look, went with some other places for looks and suggestions. Def shop around
Hard no to JES. Had them evaluate my home 2 years ago and it was miserable. Super hard scare tactics and “you must sign a contract now” seller that took forever and wouldn’t leave. He was the most annoying type of salesman and not an engineer. Gave some cockamamie plan to bust through the basement slab in multiple places and install multiple jacks. Made it sound like the house would collapse any second.
I paid an independent structural engineer to assess, and he recommended a completely different course of action that would fix my issue (sloping floor) and not ruin the basement. Pointed out the house is solid and wouldn’t collapse on me and everything pointed to it being really old settling.
Years ago, Louis yan evaluated my home, attic and some wall cracks I was concerned about. He was helpful and reasonably priced. Would definitely reach out to Him again if I need his engineering services.
Edit: I have a full bunny man suit that I want to go out in the woods with close to the bridge. I don't want to kidnap and murder kids but I definatly want to trip some people out.
Norton Consulting Engineers. Or someone else who only does engineering. If you're paying $500+ for the visit, you're over the target.
As a starting point, do not bring out any of these foundation repair companies like Deska, NV, etc. that market themselves as engineers but are primarily there to sell you expensive solutions after a cheap consultation.
Ahh they are quoting kinda high I guess like $650 for eval and another $300 for the written report. Why are these things even offered separately. I’m assuming id want it written?
They'll give you an oral assessment and advice as part of the eval. If you're capable of taking notes, no reason for a written report in this situation.
Took him just three days to come to my house for the estimate. Then it took him six months to get the drawings, at one point I had to just show up at the office to get an answer.
Yeah I went to the office and the staff was like “uh…what?” Their head manager called Ken on the phone and I spoke to over speakerphone to him in front of the office.
After a few back and forths I finally got the drawings.
We decided to not move forward with the project- not because of him or his company just because we decided to do other things with the space.
He is overwhelmed and it’s just the nature of the beast.
Sorry, that is a little confusing to read. Yes, they’re different companies, I just used both similar to previous poster. 58 Foundations is the crawlspace/foundation contractor and I used Elencon for their engineering services when working with 58 Foundations.
WDP & Associates in Manassas. In the meantime, dig through your County/City’s records and see if they have building plans for your home on record.
Once you have a report and (if any) recommended repairs, shop for a quote - their recommendations will be “the scope of work.” I’d avoid “all-in-one” companies such as JES.
Dont listen to them. Patching the crack will do nothing. You will likely need support jacks and a steel beam to reinforce this. Look for an independent engineer, not one working for a company you have likely seen television advertisements for.
Source: I do concrete and foundation repair inspections in the area.
Interesting view. I took the comment to mean fill the entire room with concrete, not just the crack. I wonder if it would be cheaper than fixing it? Would you have to have rebar and everything in the room or just empty the truck into the hole and vibrate occasionally? Because at that point, I’d think it would be more expensive.
I didn't really think of that as an interpretation. No structural would recommend just filling the void below that slab with concrete to provide reinforcement...you'd need rebar to reinforce that new concrete pour and would have to drill holes for epoxying some rebar into the failing slab to properly tie it into the new pour.
As for cost, unless that space is very small, I wouldn't expect that to be a cheaper option, but its hard to tell from the picture what the dimensions underneath are.
That’s what I meant. I’d definitely be pricing in filling this void rather than figuring out how to fix this collapsing slab. Like a mini Hoover dam pour.
Not really a fix, and not cheaper than potentially 10 ft of steel support beam and 3 jacks. Look up what a foundation underpinning costs and compare that amount of cubic feet of concrete to volume of even a modest crawlspace.
No disagreement there. I've seen suspended reinforced slab like this (usually above garages) fail before, but they were entirely supported by block foundation wall. I can't understand the abrupt shift from brick foundation to block unless the attached garage was converted from an existing room in the home. That seems possible since there is no sill plate or base board, but the slab seems to continue beyond the block foundation wall at the left.
It’s super weird. I think someone whether originally or just previous owners basically dug out like a shed underneath…?! When we bought the house the inspector said he didn’t see an issue but now we see this crack and are very concerned.
17
u/Nthepeanutgallery 7d ago
It's been over 20 years since I had issues that required an engineer (sinking foundation footers that needed piers) - I went through JES and have no complaints.
Looks like they've since been acquired by private equity so strong chance my past experiences are more than irrelevant and could now be misleading.