Potts Camp foundation failure

Challenge

This beautiful Potts Camp, Mississippi home was built in 1894. Despite its beauty, the home was having some serious foundation issues, and the homeowners didn't quite know what was going on. The floors on the inside of the house were severely sloping, and they could tell they were getting worse. Their living room couldn't be used, because the floor felt so weak that it seemed it may give way. 

The homeowners had 2-3 contractors come take a look at the house, and not one one mentioned an issue with the floor joists. Each seemed to believe that there was a moisture issue based on what the inside flooring was doing. They suggested tearing up the original wood flooring inside the home in an attempt to get the mositure problem under control.  No one crawled under the house to take a look. 

The homeowners found Redeemers Group on-line, and gave us a call.  When our Specialist went out to the home, he immediately crawled up under the home to see first hand what was going on. Upon doing so, the actual problem was immediately obvious. Almost every floor joist had snapped. There was little to nothing that was holding up the weight of the home. 

Solution

8 new supplemental beams were needed to support the weight of the home. Once the new beams were in, it took 12 SmartJacks to stabilize the home. When we work with customers, we always advise that stabilization is the guaranteed outcome. That is what we warranty. So, in the case of this home, the homeowners would know the floors that felt like they might give way will not. We recognize, however, that most home owners are also concerned with the visual effects of settlement. Because of this, after a home is stabilized, we will attempt to lift the house back to level. We cannot guarantee that it will, but we make every reasonable to attempt to do so. In this case, the beautiful wood flooring that was original to the home was sloping, baseboards had pulled away from the floor, and several other things could be seen. As stated, after the home was stabilized, our crew attempted to achieve lift back to level. They were able to achieve amazing results for this homeowner. The house went completely back to level which was a feat due to how long the settling had been taking place. Many times there is a concern when lifting as to what can occur inside of the home: the wood floors that had been bent for an extended period of time could snap or break instead of straightening back out. Floors that are tile could crack, drywall that is moving as the house is being lifted can certainly crack. Our crew was extremely happy with the outcome at this home, especially given the extreme nature of the settling. 

Project Summary

System Design Specialist: Clint Cooper