Sinking & Settling Foundation Repair in Greater Ottawa

We can solve structural problems caused by foundation settlement in Ontario

There are usually a number of different soil layers underneath a house. Foundation settlement and house movement can occur when one of these soil layers can't support the weight of the home.

Have you noticed cracks in your foundation walls, uneven floors, or sticking windows in your home? If these sound like problems you've experienced, you may have a sinking or settling foundation.

At Atlantic Basement Systems, we fix foundation settlement issues by installing steel foundation piers. These piers will extend beneath the foundation, contacting strong supporting soils that will permanently stabilize your structure.

Atlantic Basement Systems are your local experts for all types of foundation repair. Call us for a free foundation inspection and foundation settlement repair quote today! We serve Orleans, Nepean, Ottawa and many nearby areas in Ontario.

Identifying Foundation Settlement Issues

Signs of a settling foundation can be very subtle at first -- many homeowners can go months or even years before noticing a crack in their foundation. The long-term damage from foundation settlement, however, is ongoing and will lead to more severe foundation problems.

4 Signs of Foundation Settlement

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Stair-Step Cracking

Stair-step cracking is very common in brick and concrete block walls and is a sure sign of foundation settlement. As the settlement house movement continues, vertical cracks may widen or become uneven as wall sections tilt away from each other, indicating more severe displacement.

Keep an eye out for cracks that are wider at the top than at the bottom, as this is a sign of advancing settlement.

Damaged Doors & Windows

An opening cut in any wall is a weak point, so signs of foundation settlement and house movement often show up around door and window openings.

Doors and windows frames may be racked out of square, cracks may extend from the corners above doors and windows, and doors may separate from the framing or exterior finish. Other signs of foundation settlement include sticking or jamming doors and windows, and locks that stop working.

More information about sticking windows and doors.

Slab Floor Cracking

Cracks in your concrete floor slab can be a sign of foundation settlement, but they may also be a sign that the slab floor alone has settled.

There are times when your slab floor may sink or lift independently of the foundation walls, damaging the floors but not necessarily the foundation walls themselves.

More information about slab floor crack repair.

Drywall Cracks

Cracks in drywall throughout the house are reliable indicators of foundation settlement. Cracks will often be larger and more obvious in the home's upper levels.

Typical drywall cracks during foundation settlement are commonly located at the corners of doors and windows and along drywall seams. Drywall tape can also be a good indicator, especially if it's ripping or coming loose. Drywall cracks can also be a sign of sinking crawl space supports, sinking floors, and heaving floors.

Repairing Foundation Settlement

At Atlantic Basement Systems, we recommend installing foundation piers to stabilize, repair, and restore a foundation that's been damaged by issues related to foundation settlement and poor supporting soils.

• Foundation Push Piers

Foundation Push Piers

Push piers connect the foundation to strong, stable soil or bedrock. Foundation piers attach to the base of the foundation with special brackets and extend through settling and unstable soil layers, transferring the weight of your home to competent soils.

Foundation push piers are straight, steel piers that attach to your foundation and extend far below the structure to strong supporting soils. During the installation, a section of the foundation footing is exposed and cut to attach to each pier's bracket. This is possible year-round from either inside or outside of your foundation or structure.

Foundation brackets are secured to the footing, and tubular pier sections are hydraulically driven through each bracket. Pier sections continue to be driven downwards until the piers meet competent strata that can bear the weight of your home without compression.

When all push piers have been installed, they will work in unison to transfer the weight of the structure to the strong soils or bedrock below. If possible, the home is also lifted back to its original, level position.

More about installing foundation push piers.

Read about our push pier system.

What NOT To Do

Like all home improvements and repairs, some foundation repair methods work better than others. Based on our experiences throughout Ontario, here are three "fixes" that we do NOT recommend:

• Total foundation replacement: This is expensive, time-consuming, and extremely disruptive for a family. Even worse, it doesn't even address the real problem -- the soils around your foundation. Many homeowners remove and replace their foundation without addressing the problem that caused the foundation issue in the first place. When this happens, they often find that after several years, they're facing the same problem all over again.
• Concrete underpinning: When it comes to foundation footings, "bigger" is not necessarily "better." Most of the time, the underpinning will not extend beyond the problem soils under your home. If this is true, the larger footings you just paid for will continue to move and cause damage. Concrete shrinks as it cures, and small gaps can form between the new and old footings, causing additional problems.
• Concrete piers: Blunt, wide concrete cylinders are difficult to push deep into the ground, making it very difficult to extend them past the poor supporting soils under your home. Concrete can crack and break when under pressure, and even in response to temperature changes, making concrete piers a flimsy repair method. Additionally, there is nothing to guide the direction for the pier, and no guarantee that they will be installed straight.

We Repair Settling Foundations in ON!

At Atlantic Basement Systems, we can identify and repair any issue you may be having with settling, sinking foundations, and settlement house movement. We have a wide variety of solutions for foundation repair that have been tested and proven effective throughout the United States and Canada through the Supportworks network of foundation contractors.

Each of our solutions starts with a free, written foundation repair quote, and includes a personal consultation with a foundation expert, an in-person inspection, and a free copy of our 90-page foundation repair book. To schedule an appointment with one of our specialists, call or e-mail us today! We proudly serve Nepean, Ottawa, Orleans, Brockville, Renfrew, Gloucester, Smiths Falls, Carleton Place, Vanier, Kanata, and nearby.