Foundation Problem Signs
Your foundation supports your house, so it’s crucial for your safety to maintain it. Here are some signs that your foundation needs repair:
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Drywall Cracks
As you start to research drywall cracks around doors, windows, and ceilings, you’ll start to see a variety of types.
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Nail Pops
Learn the steps to address drywall nail pops in your home. Turn to JES Foundation Repair's long-lasting foundation solutions.
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Basement Floor Cracks
Everyone’s situation is different, but underpinning can be an effective method of supporting your home so it doesn’t continue to sink.
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Cracks in Foundation Walls
The type of crack in your foundation wall (including cracked bricks in your home’s facing) can give you a clue to the severity and cause.
If you notice wall cracks in your home, they may indicate a larger foundation problem. Together with drywall nail pops, uneven floors, and sticking windows, signs of potential foundation failure might be all over your home. If you think that yours is in trouble, call the experts at JES Foundation Repair for a comprehensive inspection of your home. We have proven solutions to restore your foundation and the warranties to back them up.
Causes of Foundation Damage
There are numerous reasons your house may have these problems. Most of these causes stem from the ground.
Expansive soils create foundation damage. Expansive soils, including, clay soil, shrink-swell, and heavable soil, are all different names for the same thing. Expansive soils are responsible for more damage to buildings than any other natural hazard.
This type of soil contains minerals like smectite clays, which absorb a lot of moisture. As the expansive soil soaks up water it expands – up to 15 times its dry volume. Furthermore, the expanded soil then pushes against your foundation and creates cracks or waterproofing problems.
In fact, as the expansive soil dries, it shrinks. The soil shrinkage gives your foundation room to move around. Consequently, this extra room removes the support from your foundation and will cause cracks, settling, and other foundation damage. The pressure of expansive soils against your foundation can exceed 30,000 pounds per square foot.
Deep foundations require a type of foundation repair that has support columns, pillars, or piles. These piers are driven deep into the ground or until they reach bedrock. This is done to provide additional stabilization when the surface soil can no longer support the weight of your home.
These types of foundations require solutions which address problems like settlement or stair-step cracked bricks. For example, if your home has cracked bricks caused by settlement, push piers or resistance piles may be installed. The piers are installed beneath your home’s foundation footing and then driven into bedrock or stable soil.
The piers are installed into stable soil or bedrock because it prevents further settlement and movement. Furthermore, the resistance provided by the stable soil can even help lift your home back to its original level.
When the soil your home is built on can no longer support the weight of your home, the structure will start to settle. An expert may recommend installing a deep foundation system to stabilize your home.
Deep foundation soils and deep foundation systems are best understood by starting with the ground. Soil is made up of obvious layers which have different qualities and are a good indicator of how deep you need to extend your foundation.
The top layers of soil compress and easily compact – this is where settlement occurs and where you’ll find problem soils like expansive clay. The deeper soil layers, like parent rock, are stable and less likely to move. This is why a deep foundation pier system is installed into competent load bearing soils or bedrock.
Award-Winning Service
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I want to give props to Michael Pry from the Baltimore location for his excellent customer service and follow through. First and foremost, he listened. We were able to work through my concerns to my satisfaction. He’s professional and represents…
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Eric Oliver was prompt and very professional with his inspection, and explanation of our needs. We are repeat customers for two separate residences, and we have been extremely satisfied in both instances.
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Unknown to us, our new home had some foundation issues and we called JES. They sent Blaine out and all our worries were put to rest. He took his time inspecting and evaluating our property. Followed by giving us a thorough breakout of what he found…
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The workers that did my basement Bowing walls and waterproofing were Contractor Jason Frazier and crew,Elijah Hanson, Joshua Crawford. They were so helpful and courteous,any questions that I had about the work they were doing Jason would always take…
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Jeremy Perez and Oscar Valdez did amazing work on our basement. They made sure we stayed informed on the entire process and answered any questions we had. They went the extra mile to make sure everything turned out good and that we were happy. I…
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Excellent experience with JES. I hired JES to fix my crawl space which was prone to flooding. They ensured that the system provided would address my needs so that no more flooding would occur. Larry, Ronnie and Adam were great to work with –…
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Townsend Midgett is the best there is. This guy is straight forward with everything he does. He is thorough and focused. I would recommend this company and him to anyone.
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We needed to have foundation work done due to sloping floors & some noticeable cracks in the drywall in a few places. We had several quotes & suggested work to be done. We ended up going with JES because Brandon explained everything very clearly &…
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Keith ,Roberto and Jose F were all professional ,they did great work and cleaned up afterwards
View review Read Greg Stiltner's review for JES Foundation Repair -
JES recently completed an encapsulation for us and the entire process went according to plan. Every JES employee from beginning to end was appreciative of our business, responsive to my questions and professional. A special shout out to Frank,…
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I would like to commend The team of Freddy, Walter Jr & Walter Sr Zyzquierdo, along with Luis Torres and Jaime Funes for their excellent work at my home the past two days. They were conscientious, accommodating and polite. They made certain that I…
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We had JES to come to inspect and evaluate our floor. Our Inspector, Christian Distler-Caravetta was very professional and knowledgeable. It was a pleasure meeting him. We did not use JES service as our issues were not structural.
View review Read Rufus Mosley's review for JES Foundation Repair -
The whole crew from JES was great to work with. They solved a complicated water issue with a creative solution and worked hard to ensure everything was done correctly. Charles Byars, Joshua Webb and Mark Riles were a great crew and I would…
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Foreman Kevin ortiz Co-foreman Jesus B Installer Luis Almira Great team !!!
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Matt Grosse was fantastic. He thoroughly inspected the exterior and interior of my home and took time addressing all of my concerns. Will definitely be scheduling a maintenance inspection for my foundation next year and asking for him specifically!
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Daquan A. and Davin G. showed up at the house on time as promised and did a fantastic job repairing our driveway and lifting it up to make it easier to drive into the garage. They also did a little extra work to complement their already awesome…
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Great quality and communication. Jason Frazier, Elijah Hanson and Josh Crawford did a superb job leveling my entryway door.
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Team did a great job. Completed paremeter drainage to sump pump and added three jacks. Good communications, very considerate, quality work. The team: Frank Nelson Ralshell Jones Malike Campbell Great JES crew.
View review Read Joetacoflores's review for JES Foundation Repair -
Great work completed by the crew repairing a settling foundation and encapsulating the crawlspace. A special thanks to Emilio Sanches, Angel Mata and Juan Mata. Very helpful answering questions and did a fantastic job!
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We recently had our crawl space encapsulated and it was one of the best customer experiences we’ve had in a really long time. There is nothing glamorous about this project, but every single person we interacted with at JES was friendly,…
View review Read Stuart Palmer's review for JES Foundation Repair
Foundation Repair Solutions
At JES Foundation Repair, we know that with each problem your foundation is facing, they require a tailored solution that’s customized to its needs. Our variety of solutions and products offer something for every issue and our certified experts will be happy to explain which one is best for your home.
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IntelliJack™ Crawl Space Stabilizer
Floor joist failure sounds very scary, and it can be for some homeowners.
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Helical Piers
Discover the lifelong stability helical piers offer against foundation settlement, installed by the team at JES Foundation Repair.
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Wall Anchors
JES Wall Anchors extend away from your home into stable and hard-packed soil, anchoring against the soil while bracing the foundation wall. This system stops any movement towards your home.
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IntelliBrace™ Wall Repair System
Manufactured to be resistant to corrosion, the IntelliBrace™ System is more resilient than normal uncoated I-Beams and reduces wear and abrasion.
Is Foundation Repair the Right Solution for Me?
If you see cracks in your walls or basement floors, drywall nail pops, or a tilting chimney around your house, it’s time for foundation repair. If your foundation is failing, your whole home is at stake. If ignored, it will only get worse.
These foundation problems arise because of the soil around your home contracting and expanding between dry and rainy days. Foundation repair will help you fight against these conditions and keep your home safe and sound for years to come. If you have questions about whether or not foundation repair is right for your home, call your local experts at JES Foundation Repair. We’ll be happy to find the solution right for you.
FAQs
Slab foundations are inexpensive and easy to build, making them a popular foundation choice for many. Unfortunately, they are capable of settling just like any of the slabs on your property.
- How Slab Foundations Settle
Slab foundations settle in the same way your driveway or patio slabs settle—due to soil displacement. A negative yard grade and poor yard drainage all contribute to foundation settling, even with slab foundations. The signs are a lot harder to detect, since homeowners can’t observe the damage to their slab foundation in the same way they can their crawl space or basement.
Besides soil washout, a big factor in foundation soil displacement is pressure. Sandy soils are a lot looser and shifty than clay soils, and because they are less dense, displacement is easy when they have to support large weights. As a house is used over the years and heavy furniture is moved about, the foundation has to support more weight. Over time, this does affect the soil.
- How Settled Slab Foundations Are Repaired
Like any slab on your property, you don’t have to replace a slab foundation once it settles. JES can stabilize and even lift your settling slab foundation using slab piers. They are steel rods that transfer the weight of the house to the competent, load-bearing soils below. Because your slab will no longer rely on loose soil, slab foundations will perpetually support your foundation.
PolyRenewal™ can also be used on a slab foundation. Polyurethane foam is able to support over 100 tons of weight, so it’s more than capable of lifting your foundation. Polyurethane foam can’t always be used for slab foundations, and, sometimes, slab piers are required. You would have to talk to your local foundation expert to determine which one you need for your settling slab.
The specialists at JES Foundation Repair offer a wide variety of solutions for you, depending on what part of your foundation needs repair. If you are looking to realign and stabilize your bowed-in foundation walls, you may want to look into the IntelliBrace™ system, JES Foundation Repair Wall Anchors, or the Carbon Fiber Wall Repair. The IntelliBrace consists of a number of incredibly sturdy I-beams that are installed on the inside of your foundation wall to prevent them from buckling inwards even more. The JES Foundation Repair Wall Anchors are installed underground, directly into the hard, densely packed soil so that it can support your foundation wall from below. The least invasive method goes to the Carbon Fiber system, which has a lightweight, sleek, and non-stretchy design constructed to repair cracks and even provide your foundation wall with much needed stability.
If you are mainly experiencing sagging foundation floors, you may want to look into the various Pier Systems or even the Crawl Space IntelliJack™ Support System. There are 3 pier systems to choose from: the Slab, Helical, and Push Pier Systems. Each pier system is catered to both the type of foundation problem, as well as the space constraints of your landscape. Although the IntelliJack™ was made primarily for sagging floors due to crawl space problems, it can also dually work to support foundation floors that are sinking as well.
Sometimes, the amount of water that builds up around your foundation walls can result in immense pressure against your foundation structure. The SMART VENT Flood Vents offered at JES Foundation Repair provides an alternate pathway for this water so that it does not accumulate onto your foundation wall. This can prevent buckling and structural damage. This water can then be removed via other drainage systems in your home.
A foundation settles because it cannot rely on the soil layer for support anymore. When the foundation was built, the soil was even and dense, but due to erosive elements, it will have shifted over the years. The soil in Roanoke is sandy, so the more it erodes, the more easily it is displaced by a large amount of weight, meaning that the weight of the house itself was contributing toward the settling. To stabilize a foundation, the house needs to be held up by something other than a loose, uneven layer of soil. This is where the helical piers come in.
Helical piers are steel rods that have helix blades welded to one end of the shaft. A hole is either drilled or excavated where the pier needs to be installed and then the rod is mechanically drilled into the soil. Anybody that looks at a helical pier might think that they are too thin to support an entire house, but the truth is that the helical piers aren’t the only ones that will work to support the home. The piers will be driven down until reaching load-bearing soil.
The deeper down you go, the tougher and denser the soil is. Load-bearing soils are dense enough to support the house, unlike the shifty soils that originally failed the house. When the helical piers are attached to the home, they help transfer the weight of the foundation to the competent soil layers. This is how helical piers, despite their slim frame, are able to stabilize a settling foundation.
Determining the warning signs of foundation problems tends to be a bit tricky for homeowners. It can often be confused with general structural issues that can be fixed with simple solutions that you can do right at home. However, DIY repairs are always highly discouraged because it can be risky and cause potential injury.
Some of the warning signs of foundation problems include:
- Sinking settlements
- Tilted chimneys
- Buckled or cracked walls
- Wood rot around your home perimeter
- Sagging floors
- Uneven doorways and window frames
The foundation of your home is named the foundation for a reason. It is responsible for maintaining many of the structures within your home. Usually, when there is a problem sign in one place, another may appear. It is important to keep an eye out before more drastic problems occur.
It can be tempting to try and compartmentalize the damage you see done to your home. For example, take the kind of damage that can be done to your chimney. Under the best of circumstances, you’d want to hope that a cracked chimney isn’t a sign of more significant damage somewhere else in your home.
Think of Your Home as A Whole
Unfortunately, thinking of your home as a disconnected collection of parts is a dangerous way to think. Each part of your home works in tandem with the others. As such, certain parts of your home can indicate damage to the others, even if they don’t seem to be connected at first glance. This is the case with your chimney. If you notice your chimney has started to crack, it is likely that your foundation is suffering as well. In most cases, a cracked chimney is a sign that the damage your foundation is currently experiencing has reached the point where it’s going to be especially expensive to repair.
Understanding the Water Damage in and Around Your Home
That said, you can never be certain as to what kind of damage you’re dealing with until you’ve had a chance to look for yourself. As such, if you notice your chimney has started to crack, you’ll want to reach out to the professionals in your area. These parties can walk through your home with you and help determine whether or not you have foundation damage on your hands. Should you have a problem, these parties can help you excavate your foundation and address the problem as appropriately as possible.
If you do want to repair your chimney, at the end of the day, you have the option to confine your repairs to that structure. However, if you want those repairs to last for more than a short while, you’ll want to try and determine whether or not something is amiss with your foundation as well. The longer you leave foundation damage to fester, the more problems it can cause for the rest of your home.
If you’re dealing with a settling foundation due to soil washout, then you might want to know what your options are. If you do some research, then you’ll hear talk of concrete piers for your foundation, which are meant to stabilize your home so that it won’t settle anymore.
However, concrete piers as a foundation support system are outdated and unreliable. There are plenty of modern options for your foundation that last longer than concrete piers and actually give you bang for your buck.
- Why Concrete Piers Don’t Work
Concrete piers are not capable of lifting your settling foundation. The way they are made and put into place does not allow contractors to exert the required pressure to lift your foundation back into place. What they are meant to do is simply stop the settling and keep your home in its current position; however, this isn’t even a guarantee. This is because the foundation should not rely on the pier system itself to stay stable but rather on the load-bearing soil deep beneath your property.
Concrete piers are not able to reach load-bearing soil depths because they cannot be made long enough to do so. The longer and thinner the concrete pier is, the less weight it’s able to support due to its low tensile strength. Making it bigger won’t help either since the bigger the pier is, the more likely it is to experience skin friction. Once a concrete pier feels the pressure caused by the skin friction, it crumbles under the weight of the house.
- What You Can Do About Foundation Settling
At JES, we offer multiple solutions that are able to reliably stabilize your foundation and possibly lift it back into place as well. We have helical and push piers, as well as slab piers for slab-on-grade. They are long rods made of galvanized steel that are attached to your foundation and buried deep underground. Because of their sleek design, they are capable of reaching load-bearing soil and transferring the weight of your foundation to those soils. These pier systems can mechanically exert pressure onto your foundation until it’s stable once more.
If you have a slab foundation, then we have another repair option for you. You can use PolyRenewal™ to lift your foundation back into place like you would any other slab. It depends on the needs of your home, but utilizing polyurethane foam can lift your foundation until it’s even again without the need for excavation or heavy machinery. The device we use to inject PolyRenewal™ is handheld and small, meaning that it can be used in smaller areas, like your bathroom, if need be.
Wall anchors are one of the most common repair products used to prevent bowing walls from collapsing and return them to their original positioning. Installing these anchors is relatively straightforward, and our team has the tools, skills, and training to give you the results that you need from your wall anchor installation process.
It starts with an assessment of your home and the damaged walls, of course, at which point we will map out the ideal placement for each wall anchor and figure out how many will be needed to get the right result. Once we know where the anchors are going, excavation will begin both inside and outside of your home. The earth anchors will need to be placed in the earth around 10 feet from your home, while holes will be drilled into your foundation walls, so that steel rods can be driven through and connected to the earth anchors. Once they are connected to the anchors, the wall plates can be mounted and connected.
Once the wall anchors have been fully installed, the excavation points can be covered and the interior plates can be disguised. At this point, the damaged wall will have been stabilized and there will be no risk of the wall collapsing expectedly. However, if you are to straighten the wall in question, you will need to have the wall anchors tightened or adjusted a few times. Professionals will do this slowly to prevent causing more damage to the wall.
The Benefits of Foundation Repair
Here the biggest benefits of foundation repair:
Increased Market Value
Structural damage can dramatically decrease your home’s resale value. Repairing your foundation can ensure your home’s value stays where you want it. It reassures future homeowners that it’s safe for them and their families.
Enhanced Structural Safety
Foundation problems compromise your home’s safety. Repairing it will ensure your entire home’s structural integrity for decades to come. Our experts can inspect your home for signs of damage and provide solutions that will enhance its structural integrity.
Improved Living Environment
Foundation cracks can let more moisture into your home, causing mold and mildew growth. A particularly toxic strain of mold, black mold, can be extremely harmful to people with respiratory issues. It can also cause allergies, and in some cases, asthma attacks. By repairing the cracks in your walls and making sure your foundation is stable and secure, you can literally breathe easier.
Common Foundation Repair Tips & Mistakes
Helpful Tips for Foundation Repair:
- Beware of Tree Roots: Expansive tree root systems can compromise your foundation. As they grow, they may butt up against your foundation and crack it. Try to plant any new trees or landscape features at least 20 feet away from the perimeter of your home. This will ensure your foundation is safe from damage.
- Properly Grade Your Yard: It’s important to keep the grading of your landscape in mind. You want a positive grade. Positive yard grade sends water away from your home. Negative grade sends it back towards it. Positive grade can save you from massive foundation problems.
- Maintain Your Gutters: Cleaning out your gutters is an important part of keeping your foundation from cracking. Your gutters prevent rainwater from diving straight down onto the perimeter of your home. Clogged gutters mean potential water damage. A little bit of routine outdoor housekeeping can save you a lot of money.
Mistakes to Avoid:
- Ignoring High Energy Bills: By not fixing a foundation crack you could see higher energy bills. Humid air is far more difficult for your HVAC system to manage. Your AC and heating work to maintain your home’s internal temperature. If you remove the moisture, your system doesn’t work as hard, meaning lower energy bills.
- Ignoring Standing Water: Water near your foundation can threaten it. As the soil gets wet, it expands and begins to push against the foundation walls. This pressure cracks it, and water penetrates it. Install downspouts properly, and extend them at least 8 feet away from the foundation walls so that the water does not accumulate.
- Ignoring Musty Smells: Not only can animals and insects get into your basement, but mold particles can as well. When mold grows, you get that musty basement smell. Mold loves nothing more than a damp, dark space. This can mean worsening allergies or illnesses down the road.
Find your service area



Northern Virginia
Cracks and water intrusion impact your home’s safety, health, and appearance. Repair and protect your home with trusted solutions only available from JES Foundation Repair.



Washington, DC
Weather conditions in Washington DC can cause problems for your foundation and lead to structural damage around your home. JES has industry-leading solutions designed to repair this type of damage and keep your foundation protected from it in the future.



Charlottesville, VA
We understand that keeping your home protected is of the utmost importance, and Charlottesville’s rainy and humid environment can make that challenging. That’s why JES has world-class solutions and knowledge to keep your foundation permanently protected.



Hampton Roads, VA
The Hampton Roads region is home to several cities in Virginia, including Norfolk, Chesapeake, and Virginia Beach. All these cities share similar weather and soil conditions, with sandy soils and an above-average amount of rain – a combination that causes damage to your foundation.



Northeast North Carolina
Northeast North Carolina’s heavy rain and unstable soils can lead to water, excess humidity, cracks, and unevenness around your property. JES has the best solutions to combat these problems and permanently repair and protect your home.



Lynchburg, VA
Muggy summers, above-average annual rainfall, and clay soils make Lynchburg a challenging place for your home's foundation. These environmental conditions quickly lead to crawl space, basement, or concrete damage on your property, and JES has world-class solutions to fix the problem



Roanoke, VA
Situated in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Southwest Virginia, Roanoke has wet summers with weekly rain. When winter rolls around, the area gets plenty of snowfall too. All this moisture damages your foundation over time, but JES has world-class tools and experience to repair and prevent issues.



Danville, VA
Danville’s native soil has a sublayer of clay that expands during frequent summer rains. This combination causes serious problems for your crawl space, concrete, or basement foundation. JES has world-class solutions to protect your property in any situation.



Richmond, VA
The sandy soil and wet climate of Richmond will wreak havoc on your home's concrete, foundation, basement, and crawl space. JES is here to help tackle the problems causing your foundation to falter!



Baltimore Metro
Your home in Baltimore is plagued with foundation problems thanks to environmental problems like climate and soil type. JES Foundation Repair has the knowledge and high-quality products to repair them permanently.