In many places, foundations and concrete walls in houses, schools and commercial buildings crack.
This doesn't necessarily mean that the concrete or brick work was faulty. Sometimes, it means that your area was seismically more active than was realized. Sometimes it means you have something called shrink swell soil, and this was not realized or compensated for before the structure was built. Whether you are in Colorado, Florida, or South America, foundational cracks occur and must be dealt with in some fashion. First. a structural engineer must determine whether these are cosmetic cracks which can easily be repaired and are of no lasting consequence, or whether there is true structural significance in need of an important repair.
Today, I wish to introduce our readers to something called the Ram Jack.
This is from the Ram Jack Page:
Our foundation repair methods and unique piling solutions provide the strength and stability that can only be found in the best American steel. The result is a lasting foundation, and the peace of mind of knowing you’re on solid ground for the life of your home.
Driving Head The Ram Jack® driving head delivers rapid power to long sections of piling for faster installation and a stronger pile.
Hydraulic Rams The Ram Jack system incorporates dual rams that drive deeper into permanent strata.
Guide Sleeve Variable-length guide sleeves, which are preferred by engineers, are designed to stiffen the piling in less-compacted surface layers.
With 19 patents for advanced designs over the last 25 years, Ram Jack gets foundation repair methods. We also get the fact that no one wants to fix the same problem twice. That’s why we get the job done right the first time – every time.
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| Ram Jack can use a number of different strategies and methods in order to stabilize the foundation of a home before the structural damage and cosmetic repairs can take place. |
This is a video which helps to explain the principle involved:
This is another which explains other aspects of a project:
A final word from Jane:
I have known people who have used this and other foundational or slab repair services. The key is to find a company with an excellent reputation who is affordable. In addition, you should have a plan for remediation that has been created and reviewed by a structural engineer. The most important message is that a house that is really in trouble can be repaired to continue to be a lovely home for its normal and expected "lifespan."
Ram Jack is actually a franchise, and so there are different offices in the United States, To find an office near you, or to find someone who can do a similar repair in your nation, you can contact one of these offices who should be able to help you.
Ram Jack Systems Distribution
13655 CR 1570, Ada, OK 74820
4 comments:
My friend's house finally had doors that would not close and a ball placed on the floor would roll away to the other side of the room. Upon inspection by professionals, the cause was found. The builder had placed pieces of plywood on the ground and put the foundations on that. It cost a little over $10K for the solution. After checking around, the insurance company found that the builder had had several lawsuits against him, had gone out of business, left town and could no longer be found. Although her home is "fixed," it will never be the same and valued at less than it should be. She knew there was a problem shortly after she bought the home, but waited too long to get any sort of monetary satisfaction.
Hiring a builder is difficult and many people don't do the homework in advance. Both times we built a home, we checked the references of the builder, did a background and credit check. Things like owing money to IRS would have been a showstopper. The pre-work takes time, but many times it will reveal something that you might like to know or that might impact your decision to use a particular builder. Thanks for posting.
Unless you go down to bedrock, which can be prohibitively expensive, some shifting is always possible. Did some work on large utility size transformers for pretty much the same reason. That was fun.
Thanks for your comments ! I believe that after a family uses RamJack, if any non anticipated additional settling occurs that they will come back and redo or repair for a period of time afterward.
My friends who had their foundation and garage slab repaired have had absolutely no problems since.
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