Is my foundation in trouble because of too much pressure or is it sagging?

Question

I have a home in Texas. It's on a slab foundation, heavy clay deposits in the area. My drywall is starting to crack, signs of foundation problems. I also have a stuck door.

The door is stuck at the bottom, with a sizeable gap at the top. The drywall that is cracking is separating from the top of the wall, and angling down.

Based on that information, would you suppose my foundation troubles are a result of the ground settling too much? Or is there pressure building underneath my house?

Answer 1

Clay, as you know, owes a large part of its' mass to water. During periods of drought, or simply dry times, these clay deposits are going to lose mass. The result, if this clay is under your slab, might be differential settling of your slab and/or footings. Here in Florida we have a similar problem when the aquifer lowers and the pourous, formerly hydrated material collapses on itself and creates a "sinkhole".

There is a technique that will elevate your slab to its former condition, in spite of unstable conditions below. Pressure-Grouting is a system of jetting a concrete slurry along the peremeter of the footing until iit fills up the voids created by loose or dehydrated soil, then surges back up to the top under pressure, elevating the slab in the process. This is often used in Florida for homes built over muck. Here is a Texas-based company that specializes in foundation repair, including pressure-grouting:

http://www.dallasfoundationrepairs.com/index.html



Good luck. Hope this information helps.

Answer 2

Ground settling. Call a foundation repair company. We use several here in the Dallas area. Get several bids. Good luck...