Foundation Repair Case Studies: A Floor Stabilized in Wilmington, NC

Wednesday, March 28th, 2018 by Mary White

Challenge

Marjorie, of Wilmington, NC, sought help after she noticed a problem in her home. One evening while in her master bedroom, she noticed a crack along the wall. Though she hadn’t noticed much variation in the floor, she knew the implications of cracking with settlement and foundation issues. She called Southeast Foundation and Crawl Space Repair to request an estimate on her property, and a closer look at the problem.

On the day of the appointment, Southeast Foundation & Crawl Space Repair owner Christopher Reeves arrived to perform the inspection. After evaluating the home’s crawl space and structural integrity, Chris found that several floor joists underneath the home needed additional support. Because sagging had caused some movement in these joists, this allowed the wall to shift just enough to cause cracking inside the home. Chris noted that stabilization by Smart Jacks would provide the correction needed to remedy the cracking in Marjorie’s master bedroom.

Solution

Southeastn Foundation & Crawl Space Repair crew arrived to begin the project. First they identified the location where the Smart Jacks would be installed. They began by digging to prepare for the rock footers which would support each jack. Next, they installed 2 Smart Jacks in the crawl space of Marjorie’s home underneath the joists that spanned across the length of the home’s master bedroom.

Our Smart Jacks from Supportworks stabilize and lift existing beams and floor joists in a home’s crawl space. Every Smart Jack provides a solid base of galvanized, engineered steel which addresses the issue of instability, while heavy-duty threaded rods allow for annual adjustment as well as a custom fit for any area of a crawl space to add support where needed.

The jacks in Marjorie’s home were placed under 16 feet of steel beam, which was spanned across the joists to offer broad stability throughout. Team Southeast knew that for Marjorie’s home, Smart Jacks would create the appropriate stabilization and level the girders and floor joists in the crawl space to correct the cracking she was experiencing.

Finally, we inspected the remainder of the workspace to ensure that the job was completed correctly. This combination of products and solutions helped to secure Marjorie's flooring and prevent future issues in that section of her home. She was pleased to know that her settling had been eliminated and was thankful to Southeast Foundation and Crawl Space Repair for their help.