Foundation issues are expensive and nerve-wracking.
You can live in a house that is undergoing foundation repair. Since most of the work is being done outside, living inside is not be a problem. The consensus among foundation repair firms is that leaving the house is applicable in about 5 percent of cases. In many cases, the insurance company wants residents out of the house. If the foundation is very badly damaged, more intense structural rebuilding might occur. In that case, the house must be vacated. Does this Spark an idea?
Digging
Foundation repair usually consists of several elements. The first is digging under the foundation. This is done exclusively outside the house. In some cases, the dust and noise may be too much for occupants, but only during the day when most people in the house are gone. If there are small children, sick or elderly living in the house, the noise and dust might be irritating.
Stabilization
Jacking up the foundation is the second element in foundation repair. If part of the house is sagging, that part will be jacked up from under the exposed foundation. Since the different jacks currently in use are designed to support and lift tons of weight, it should make no difference if people are living in the house. A specific room or rooms on the sagging side may have to be temporarily evacuated. Under normal circumstances, this might be a few days.
Shifting
When jacking up the side of a house, most conditions do not necessitate a temporary evacuation. Furniture and heavy items that might shift during lifting should be placed elsewhere. No work or motion occurs occurring during nonwork hours.
Lifting
The final element in foundation repair is lifting the house back into a level position. This often necessitates the use of motorized stabilizers going deep into the earth seeking hard, packed soil or bedrock. Even here, there seems to be no reason to evacuate the home. The weight this equipment is designed to move does not affect anyone in the house at the time. It might be strange to feel your house moving upwards, but there is nothing dangerous or inconvenient about it. However, your home insurance firm might want you to leave during these more technical parts of the foundation repair, lifting and leveling.
Tags: foundation repair, element foundation, element foundation repair, foundation repair lifting, living house, repair lifting