Foundation Repair Concrete Repairman® We Fix It Right™
Licensed, Bonded and Insured Commercial & Residential Foundation Repair Contractors - ROC# 300512 CR-9
Foundation Repair Concrete Repairman® We Fix It Right™
Licensed, Bonded and Insured Commercial & Residential Foundation Repair Contractors - ROC# 300512 CR-9
Which Way Is It Moving?
Guidelines for Diagnosing Heave, Subsidence and Settlement
Ron Kelm, P.E. | Nicole Wylie, P.E. | Forensic Engineers Inc. | Houston TX | www.forensicengineersinc.com
Only experienced forensic engineers that carry out Level C investigations have a reasonable chance to properly diagnose the movement type. We find others who perform Level A or B investigations tend to misdiagnose the type of movement.
In accordance with Section 3.3 of the Foundation Performance Association’s Document No. FPA-SC-13-0, Guidelines for the Evaluation of Foundation Movement for Residential and Other Low-Rise Buildings, published 15 Jul 07 at: , a Level C investigation includes, but is not limited to the following steps:
If the client requests a report, it should contain the following as a minimum:
A single site visit provides only a snapshot of the foundation’s condition. Only by making more than one site visit to document distress and foundation elevation changes can an engineer determine whether a foundation continues to move. If monitoring is pursued it should follow the procedures outlined in the Foundation Performance Association’s Document No. FPA-SC-12-0, Guidelines for Evaluating Foundation Performance by Monitoring, published 9 Jan 06 at: http://www.foundationperformance.org/.
By correlating time-change elevations with events such as climate, change in drainage patterns, distress observations, etc., it is possible to correctly ascertain the direction of movement even when an interior datum is used. When an external deep benchmark is available, it becomes easier to determine the direction of movement. Monitoring is also used to determine when heave has ended so that repairs to the superstructure can be made.