Concrete underpinning
Concrete underpinning failed to stabilize this house. Eventually, the homeowner had to invest in a different, more permanent solution for their home’s foundation.
To install concrete underpinning, the soils must be excavated from around the foundation. Larger concrete footings are poured beneath the existing footings. Once the concrete has cured, the soil is backfilled.
When it comes to foundation footings, “bigger” is not necessarily “better.” Most of the time, the underpinning will not extend beyond the problem soils under your home. If this is true, the larger footings you just paid for will continue to move and cause damage to your foundation.
Concrete shrinks as it cures and small gaps can form between the new and old footings. Open gaps beneath a home are never a good thing!
When concrete underpinning is installed and fails to solve the problem, it is much more expensive to repair. Before installing a new foundation system, all that added concrete will need to be removed first.