Photo Album: Basement Floor is Hollow and Cracking Because of Foundation Issues, Wilmington, MA

This homeowner in Wilmington, Massachusetts, has lived in their home for 4 years and over that time they have seen cracks form in the floor in their basement. The cracks have gotten larger and the floor has an echo that is indicating that it is hollow. The homeowner has considered selling the home but realized the damage could be a sticking point in getting the number they wanted. So instead of selling immediately, the homeowners decided to contact EFS for a free inspection of their home. Our Design Specialist Mark Proctor met with the homeowner and was shown the areas of concern around the home. Mark thoroughly inspected the foundation and basement of the home to gain as much knowledge about what was happening with the home as possible. At the conclusion of Mark's inspection, he concluded that the home had settled and was still actively doing so. The settlement has caused cracks in the basement and has allowed soil to escape from under the floors making the hollow. The solution that EFS recommended was to install Helical Piers around the corner of the home where the settlement had occurred and then use PolyLevel to fill the void under the floors in the basement to eliminate the hollow floors.  Our Installation Team led by Neal Foley arrived at the home and walked the property. When they found the area where they were installing the Helical Piers they had to remove a couple of obstructions that were approved by the homeowners. The team had to take out a lilac plant and concrete steps that were within the work area. After the obstructions were removed the team then began exposing the foundation of the home so we could begin to install the Helical Piers. The team marked where each of the 8 Helical Piers would be installed on the foundation wall and then the team began installing the piers by using our hydraulic drivehead attached to our excavator. The drivehead has a PSI gauge that will tell us how much force was needed to turn our Helical Piers. When that gauge reached a predetermined pressure that was given by our load calculator we would stop and attach our pier bracket to the foundation of the home. Once all of the piers were pressurized and secured to the foundation the team then backfilled over the piers with dirt. Next, the team went inside the basement and drilled small holes in the basement slab and then injected PolyLevel beneath the slab to fill the void to eliminate the hollow area under the slab. After the void was filled the team used universal concrete to cover the small portholes in the slab.  The homeowner was very happy with the results of the project. The home is no longer settling and the void under the slab is no longer there. Now the homeowners can do whatever they please with their home, they can stay and live here or they could sell the home.