Homeowners

Are you seeing or experiencing these damaging effects of foundation settlement?

Cracks in foundation walls?
Doors and Windows sticking, jammed, and/or unusable?
Cracks in exterior walls?
Cracks in interior walls and ceilings, especially at the corners above door
and window openings, or in corners of a room or along the edges of the ceiling?
Foundation/Basement/Retaining walls that are cracked and/or bowed?
Sunken or buckled/cracked concrete floors?
Decks sagging or collapsing due to inadequate piers?
Chimney settling and falling away from the house?

Sinking foundations, cracked and buckled walls and uneven floors are problems commonly faced by homeowners. A shifting foundation may result in structural damage to your home and a loss in value to your investment.

Considering Remodeling? You should consider the condition of your foundation in your plans.

Homeowners often aren't aware of any damage to the foundation or substructure until after they have uncovered walls or floor joists. Damage can be caused by a variety of conditions including improper selection, placement, consolidation and compaction of fill soils under the foundation. It is most commonly caused by uncontrolled surface water run-off, improper or non-existent drainage, poor crawlspace ventilation, and soils-to-wood contact.

All of our products and methods are time proven, technologically sound, and versatile. We offer services and products that meet the needs of the situation, taking into account engineering, soils, building codes, and budgets.

We invite you to explore the different options and services that we have to offer and to download our Homeowner's brochure. If you have any questions, or if we can be of any assistance, then please do not hesitate to contact us through our contact page.

For more information on our underpinning methods click here:

The most common method of underpinning is using small diameter, slender shaft piles, common helical screw piers, or pin (pipe) piles. Helical screw piers consist of one or more helical plates welded to a solid steel, square shaft. The piers are screwed into the soils using hand-portable hydraulic equipment, and are installed using extensions in 3' and 5' lengths. Installation torque is continuously monitored and used as a measurement of pier capacity. Depending on the soils and application, helical pier foundation underpinning are installed to have an allowable capacity of 12-20 kips, or 12,000 - 20,000 pounds. T-OZ Construction uses the Chance® Helical Pier Foundation Underpinning System, and all components of the system are hot-dipped galvanized.

Pin piles in a remedial application for residential foundation underpinning are usually 2" diameter, heavy wall, steel pipe, and driven with hand portable, pneumatic pavement breakers (jack hammers) with a weight of at least 90 pounds. Driven to refusal, these piles are considered to have an allowable capacity of 4 kips, and occasionally as high as 6 kips. (One kip is equal to 1,000 pounds.)

Both helical piers and pin piles are highly effective at stabilizing and leveling foundations. Our decision to use one over the other is based on several criteria, including determining which method is the most cost effective for the soils, weight of the structure, and age and quality of the concrete foundation.