Your Basement is WET even
when it's not Raining
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Fixing a wet basement is not a do-it-yourself project. It takes hard work, and a lot of specialized knowledge, skill, and equipment. Find out what is causing your basement water problems by having a certified waterproofing and structural repair contractor give you a free inspection and estimate.

All Dry uses the only channel system that's designed to drain water away with elongation, we own the patent. Our sealed system covers wall drainage, floor, and floor cracks, Moisture removal. Removing musty smells and mold from home.

All-Dry Basement Systems is a pressure relief water control system. This system was designed to bring basement water control into the twentieth century and on into the twenty-first century. The criteria in designing was:

1. Make a reliable system. After thousands of installations over the years, we feel that this has been achieved. In fact, we feel so strongly about it that we offer a lifetime limited warranty on our installation.

2. The installation has to be done without disrupting the whole household for a week. This has been accomplished. Installation of this system requires approximately four feet of working space along the wall of the basement and can usually be completely installed in one day in an average house.

3. Appearance: The system had to be compatible with a wide range of decors. This was accomplished; after the system has been decorated it appears to be custom baseboard.

Our system has many other advantages: no digging is required, no jackhammering is needed and the entire installation can usually be completed in one day. This minimizes the disruption of the household

Structural and wall repairs are sometimes needed.  The settling of outside soil increases pressure exterior walls causing them to crack and move inward. Carbon Fiber Grid Mesh is a revolutionary state-of-the-art technology that has many design, cost and long-term benefits.

FOUNDATION REPAIR

If you are considering some type of foundation repair, you are going to have to deal with people who will try to sell you their method of foundation repair instead of providing a broad base of information and then allowing you to decide which system is right for you and your foundation. Since they tend to not make that information available to the public, we will do it for them. First, let's get some misconceptions out of the way.

• Foundation Repair Misconception #1 – All foundation piering systems are the same in terms of performance, and all you need is a good company and a good price. NO - While all foundation piering systems intend to mechanically stabilize or lift your house back to level, there are significant differences in their methods. Some methods work far better and are more reliable in our area of the country.
• Foundation Repair Misconception #2 – A crack in the foundation or basement wall means you need piering work. NOT NECESSARILY —Just because it cracked doesn't mean that settling has occurred. We require 3 forms of conformation that settling has occurred. Visible damage on the outside of the foundation. Visible damage on the inside of the house, such as cracks in sheet rock, sticking doors, etc.,and measureable changes in the elevation of the footing. We use very sensitive and sophisticated equipment to determine the location of breaks and extent of settling. We think this makes good sense.
• Foundation Repair Misconception #3 – An Engineer putting his seal on a piering system means its the best. NO - it means that it meets basic minimum standards of performance. Tested safety load factor is the magic number when comparing one system to another. The higher the number, the better the pier can withstand the weight of the house sitting on top of it, especially if the pier is not installed perfectly straight, and most aren't.
• Foundation Repair Misconception #4 – steel piers that are not galvanized will rust away and the pier will fail. BALONEY —take a hot dipped galvanized pipe and push it into the ground with 35,000 lbs. of hydraulic pressure, and the soil can peel the galvanized coating off like peeling a potato with a potato peeler. Some piers are made out of aluminized steel in an attempt to prevent corrosion and save money, but aluminized steel is designed to bend. That's why they make muffler pipe out of it. Typically, they fill it with concrete to increase its strength, but it still is not very good engineering. High strength steel is the way to go, but it is expensive.

Signs Your Home Foundation May Need Repair

Foundation repair is a necessary home improvement project for any homeowner experiencing certain problems. The type of foundation repair needed will be determined by the specific cause of the foundation problems. Here are some of the problems that would indicate that your home foundation needs repair.

Cracked Block Foundation: You may see signs of lateral (sideways) pressure on your basement walls. Stairstep and horizontal cracks in the mortar joints can be a sign of serious movement in the walls.

Cracks in Poured Concrete: This normally occurs during the curing process of concrete, and is a simple repair. However, it may also be a sign of ground settlement when combined with other signs such as windows or doors sticking.

Cracks in Brick Facing: Cracks in the brick facing on the inside or outside of your home can indicate that your foundation has moved. If you notice these cracks, a foundation repair professional should be contacted. Avoid cosmetic repairs of the brick facing prior to determining the cause of cracking.

Chimney Cracking or Leaning: Chimney's are often built on their own foundation footer. Cracking and leaning are signs of movement in this chimney footer, and this should be examined by a foundation professional.

Drywall Cracks: A shifting foundation will cause other damage on the inside of the house. Drywall cracks around door frames and windows are some of the commonest signs.

Sinking Foundation: The separation of the foundation from your house is a sign of serious ground settlement problems. This problem must be corrected quickly.

Uneven Doors or Windows: Gaps between doors and framing are signs of movement in the home. When your foundation has shifted, other areas of the home, such as the doors and windows, will show the effects.

The recommended first step when you notice any of these problems is to have us inspect your home and foundation. Obtaining a professional opinion on the causes, costs and available solutions is a necessary step in securing your foundation walls. 

There are 2 fundamental designs in foundation piering systems.

The first is called "Eccentrically Loaded" . Eccentrically loaded piers are attached to the outer edge of the footing with a large bracket, and the bracket is used as resistance to push the pier into the ground. This causes off-set loads on the pier, because it is not directly under the wall being lifted, and this is not good engineering. However, it is easy to install and the contractor saves labor costs.

The second is called "Concentrically Loaded" . Concentrically loaded piers are installed directly under the wall being lifted and use the foundation as resistance to push the pier into the ground. It requires a lot more digging, but it just makes sense to do it this way because there are no off-set loads created.

There are 5 types of foundation piering systems .

The first is the old concrete shoring pad. The process of digging beneath the footing of your house and pouring a bigger footing under the one you have is old technology and if someone tries to sell you a concrete shoring pad, please ask them to leave.

The second is the pushed concrete piling. They are 6” in diameter and 12” long. They are concentrically loaded, which is good, and they work well in sandy soils, but they are too large in diameter to go deep enough to be effective in clay soils. So they go to what they call the “point of refusal”. This is not bedrock. This is the point at which additional pressure from the ram will push the ram backwards up through the footing, causing more damage. If someone uses the term “point of refusal”, you do not want to own his pier unless bedrock is within 6 or 8 feet of the surface.

The third is the helical. Helicals have always been used to anchor down guys on telephone poles and to tie mobile homes to the ground to prevent the wind from blowing them over, but recently some one got the bright idea to hold a house up with them. They are screwed in at an angle ,they don't work very well, and they break easily, but they are ”new and shiny” in the marketplace.

The biggest failing of these 3 types of piers is their inability to go deep enough to reach bedrock or stable strata. Stable Strata in our area of the country is 30-40 feet or more. For this reason, shoring pads, pushed concrete pilings, and helicals, should be regarded only as a temporary support system to be dealt with again later.

The fourth type of pier is the 3” off-set steel pipe pushed pier. It is attached to the outer edge of the footing with a bracket, making it an Eccentrically loaded pier. The good thing about this pier is you can push it all the way to stable strata. The bad thing is the built in off-set load factor. In an attempt to reduce the off-set load, many contractors chop a big section out of the footing to get the bracket closer to the wall. This practice is widespread in the industry, but cannot be considered wise. Even with high strength steel, the tested and published safety load factor is still only 2 to 1. But it is cheap to install so the contractor makes more profit.

The last type of pier is the Stabil-Loc Foundation Piering System. Its patent pending load bearing design installs directly under the wall being lifted. Its unique interlocking high strength steel construction can support up to 300,000 lbs. There are no bolts, no brackets, no breaking the footing, and no off-set loads. Our pier carries an Engineer Certified safety factor of more than 10 to 1. We can push this pier to China if we need to, to get to bedrock, and we can lift Ft. Knox with it and hold it up forever. This is good engineering and we think you'll agree that it just makes sense.

Residential Engineering Services of Lee's Summit, Missouri has reviewed the lab test results for the steel Stabil-Loc Foundation Piering Systems™ pier for use in residential/light commercial projects. The Stabil-Loc pier system has been tested by Alpha Testing Services in Dallas, Texas. Details of the results of the pier review can be found here.

If you would like a no nonsense, no pressure, no cost inspection and evaluation of your foundation, just leave us a message. You wont get a fancy salesman, just the owner of the company.