Common Foundation Repair Terms

Active Zone - The depth of which seasonal rains penetrate the soil.

Adequate Watering - Sufficient watering to prevent soils shrinkage around your foundation.

Allowable Load - Weight / load transferred to each individual peer, measured by pressure per square inch or PSI.

Backfill - The soil that is used to backfill tunnels and holes, typically the same soil that was used to excavate.

Bedrock – Solid rock that lies beneath lose layers of soil.

Call before you dig “811” – A city program where the city notifies all utilities in your area to mark and/or flag the utilities on your property.

Clay - Soil that has extremely fine particles allowing it to retain water for extended periods of time. It has the capacity for extreme volume.

Crawl Space - A space between the structural floor and underlying soil.

Elevations- In foundation repair, elevations are taken by a tool called a zip or laser level.

Expansive Soil – Soil that expands when water is added and shrinks when it dries.

Fill - Soil added to provide a level construction surface or desired grade.

Footing - Concrete that distributes the foundation load over an area thus providing increased support.

Foundation - The part of the structure between the home and ground.

French drain - A drainage system to move water from one location to another.

Jacks - A device that imposes force between the pier and foundation.

Mark Utilities – Call before you dig “811” - A city program where the city notifies all utilities in your area to mark and/or flag the utilities on your property.

Pier & Beam – A pier foundation system of girders (beams), piers, and footings used in construction to elevate the structure above the ground. The piers serve as columns for the structure.

Resistance – The point at which a pier reaches an impenetrable bottom such as rock.

Settlement - The drop of a foundation lower than its original grade.

Sewer Line - A sanitary pipe system that is made of cast iron, clay, orangeburg or plastic that transport raw sewage.

Slab – A concrete foundation that is supported by surface soil.

Spread footings - Two components, steel-reinforced concrete pad large enough to adequately distribute the foundation load and a steel-reinforced pier tied into the footing with steel and concrete.

Steel Piers – A system of steel pipes that support a slab foundation. The steel piers transfer foundation and building loads to a subsurface layer of bedrock.

Upheaval – The act of expansive soil pushing a foundation upwards from its original position.

Utilities - Electricity, gas, water, and sewer.

Water table - The upper surface of water saturation in soil.

Water Line - A Water Line is a system of pipes that supply pressurized, clean water to a home or building.

Wood replacement - In any pier and beam foundation, it is sometimes necessary to replace wood situated underneath the floor. Floor joists, beams, or sill plates