The Situation
This house in Euless, TX had a slab foundation and a rotted sewer line (pictured above). Because the home was built in the 60’s, the sewer line had rotted and small cracks in the pipes allowed a slow leak, which eventually caused the clay soil to reach its liquid limit (which is technical jargon for becoming mud and losing its strength).
Analysis
We noticed tile cracks and interior drywall cracks when we inspected the home.
As you can see from the picture, the reduced bearing capacity of the soil caused that area of the home to settle and elevations dropped by 1.5” in about 25 feet of wall length. Usually, foundations built with a maximum of 0.5” slope in 20 feet.
Plumbing is a major cause of foundation movement. Settlement, heave, erosion and other detrimental activities occur when soils become wet.
Solution
We recommended a foundation repair consisting of installing pilings. After installed, the foundation was able to recover its elevation in that area. To avoid this problem, always have a plumbing test performed on a structure’s sewer line before purchasing it. A $300 plumbing test and an engineering report can save you thousands of dollars.
