sinking slab- S Florida home
sinking slab- S Florida home
(OP)
realtor got a 30,000$ estimate to shore up an approximate 10" round portion of slab that has sunk very slowly over the course of 23 yrs. Now there is a slant in the room and a portion of wall has separated from a vaulted ceiling as well as a gashing in the upper part of same ceiling. Can this be repaired insofar as the sinking will not start up again? Is it really that costly? Cosmetically, it is not that big a deal, unless it continues. Is this house worth buying at a greatly reduced price or will the problem always exist? Thanks in advance.






RE: sinking slab- S Florida home
Before you do any repair work, please hire a competent structural engineer to evaluate the settlement and its causes. This is a serious issue in my opinion; to simply rely on contractors to solve your problem may not be your best choice. The engineer may retain a geotechnical engineer to take boring samples of the soil layer beneath your slab/house. Ground penetrating radar may be useful in finding out if any voids exist under the slab.
Once the source or reason for settling is discovered, corrective action can be developed by your engineer. There are many techniques available to stop the settlement and to control/prevent future settlement. Some of these techniques are:
1. Use of needle type piles
2. Under pinning using helical type anchors
3. Injecting cement/rout under the slab
4. Injecting urethane type material that will expand, fill voids and expel any present water from the voids under the slab (one commercially available material that I used in the past to correct apron to Navy hangar is URETEK; this is a link to their web site http://www.uretekusa.com/).
As far as the expense, it all depends on the corrective measure to be implemented and the size of the project and types of equipment to be used. Once a plan of action is drawn, I recommend that you compete the construction portion between three to four qualified and experienced contractors.
RE: sinking slab- S Florida home
I suggest that you search Eng-Tips using the key words: subsidence, sinkhole, sink hole, attorney, insurance. There are a number of good threads on this issue - you should read them before you buy this property.
I'm not licensed to practice engineering in Florida. But I know enough to know that sinkholes can develop slowly, then "grow" quickly. Don't let the 23 years of slow settlement fool you...
Keep in mind that your insurance policy - if this property is even insurable - may exclude coverage for this problem. That is a big deal.
RE: sinking slab- S Florida home
You may not be able to completely level the room, only stablize it (due to wall cracking , ect). After you stablize the structure, try fiberglass tape to repair the plaster.
Goodluck
RE: sinking slab- S Florida home