COMMON SENSE AND LOGIC GO FAR

RECENTLY, WE HAD A CHANCE TO WORK FOR A DOCTOR. AFTER UNCOVERING POOR SOIL CONDITIONS AND PLASTIC CLAY SOIL AROUND AND UNDER HIS FOUNDATION AND FOOTING--NUMEROUS CRACKS , (SOME COVERED BY EPOXY APPLIED AS A COVER, NOT A CURE) IT BECAME A MAJOR DILEMMA, COSTS WERE DISCUSSED TO FIX THE PROBLEM AND THEY WERE EXTENSIVE. THE DOCTOR PONDERED WHAT DIRECTION HE SHOULD TAKE.. HIS FIRST THOUGHTS DIRECTED HIM TO THE BUILDING INSPECTOR WHO HAD LOOKED OVER THE HOME ROUGHLY 10 MONTHS AGO WHEN HE PURCHASED THE DWELLING.. BLAME HAD TO BE ASSESSED...COSTS RECOVERED.

THE BUILDING INSPECTOR WAS QUICK TO POINT THE FINGER AWAY FROM HIM AND KINDLY BROUGHT AN ENGINEER FROM HIS OFFICE TO BACK HIM UP.

CAN ANYONE READING THIS FIND THEIR EXPLANATION  HARD TO BELIEVE...WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO SAY?? WE SCREWED UP? I ONLY BRIEFLY LOOKED AROUND THE HOME BECAUSE LIFE HAD MORE STUFF FOR ME TO DO? I REALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT A PROFESSIONAL EPOXY JOB SHOULD LOOK LIKE? TAKE ACCOUNTABILITY AND OPEN UP THEIR CHECKBOOK? TODAY? IN OUR WORLD OF "IT'S NOT MY FAULT"

THE RESPONSE WAS PREDICTABLE.

THE NEXT FINGER POINTED AT US. WE WERE ACCUSED OF ADVISING UNNECESSARY WORK. WHY WOULD ANYONE IN OUR BUSINESS KNOW WHAT A 3/8  INCH WIDE CRACK MEANS? NOT TO MENTION MORE THAN ONE ON THE SAME WALL. DENIAL IS THE FIRST AND OBVIOUS PHASE AFTER BEING MISLED. REALIZING YOU TRUSTED THE WRONG PEOPLE AND GOT TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF IS TOUGH.,AFTER ALL, OPINIONS ARE SLANTED TO WHATEVER WILL HELP THE PERSON FIND SOME EASY RESOLUTION., IT WAS THE "EASY" THAT GOT THEM INTO THE PROBLEM IN THE FIRST PLACE.

THE DOCTOR TRUSTED THE SYSTEM OF HOME BUYING TO TAKE CARE OF HIM...IT FAILED. WE SEE THIS EVERY YEAR. A REAL ESTATE BUSINESS IS INTERESTED IN SELLING THEIR ONE AND ONLY PRODUCT, THEY WANT TO SELL YOU THAT HOME. DOES IT SOUND LOGICAL THAT THEY WOULD POINT OUT DEFECTS THAT THEY KNOW VERY LITTLE ABOUT? IT CAN HARDLY BE DEBATED THAT IF YOU NOTICED A LARGE CRACK IN YOUR FOUNDATION, OR WORSE YET SEVERAL LARGE CRACKS IN THE FOUNDATION, YOU WOULD BE EXCITED TO DROP HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS FOR THAT HOME. FACT IS MOST PEOPLE WOULD PASS AND LOOK FOR A CRACK FREE FOUNDATION.-HARD TO BELIEVE RIGHT? 

SO WHO IS TO BLAME?

 IF YOU LOOK HARD ENOUGH FOR A REASON TO BLOCK OUT LOGIC YOU WILL CERTAINLY FIND IT ALL OVER TODAY. OUR WORLD IS PUSHING CHEAPER AND EASIER. THAT MIGHT WORK FOR A TOASTER OVEN OR BATHROOM CLEANER,. HOWEVER.. YOUR  FOUNDATION IS A MAJOR PART OF THE HOUSE YOU LIVE IN, DON'T LET VALUE BE DEPLETED FROM YOUR INVESTMENT. CHEAP AND EASY WILL NEVER WORK IN CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION. CONDITIONS ARE EITHER CORRECT WHEN CONCRETE IS PLACED OR THE CONCRETE FAILS.-NO SECOND CHANCES TO GET IT RIGHT.

EPOXY PATCHING

 IF YOU SEE EPOXY ON WALLS OR FLOORS IN A HOME NEVER ASSUME THE PROBLEM WAS CORRECTED. MOST OFTEN IT WAS "CONTAINED" IF THE COMPANY DID NOT REMOVE THE WATER AND HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE FROM BEHIND THE FOUNDATION WALL ALL THEY DID WAS BAND-AID YOUR LEAKY CRACK. THE REAL PROBLEM IS THE WATER, AND IT IS NOW LOOKING FOR ANOTHER WAY IN. EPOXY ADDED TO A LEAKY CRACK IS A MINOR EXPENSE, THAT IS WHY IT IS PUSHED AS A PANACEA FOR FOUNDATIONS- WHEN THAT WATER PRESSURE BUILDS UP ENOUGH PRESSURE, THE WALL WILL FAIL EITHER COLLAPSING OR LEANING IN. BOTH ARE MAJOR EXPENSES AND COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED BY THE WARNING SIGNS OF WATER COMING THRU A CRACK.

ALWAYS CONSULT A PROFESSIONAL CRAFTSMAN WHO ACTUALLY COMPLETES THE WORK, AND CHECK THEM OUT EXTENSIVELY BEFORE YOU HIRE THEM. IF THEY HAVE NOT EXPLAINED THE "WHY" OF THE PROBLEM, THEY MORE THAN LIKELY DO NOT KNOW EITHER. NOT ALL OF US ARE EQUAL.. A DILETTANTE WHO STUDIED ABOUT IT IN SCHOOL AND NEVER SET A WALL OR POURED/REPAIRED A FOUNDATION WILL NOT HAVE THE REAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROBLEM.. EXPERIENCE WILL ALWAYS PREVAIL OVER THEORY-..OUR OPINION...

EVERYDAY IN OUR CITY THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE IN THE TRADES, AND SOME PROFESSIONAL DEGREES THAT SIMPLY CANNOT OR WILL NOT EMPLOY COMMON SENSE AND LOGIC.. IF YOU LEARN IT WRONG YOU ONLY KNOW WHAT YOU WERE TAUGHT OR TOLD. OUR NEXT SECTION SHOWS A SAMPLING OF WHAT IS OUT WORKING IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD..

CONSIDER THIS, OUR COMPANY GETS ROUGHLY 50 TO 80 CALLS PER WEEK. DOES THAT SOUND LIKE BUSINESS IN CONCRETE PRODUCES QUALITY PRODUCTS THAT LAST FOR 30 PLUS YEARS? 80 % OF OUR WORK IS FIXING FAILURES OF OTHER CONTRACTORS.  WE ARE A VIRTUAL GATEWAY TO OVER 500  FAILURES DURING ONE SEASON CONCERNING FOUNDATIONS OR FLATWORK IN THE WEST AND SOUTH COUNTIES OF ST LOUIS.. WE MIGHT SEE AND DIAGNOSIS MORE PROBLEMS IN ONE SEASON THEN MOST COMPANIES SEE IN YEARS. PEOPLE FIND US BECAUSE THEY WANT ANSWERS. WE ARE THE COMMON SENSE AND LOGIC YOU NEED..

DON'T BELIEVE ME? ASK TO SEE THE HUNDREDS OF PICTURES WE TAKE EVERY YEAR. 

IT SHOULD BE NOTED, OUR STATE DOES NOT TEST/REGULATE CONTRACTORS DOING CONCRETE. PERHAPS THE APTITUDE TEST WOULD DEPLETE THE WORK FORCE? WE ONLY KNOW IT GOES ON UNCHECKED AND STUPID IS CONTAGIOUS...EVERYDAY SOME COMPANY SLAPS ON A DECAL TO THE TRUCK AND POURS DRIVEWAYS ON MUD OR WATERLOGGED SUBBASE, DOES NOT ADD REINFORCEMENT , PLACES THE CONCRETE EXTREMELY WET, FOOTINGS ON PLASTIC CLAY ETC..ETC. WE CAN GUARANTEE YOU HAVE ONE CLOSE BY.