Has anyone had any experience with Olshan Foundation Repair? We had them do some work about four years ago and have had nothing but trouble. They have been called back several times to do rework and our house is still settling.
Depends on where your house is, and what the soil is like around your home. I have heard that in most cases if the house is going to resettle, it doesn't matter who piered it, it will resettle.
I have no experience with Olshan, but none of the companies are going to willingly admit that in most cases a house will resettle if the soil is poor and you will need additional piering to offset the original ones. I suggest that if you aren't piering to sell a house that you ignore it until such time...
I suggest you have soil testing done to see if additional piering will solve anything...and have a structural engineer review the piering plots to see if they will just be causing more trouble that will have to be fixed later.
Also, did they not give you a 10 year warranty?
The basic flaw in their system is that in order for the "piering" to work there must be weight to push against such as a house. They are depending on the weight of the house to provide enough resistance to allow them to push the segmented pier head into the ground. My problem has been that the failure is at our garage where there is a relative lack of weight. They recognize this and I suggested they put in additional pier to compensate the lack of weight to push against. I was told I would have to pay extra.
They refuse to do what it takes to make their system work. We did have our engineer look at the situation and he agrees more "piers" should be installed in that location which, as I said, they refuse to do. They also did a lousy job of backfilling the pier holes so we could replant. After they finished each time and after a good rain the ground at the piers sunk leaving a hole messing up our landscaping. They also cut out a section out of our sidewalk which they have not replaced.
When we call to get them to come out we get, "We will have to put you on the wait list as we have to take care of our customers first." Well what am I supposed to be I ask?
Track down Nolan Ryan and punch him in the nose.
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Originally posted by citizen72
The basic flaw in their system is that in order for the "piering" to work there must be weight to push against such as a house. They are depending on the weight of the house to provide enough resistance to allow them to push the segmented pier head into the ground. My problem has been that the failure is at our garage where there is a relative lack of weight. They recognize this and I suggested they put in additional pier to compensate the lack of weight to push against. I was told I would have to pay extra.
They refuse to do what it takes to make their system work. We did have our engineer look at the situation and he agrees more "piers" should be installed in that location which, as I said, they refuse to do. They also did a lousy job of backfilling the pier holes so we could replant. After they finished each time and after a good rain the ground at the piers sunk leaving a hole messing up our landscaping. They also cut out a section out of our sidewalk which they have not replaced.
When we call to get them to come out we get, "We will have to put you on the wait list as we have to take care of our customers first." Well what am I supposed to be I ask?
As a customer who is waiting for repairs to previously installed piers shouldn't you be first on the list?
I would send them a certified letter outlining your complaints for any possible future uses. Keep bothering the hell out of them until agree to do the work. In fact, I'd consider it a part-time job to annoy them until I was helped...
If you don't receive any satisfaction after reasonable attempts to make things happen on your own contact an attorney as this sounds like a possible breach of contract...what they have done doesn't appear to meet typical workmanlike standards if they knew the garage was going to pose a problem and piered anyways, so you may also have a negligence claim...
[Advice is "as-is" and does not create any attorney-client relationship also I may be drunk as I typed [:o)]]
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Originally posted by Conan71
Track down Nolan Ryan and punch him in the nose.
Better talk to Robin Ventura first and see how that worked for him.....heh
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Originally posted by iplaw
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Originally posted by citizen72
The basic flaw in their system is that in order for the "piering" to work there must be weight to push against such as a house. They are depending on the weight of the house to provide enough resistance to allow them to push the segmented pier head into the ground. My problem has been that the failure is at our garage where there is a relative lack of weight. They recognize this and I suggested they put in additional pier to compensate the lack of weight to push against. I was told I would have to pay extra.
They refuse to do what it takes to make their system work. We did have our engineer look at the situation and he agrees more "piers" should be installed in that location which, as I said, they refuse to do. They also did a lousy job of backfilling the pier holes so we could replant. After they finished each time and after a good rain the ground at the piers sunk leaving a hole messing up our landscaping. They also cut out a section out of our sidewalk which they have not replaced.
When we call to get them to come out we get, "We will have to put you on the wait list as we have to take care of our customers first." Well what am I supposed to be I ask?
As a customer who is waiting for repairs to previously installed piers shouldn't you be first on the list?
I would send them a certified letter outlining your complaints for any possible future uses. Keep bothering the hell out of them until agree to do the work. In fact, I'd consider it a part-time job to annoy them until I was helped...
If you don't receive any satisfaction after reasonable attempts to make things happen on your own contact an attorney as this sounds like a possible breach of contract...what they have done doesn't appear to meet typical workmanlike standards if they knew the garage was going to pose a problem and piered anyways, so you may also have a negligence claim...
[Advice is "as-is" and does not create any attorney-client relationship also I may be drunk as I typed [:o)]]
I one hundred percent agree deficient work should be given the highest priority but they definitely don't feel that way. I know that it is just not me they are picking on and with that in mind I am shocked they are not being sued all the time. Incompetent field men and experienced Mexican labor does not a good company make.
In fact the first time they came to do the initial work the men on the job were all Mexicans who did not speak a word of English. That is where the trouble began.
I had them do some piers for me a few years ago , sounds like the same story I had. No back fill in the holes, no english speakers and they screwed up my sidewalk. They told me when they cut up the walkway that they would pound the dirt down real good and cement over it. it consisted of tossing dirt in the area and tamping it down with their foot a couple of times and doing the cement. It looked good until the first or second rain. Now I have 3 cratered spots in the walkway.
The piers seem to be doing o.k. though.
Also, they didn't "lock" the end of the cable like I thought they would. It was just left loose. I don't know it it matters or now since it was shimmed up with steel.
I need more now further up the wall so I'm debating whether to call them or not.
I talked with several outfits the first time around and they are all about the same price.
Hm, I don't have any advice but I'm glad you posted this thread. I've been thinking about having them come out and give me a quote on putting in some piers.
Good luck. Punch Nolan Ryan and the non-english speaking mexicans in the nose.
Doesn't Erling also pitch for this company?
Punch Ehrling too. [B)]
And another thing.....
When they were done, the foreman hands me the invoice and said that if I write on there that they did a good job, it will get he a $50 bonus.
I won't do that again!
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Originally posted by Wingnut
I had them do some piers for me a few years ago , sounds like the same story I had. No back fill in the holes, no english speakers and they screwed up my sidewalk. They told me when they cut up the walkway that they would pound the dirt down real good and cement over it. it consisted of tossing dirt in the area and tamping it down with their foot a couple of times and doing the cement. It looked good until the first or second rain. Now I have 3 cratered spots in the walkway.
The piers seem to be doing o.k. though.
Also, they didn't "lock" the end of the cable like I thought they would. It was just left loose. I don't know it it matters or now since it was shimmed up with steel.
I need more now further up the wall so I'm debating whether to call them or not.
I talked with several outfits the first time around and they are all about the same price.
I am not going to have them back out as I now know it is not going to get better. I have referrals for another company that I will be using to have them correct Olshan's mess.
Just do not understand how they can stay in business with their attitude towards customer satisfaction. Oh well, onward.
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Originally posted by Wingnut
And another thing.....
When they were done, the foreman hands me the invoice and said that if I write on there that they did a good job, it will get he a $50 bonus.
I won't do that again!
A really slick way for them to get you to sign off on there work.
Guarantees on piers to support a 16 inch foundation are worthless as they are not underwritten by an insurance company. The piers would have to be placed not more than 6 feet apart around the complete structure. The depth of the water table and its stability determines how the foundation floats the structure. During the past lowering of the water table many of the foundations poured in the last 25 years failed and cracks in the interior walls appeared. With the increase in the rainfall the water table has stabilized and many of the cracks in the interior walls have closed. The area of the structure in most cases determine whether the foundations floats the structure or fails to support it. More piers would be cheaper than litigation whereas the burden of proof that they did not close the prevailing cracks in the walls (interior and exterior) with piers they installed would fall on the plaintiff . Any recurring cracks would be subject to the determination of whether they were available at the time the piers were put in place. The solution will be in piers poured at the time of the pouring of the foundations.
Yea; I had my house done with piers placed under the foundation to support native stone walls. Had 10 but should have had 25 as if the water table recedes again that part of the foundation not with piers will possible fail. The contract called for closing the cracks in the walls at the time thus further cracks that appear from the lack of piers, is not covered by their warrantee.
I prefer hydraulicly driven steel piers myself...
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Yea; I had my house done with piers placed under the foundation to support native stone walls. Had 10 but should have had 25 as if the water table recedes again that part of the foundation not with piers will possible fail. The contract called for closing the cracks in the walls at the time thus further cracks that appear from the lack of piers, is not covered by their warrantee.
The way I understand it from an architectural engineer friend of mine is that the house basically floats up and down with the soil. When you pier an area, it won't move down with the rest of the foundation. The areas not piered will lower and cause the cracks. Bottom line is if you pier at all, you pretty much have to pier the whole thing or you'll be chasing the cracks around the house.
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Originally posted by Wingnut
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Yea; I had my house done with piers placed under the foundation to support native stone walls. Had 10 but should have had 25 as if the water table recedes again that part of the foundation not with piers will possible fail. The contract called for closing the cracks in the walls at the time thus further cracks that appear from the lack of piers, is not covered by their warrantee.
The way I understand it from an architectural engineer friend of mine is that the house basically floats up and down with the soil. When you pier an area, it won't move down with the rest of the foundation. The areas not piered will lower and cause the cracks. Bottom line is if you pier at all, you pretty much have to pier the whole thing or you'll be chasing the cracks around the house.
Completely agree with your friend. The technical name of what happens is differential settlement where one section settles more than another. In my case I had a very heavy masonry load in the area addressed which was causing, in fact, differential settlement.
My argument is not with chasing cracks around the house. I rather would just want them to accomplish what we paid them to do in the first place. However, I personally do not believe the people I had contact with at Olshan know what to do to get it done. They only know the company way and if they get into trouble with a job they just freeze up. That is why I am going to bring in another company. Enough is enough.
One thing I thought was funny when I was getting quotes from the different outfits was that each one said, of course, they were the best any would try to explain why theirs would hold better than the other guys. Some said that they had to fix the other guys work on some houses. Every outfit had a story.
While I take the magazine with a grain of salt, I wonder what Consumer Reports has to say.
Oldsham also told me that they had a guy that will come out after the piering and fill in the cracks. That never happened.
Sure a heck didn't happen with me either. Lots of talk with very little substance. I should think leaving everything like it was found in terms of sidewalks and landscaping would be very very important. But, with Olshan they seem to not care one bit about the finish part. To me that is the part that will get you bit in the behind and that is not downplaying the need for a good original piering effort.
Since most seem to be unhappy with Oldsham, is there any company that someone is happy with?
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Originally posted by Wingnut
Since most seem to be unhappy with Oldsham, is there any company that someone is happy with?
As I have suggested I am getting ready to go through the selection of a new company. I'll let everyone know as soon as the selection is complete.
I am no engineer or expert in the area of building foundations, but I am of the opinion that piering a home with a concrete slab foundation is a big waste of money. I would only consider this if the home were in danger of becoming uninhabitable, and I would only do this in a last ditch effort to salvage my investment.
Maybe I have just been lucky. I live in a concrete slab foundation home, built in 1954 at 26th & Yale. The home has settled over the past 53 years, with some minor interior wall sheetrock cracks only. I have one crack in a corner bedroom that seems to get just slightly larger in the wintertime, and completely closes in the summertime. It has been that way for each of the 20 years I have owned the house, but none of the cracks have become significantly larger over the past 20 years. I just live with it. Unless the home is in significant danger of safety & structural failure, I say just repair the visible damage cosmetically and live with it.
I think the foundation piering business is mostly a big scam, especially regarding concrete slab homes.
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Originally posted by Steve
I am no engineer or expert in the area of building foundations, but I am of the opinion that piering a home with a concrete slab foundation is a big waste of money. I would only consider this if the home were in danger of becoming uninhabitable, and I would only do this in a last ditch effort to salvage my investment.
Maybe I have just been lucky. I live in a slab-foundation home, built in 1954 at 26th & Yale. The home has settled over the past 53 years, with some minor interior wall cracks only. I have one crack in a corner bedroom that seems to get just slightly larger in the summertime, and completely close in the winter time. It has been that way for each of the 20 years I have owned the house, but none of the cracks have became significantly larger over the past 20 years. I just live with it. Unless the home is in significant danger of structural failure, I say just repair the visible damage cosmetically and live with it.
I think the foundation piering business is mostly a big scam, especially regarding concrete slab homes.
Agreed. The only time I would pier a house is if I was trying to sell it.
With the resources available in the market I would tend to also agree with the piering advisability. However, done properly and using the correct method supporting a structure with piers is one of say three common method for foundation selection.
In my company we use piers anytime soil bearing quality is deficient.
I tend to think that bell and spread footings work better than piers in those situations. Sometimes, no matter how nice the lot is, it's just not reasonable to build a home on it...I have a feeling that builders care little about whether the soil will accomodate the house.
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Originally posted by iplaw
I tend to think that bell and spread footings work better than piers in those situations. Sometimes, no matter how nice the lot is, it's just not reasonable to build a home on it...I have a feeling that builders care little about whether the soil will accomodate the house.
I'm sorry what is a bell footing? I am not familiar with that term. Are you perhaps meaning to say bell pier?
A little update here. The rain stopped and it got hot and the crack in my home that Olshan has tried to repair 3 times with their half baked "Chainlock" system is now worse than ever.
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Originally posted by citizen72
A little update here. The rain stopped and it got hot and the crack in my home that Olshan has tried to repair 3 times with their half baked "Chainlock" system is now worse than ever.
That doesn't surprise me one bit. I don't know the size of the crack or extent of your damage, but if it were me, I would just chalk it all up to experience and stop spending money with these foundation companies (and file a big scathing complaint with the BBB.) I would repair any interior sheetrock and exterior masonry cosmetically, and just live with the situation. You may have to do cosmetic repairs again in the future if you own the home long enough. It is just a fact of life for a homeowner here, given our soil conditions and periods of high moisture and drought.
I don't think Olshan is any worse than the rest of them. My opinion is the entire foundation repair business is mostly a big scam, preying on the fears of homeowners. Fix your home cosmetically, and then keep your yard and the foundation around the home watered at a constant rate, year-round. Use a drip-type hose along the foundation to minimize water use and evaporation loss, and you should only have to use it in hot periods of no rain. The key is to keep the moisture content of the soil around and under your home as constant as possible. Try to avoid extremes of dry & wet, and that should help to minimize any further foundation shifting. It is the best anyone can do here in this part of the country.
Ip this is the second time you have used the term "Bell" is describing a footing. What is that?
Well in trying to get my foundation problem solved I had Olshan back out Friday for just one more try. This was based on my agreement with their trouble shooter.
Now, my garage floor is now cracked, new cracks in the masonry wall. Also to repair the damage done to the wood above the masonry we will have to have our carpenter back out.
Enough is enough.
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Originally posted by citizen72
Now, my garage floor is now cracked, new cracks in the masonry wall. Also to repair the damage done to the wood above the masonry we will have to have our carpenter back out.
Enough is enough.
Sounds like you may have more going on here than just normal settling over the years.
How old is your house? Are your neighbors and others that have homes built by the same builder experiencing similar problems? Perhaps faulty construction on the builder's part is to blame.
Another remote possibility is that your home sits atop an area that is laced with old, abandoned coal mines. Lots of midtown and east Tulsa is built on top of abandoned coal mines, particularly the area of the Tulsa Fairgrounds and points north, east and southeast of the fairgrounds. There may be other areas as well and somewhere in the county land offices should be records/maps of where these old mines are. The original art deco grandstand at the fairgrounds had to be demolished years ago because of extensive damage from coal mine cave-ins.
If your problems are due to poor home construction or old mine collapses, I don't think any amount of foundation piering will help that.
Hey gang, If I was to buy a house in Tulsa would you say a "slab" or a "crawl-space" foundation home is best? Or does it not matter and both have problemos. I have a full basement in my home in Ohio, so I never had a slab or crawl space home.
The foundation type is not as important as being built in an area that has good drainage, such as riverbottom areas. These areas have a high percentage of sand and drain well, so foundations are usually stable.
A clay soil will cause you the most problems, since it doesn't drain well, and tends to expand and contract with the moisture in the ground.
If you purchase a newer home, you will most likely be on a slab. A post-tension slab is the least likely to cause you a problem.
Nick
Does anyone have a good experience with a piering/drilling company? Don't want to use "Old Sham" ... When we moved here 3 years ago it was summer and the entry way floor dropped some, but came back up when the fall rains started. We can live with that but the last couple of summers the floor has not came back all the way. Love the house don't want to move...I read something about "mud" being pumped in under slabs in Texas, anyone doing that here?
I had one generalpoint in posting this whole thing. It is that this particular foundation repair company is treating all foundation situations identical in how they attempt to repair them. Plus the half baked system they are using is ill conceived at best as well as a terrible infringement on the public trust. I do not understand why they have not been sued out of existence.
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Originally posted by citizen72
I do not understand why they have not been sued out of existence.
I have never read a repair contract from any of these foundation companies, but my guess is that their contracts are so chock full of legal mumbo jumbo and ambiguity, that it effectively absolves the company of any liability. The customer thinks they are getting some kind of guarantee, but they are not. What others have told me is the only thing guaranteed is that the piers themselves will not break or fail, but there is no guarantee that the installation of piers will effectively solve any foundation problem. Tulsa World's Action Line did a whole series of articles on the foundation repair business many months ago, and their basic conclusion was that the industry was a rip-off.
I bet the BBB has scads of files and unresolved complaints on all the local foundation repair outfits. I would strongly urge any potential customer to check out the Better Business Bureau records first, before signing any foundation repair contract. Then, at least you can't say that you weren't forewarned.
I seen a HUD home ad in Glenpool for a home that could not be lived in untill the "Piering" was done. I guess the foundation was gone and the home was also full of mold. The price was $59,000 and they were taking bids. The home was built in the 1960's I believe. We don't have much "piering" done in Ohio.[|)]
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Originally posted by citizen72
Has anyone had any experience with Olshan Foundation Repair? We had them do some work about four years ago and have had nothing but trouble. They have been called back several times to do rework and our house is still settling.
WE HAVE GONE THROUGH ARBITRATION WITH OLSHAN FOUNDATION REPAIR. OLSHAN FOUNDATION HAS NOT MADE GOOD ON THE BINDING ARBITRATION AGREEMENT. THEY DO NOT EVEN RESPOND TO DEMAND LETTERS FROM OUR ATTORNEY. WE CALLED THEM OUT FOR 3 CRACKS ON OUR HOUSE AND NOW WE HAVE OVER 43 CRACKS AND OVER 75 SQUARE FEET OF VOID UNDER OUR HOUSE WHERE WATER IS STANDING IN A 15 INCH DEEP TUNNEL UNDER THE SLAB.
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Originally posted by HBRIGNAC
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Originally posted by citizen72
Has anyone had any experience with Olshan Foundation Repair? We had them do some work about four years ago and have had nothing but trouble. They have been called back several times to do rework and our house is still settling.
WE HAVE GONE THROUGH ARBITRATION WITH OLSHAN FOUNDATION REPAIR. OLSHAN FOUNDATION HAS NOT MADE GOOD ON THE BINDING ARBITRATION AGREEMENT. THEY DO NOT EVEN RESPOND TO DEMAND LETTERS FROM OUR ATTORNEY. WE CALLED THEM OUT FOR 3 CRACKS ON OUR HOUSE AND NOW WE HAVE OVER 43 CRACKS AND OVER 75 SQUARE FEET OF VOID UNDER OUR HOUSE WHERE WATER IS STANDING IN A 15 INCH DEEP TUNNEL UNDER THE SLAB.
Inside voice please
Olshan did work on my house and except for the fact that out of 10 member crew and only 2 of them spoke english (1 of them barely) they did more damage than good. They knew they did such a bad job they didn't even ask for payment. It's a good thing, too, since I wouldn't have paid them until I was satisfied, which I am not.
Salesman from the other companies said their system was the only one that worked, but the Olshan salesman had photos of several houses where they failed also.
I'll never waste money on piering again.
Thanks for the testimonials guys. Its refreshing to find I was not alone in having a bad experience with Olshan.
That does not lessen the fact I am sorry y'all had the experience. The sad thing is when we called Olshan in the first place we had a problem that was affecting the most valuable item we own, our residences. Then to have them show up and make the problem worse is beyond acceptability. They need to be put out of business, but the problem is how does one do that.