Job review from Mike in Hillsboro, OR 97123 on 12/10/14

Our home is on a slope in the woods, and over time we noted significant signs of settlement - cracks in drywall and ceiling, the deck sinking, settlement of walkways and front step, cracks in foundation. Josh from TerraFirma came out and did a very thorough (at no cost to us) evaluation of the property, identifying the issues relating to the soil and location, and probably how the site was prepped originally, as well as problems related to water drainage down our driveway and dumping into the soil next to the foundation. He recommended placing push-piers to support and lift the foundation along 3 sides of the house, and adjustable jacks in certain areas of the crawlspace to lift some of the floors that were sagging. He also recommended having trench drains placed across the driveway in two places to eliminate the water draining down to the house (to be performed by different contractor). The sunken slabs/steps/sidewalks would be addressed by polyurethane foam injection under the slabs (subcontractor to TerraFirma). We also decided to have our crawlspace encapsulated at the same time. This was actually our idea to ask about that. Josh was very professional and answered all questions, and at no time did he come across as high pressure or with a sales pitch. He simply presented us with possible solutions to the problems.

In early November, the work began, taking about 2 weeks. Drew, the installation foreman, and his crew were great. Very cheerful, professional and courteous, and hardworking, despite having to work in absolutely miserable conditions of cold and rain. Drew was always available to answer my questions and address any concerns, and went the extra mile to do little things to tie up loose ends in the project rather than leaving things for us to have to deal with afterward.

There was a problem early on when cracks developed in the foundation where at least half the piers were placed, owing to there not having been any rebar reinforcement of the foundation (rebar not required code until after about '98) when it had been poured. Drew indicated that this was not uncommon and that the piers would still do the job. However, many of the cracks were along one edge of the brackets or next to them, where shear along the cracks might be expected during lifting or support. There was also one pier that was very tilted/angled where it contacted the foundation, that mechanically appeared unsound in that position. I called for a time-out and contacted the engineer, Rob, and he and the production manager Keith came out to assess the situation. This resulted in Rob revising the plans to include some additional piers and bolting steel plates on either side of a number of the cracks that were in question, to mitigate the problem, before the foundation was lifted. So they were very responsive to the concerns I raised, and did what was necessary to address the issues. And I should also point out that we were NOT charged anything extra for the additional work performed - only the amount agreed upon in the original contract. There is a small part of me that wonders to what degree the cracks, etc would have been addressed had I not brought up the issue, but I'd like to give TerraFirma and the engineering company the benefit of the doubt and assume that the outcome would be the same (i.e., that the cracks would have been plated, etc). I was slightly disappointed that the cracks in the drywall and ceiling didn't seem to improve much or at all after the foundation was leveled, and I still have some minor concerns about support along one corner, but overall we're very pleased with the job. Drew grouted all the cracks, and repaired all the storm drain pipes, even including a pipe for the irrigation system that I had assumed I would have to fix myself. Another feature to point out that helped make our decision to forge ahead with the project was the 75 year transferable warranty, and the fact that anytime within the first 5 years, you can have TerraFirma come back out to reassess the leveling at no charge.

Another bright point was the concrete leveling job performed by Geoff - he and his asst were very accommodating in scheduling, and did a great job of lifting and leveling the sidewalks, slabs and step.

TerraFirma really does seem to be perfectly suited to doing this sort of work on residential homes with difficult/limited access to the foundation, and we certainly would recommend them to anyone with foundation issues. Next summer, we plan on replacing our old deck, which continues and will continue to sink for all the same reasons that the foundation had been sinking. But this time we will support the deck with helical piers, and we are planning to have TerraFirma place the piers.