More often than not, THEY are wrong and quite possibly incompetent.

Are piers or underpinning needed, sometimes?
Of course, but nowhere near as often as many companies/contractors try `n tell you.

And any of these instances where some of this work may be needed ya better waterproof the cracks and/or bowed wall on the OUTSIDE.

LOOK at picture of retaining wall, scroll down to....... HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE.

http://www.ohiominesubsidence.com/Definitions.aspx

If there were BRICKS atop this wall, what most likely would the bricks look like, huh?

....Cracked,separated etc

The remedy would NOT be any helical piers or underpinning as many will bs ya about when you get cracks in your bricks. How would helical piers/carbon fiber straps relieve-lesson/get-rid-of the expanding and contracting SOIL and possibly roots that are against a wall? NOT gonna happen, ever.

You`d have to remove the exapnding-contracting SOIL and any roots, waterproof and backfill with gravel/peastone.

Seems like about every estimate i run where a homeowner has a vertical or horizontal crack in bricks, they been told their foundation is settling,collapsing etc. This is most often pure nonsense!!!

READ this please....
http://www.archicentre.com.au/survival_kit/cracking_brick.pdf

"If a CRACK appears overnight in your previously intact brick house, don`t panic. It is not the first step in the total disintegration of your whole house."

"MOST CRACKS require cosmetic treatment ONLY. The MAJORITY are NOT indications of grave structural damage"

Thats NOT what many of YOU have been hearing from many contractors, right? Uh huh

"Unfortunately LACK of KNOWLEDGE can lead to the adoption of UNNECESSARILY Expensive treatments which may be suggested by FIRMS BIASED in favour of using their own patented and profitabel 'cures'."

Unlike other links/contractor websites, following links...are waaaay more factual, and no i don`t agree with every sentence on every link

Cracks can occur in bricks or begin to WIDEN due to the expanding-contracting soil or roots against the outside of a basement wall. A crack in a basement wall can occur or, could WIDEN which subsequenlty can lead to cracks in BRICKS above the basement wall. Soil/roots can cause cracks in basement wall or wall to BOW INWARD, sure it can.

......see 6th paragraphhttp://www.dwightyoderbuilders.com/concrete.cfm

.... "This type of drainage(gravel-peastone against a basement wall instead of soil-clay)prevents trapped water and saturated soil next-to foundation from building up HORIZONTAL HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE against the wall.THIS pressure will crack walls, cause leaks,and in a worst case,collapse the wall inward."

http://www.bobvila.com/HowTo_Library/Why_Foundations_Fa...oundation-A2095.html

How come on MANY foundation/waterproofing websites they FAIL to disclose/discuss most/all these FACTS and....get into depth w/them, huh?

Figure it out please

When some of these companies tell you/sell you piers etc, they don`t know whether there is or isn`t a dropped/cracked footing, often there is NOT! Often there is simply a crack(s) in basement wall, thats right. Yes there are some 'signs'...i`m talking about being sure/certain, not this guessing bs game. And if you already have a crack(s),leak,wall bowing in then you NEED work done all-the-way-DOWN on the outside!

Only way to see whether or not footing has dropped/cracked is to excavate and SEE, not guess and assume. And so when they dig those lil trenches for piers they do not know what shape the entire footing is in, nonsense. A lil 2-3' trench in length is hardly enough to determine possible footing problem...and why don`t many of em waterproofed the crack(s) on the outside,huh? sheesh. And if a wall is bowed in, better take ALL that soil `n any roots and other possible crap against the wall, off the wall,excavate it all.

Notice many will use piers and then come inside and install bs drain tile system usually w/a sump. This will NOT relieve/lessen GET RID OF the expanding-contracting soil on outside of wall.

One more link
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpwes/publications/marineclay.htm#2

see both footings Cause/Resolution AND....... Basement Walls, Cause and Resolution

Some of the salespeople/owners you call who come over to your house are NOT experts, do not have the knowledge/decades of hands-on-job experience they tell you/they advertsie, thats just more crap.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: LicensedWaterproofR,

Basement water (and disposable-income) diverting systems and all these band-aid approaches to foundation problems seem to be the biggest racket going in this country since they legalized the numbers game.

Richard-you sent me your e-mail address a year ago but I misplaced it. I am located not too far from you in PA and may need your professional assistance. You can post it here or if you wish, send it to me at kaybjay2@yahoo.com. Thanks.

Kevin Jones