Family owned in Gardner, Kansas
A family crew that grew up in Gardner, with 65+ years between us, fixing cracked walls, bowing block and settling floors. We'll look at your foundation with you, tell you plainly what your home needs, and stand behind our repair.
Foundation Services
Most of the foundation problems we see start in the soil. The clay here swells when it gets wet and shrinks when it dries out, and over the years that movement pushes on walls, settles footings and lets water in. Each of our services fixes a different part of that.
When a basement wall starts bowing in, a corner of the house settles or a crack keeps getting wider, something underneath is moving.
We figure out what is causing the movement before we recommend anything, so the repair fixes the cause and not just the crack you can see.
Water can find its way in through the walls, the seam where the wall meets the floor, or wet soil pressing against the outside of the foundation.
We trace where water is getting into your basement and stop it there, so you are not cleaning up after every heavy rain.
Turning part of your basement into a bedroom, office or living space usually means adding a code-compliant way out. We cut the opening in your foundation wall and install the window and well.
Already have an egress window that is too small, hard to open or no longer meets code? We can replace the window and well.
A sump pump keeps groundwater from rising into your basement, so it has to work when the pit fills.
We install new pumps and replace pumps that run constantly or fail to turn on when the pit fills. We also run the discharge away from the foundation so the water does not soak back toward the house.
Poured concrete holds up well under the weight of your house, but clay pushing on the side of the wall or a footing settling underneath can crack it.
We look at which way each crack runs and how wide it gets, then seal the cracks that only leak and fix the movement behind the ones that keep growing.
A cinder block wall is only as strong as the mortar between the blocks, so the joints are usually where it starts to crack in steps or bow inward.
We push bowed block walls back and brace them. When a section has moved too far for bracing to hold, we rebuild it with new block.
Some repairs need the outside of your basement wall or the footing under it, and the only way to reach them is to dig the soil away.
That digging is part of the repair, not a separate job. We dig along the stretch of wall the repair needs, do the work and put the soil back so it drops away from the house.
When rain pools against your house instead of running away from it, the wet clay presses on your basement walls and keeps looking for a way inside.
We extend downspouts, regrade soil that slopes back toward the foundation and put in French drains that carry the water off, so less of it ever reaches the wall.
The longer you wait, the worse it gets
Each of these signs, from widening cracks to water on the basement floor, is worth a foundation inspection. The inspection tells us whether movement, water or both are causing the problem.
Call (913) 444-0115Where we work
We're based in Gardner, and we're a growing company. Right now we're expanding about 45 miles out in every direction, which covers most of the metro on both sides of the state line. Not sure if we make it out your way? Give us a call and ask.
Our Process
01
You show us the crack, water or slope that made you call.
We check whether a wall is bowing, a footing is settling or rainwater is adding pressure around the foundation.
When we sit back down with you, you see the photos and hear what we found, what is causing the movement and which repair fits the problem.
02
Once we have seen your foundation, you get a written estimate that explains the work we recommend, why it costs what it does and how it will hold up, along with any other options you have. We never guess at a price over the phone.
If a repair does not make sense right now, we will tell you that, and explain what would change our answer.
03
Piers under a footing that has settled. A push-out and restraints on a wall that is bowing in. Injection on a crack letting water through.
The repair addresses the foundation problem causing the crack, bowing wall, water leak or sloping floor.
04
Before we pack up, we walk through the finished repair with you and answer your questions.
If a question comes up after we leave, you call Kim in the office.
Worth knowing
Most homeowners call us after months of watching a crack and wondering what it means. These are the things we wish they had known the day they first spotted it.
Thin, hairline cracks in poured concrete are usually just the wall curing, and plenty of houses in Gardner have them.
The ones worth a closer look are a horizontal crack, a stair-step crack through the mortar of a block wall, or a crack that is wider at one end or keeps opening.
A horizontal crack usually means wet soil outside is pushing the wall inward. A stair-step crack usually means part of the foundation has settled, and both are worth catching early.
Not sure which one you have? Send us a photo. We would rather tell you it is fine than have you lie awake worrying about it.
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Free estimate
Most foundation problems start as something you keep noticing: a crack that looks longer than it did, a door that started sticking or a damp corner after a heavy rain. We inspect your foundation in person, tell you what is causing it and whether it needs a repair at all, and put our recommendation in writing. Both the inspection and the estimate are free.
