Florida foundation issues

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1

Originally Posted By: bwiley
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Being fairly new in Florida after inspecting every type of foundation from wood to brick in Virginia, I am curious to know if we have any special situations to look for here.


Except for one neighborhood with crawl spaces, everything else around here is slab on grade. There is almost never any visibility from the sides of the slab, and about the only clear view is in the garage. Most appear to be monolithic. I've seen nothing to indicate post tensioning, or anything else.

All pointers appreciated.

2

Originally Posted By: jmyers
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Blaine,


You really should try Jerry Peck, since he is a licensed contractor in FL. I am sure he has seen more than he would have ever cared too.

Joe Myers

3

Originally Posted By: Blaine Wiley
This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.


Thanks Joe,


I find Jerry very helpful. I had to "bone up" on tile roofing since we didn't have them in VA, and he sent me a very informative PDF on them.

Kudos to Jerry.

4

Originally Posted By: roconnor
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Blaine … there are some universal problems like settlement and shifting … but a lot of foundations problems like frost heave, water penetration, high groundwater, soil expansion, and other things do indeed depend somewhat on local conditions and practices.


Jerry would probably be a good source. You can also do some networking/research to find some good local structural engineers that work with other HI's or know about residential foundation evaluations and repairs. Not just any licensed engineer, but ones that are also experienced/qualified with residential foundations and have a practical approach.

If you call a few you locate, they will probably be happy to send you some business cards and help fill you in on some of the local issues and when they really need to be called in to evaluate things (not just anytime you see a foundation crack ... lol). It's also good to get a feel for how local experts look at certain issues in general for everybody, and what really is a concern to them ... ![icon_wink.gif](upload://ssT9V5t45yjlgXqiFRXL04eXtqw.gif)

And if you haven't already, check out the topics "Foundation Inspections" and "Foundation Cracking" which have links to some pretty good stuff that goes into most of the foundation problems and general inspection procedures ... ![icon_wink.gif](upload://ssT9V5t45yjlgXqiFRXL04eXtqw.gif)

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Robert O'Connor, PE
Eagle Engineering ?
Eagle Eye Inspections ?
NACHI Education Committee

I am absolutely amazed sometimes by how much thought goes into doing things wrong