
Serving La Grange, TX and surrounding areas
Approved
In business since 1933
Free estimates
Warranties offered
"My elderly mother's house has many cracks in the walls, and the front door at times is very difficult to close and lock. She even got locked out of the house once because the key wouldn't turn in the door, which has been raised and lowered repeatedly. That scared her and she sought an estimate of how much it would cost and what would be involved in getting the house leveled again(It had been done in 1987, too). Her contractor arranged for the man from Olshan to come out, which he did.
After carefully looking at the cracks and asking questions about the house's construction, he used an electronic device to compare the changes in the levels of the various parts of the house. He found as much as 9 inches difference from the front to the back of the house. He said that a newly constucted 30ft wall should have no more than 3/4and quot; change from one end to the other.
We sat down to talk about the situation and he told us the house and the whole neighborhood were built on an area of expanding clay (we already knew this) and that although the 1987 work done by another company was pretty good for the technology available then, unless the concrete pillars they installed had reached down to solid rock(and this clay is as much as 14 ft deep in some areas), the cracks would return and continue, which they have.
Now here is where his honesty and integrity really kick in---he said that because there was no way to guarantee the work (Olshan does a lifetime guarantee), they would NOT do a foundation and quot;Repairand quot; on the house. He talked about the seasonal nature of the clay's expanding and contracting, and told us if they were to do the work, the presence of the concrete pillars from the previous work would make it even harder to put in their piers (they would have to drill through the old ones--very expensive!). He said we could spent a lot of money and have cracks again within six months. So this young man apologized and declined to do the job! WOW! Honesty and integrity! We were impressed and thanked him."





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