00:00:00:00 - 00:00:11:17 Unknown Hey, friends. Welcome back to the Your Project Shepherd podcast. I am your host, Curtis Lawson. And joining me today, I've got my friends Sonora, storm, Sonora is back for her second visit. 00:00:11:18 - 00:00:38:19 Unknown Right. Amen. And, I told her she is back for one more time. She gets your name on the back of the chair. And, and so, first timer, we've got, her boss, Jake Gottfried, and, they're with Lincoln. Jacob Construction. The last time you saw Sonora was on our GBA episode. You know, obviously Sonora is super involved in GBA, and we had a great episode about GBA membership and and all that means to us. 00:00:38:21 - 00:01:01:03 Unknown But today, we're here for for real business. We're here to talk about, foundations, foundation, maintenance, foundation repair, all that kind of stuff. It's something that we deal with a lot here in Houston. So, let's just get started and and and tell me about your business, how you got started in this. And little history and what you guys do. 00:01:01:03 - 00:01:26:19 Unknown Exactly. Yeah. Awesome. Well, thanks for having us. We're really thankful to be here. So, Lincoln Jacob Construction, we started about eight years ago. And basically we specialize in foundation repair and sewer repair. We also do waterproofing and drainage. Basically anything that has to do with Marvin moving dirt out the way. It's what we do. Primarily it is foundation inspections, investigations and repair. 00:01:26:21 - 00:01:46:11 Unknown So that's what we specialize in. One of the things that we're most proud of is we don't use subcontractors, so we don't. So about our jobs, everything's in-house from the inspection on the property all the way to the folks that are digging the holes in the trenches. Everyone's on our team. And so, no, no strangers going around our project. 00:01:46:13 - 00:02:03:00 Unknown And we've just got a great team. We've been blessed over the years to attract very talented people that know how to treat people, and we keep them. And so that's what's, really one of the main reasons that we've been blessed to be successful. Yeah. And you've got a great person sitting right here. Exactly. We love Sonora. 00:02:03:03 - 00:02:23:09 Unknown She's she's, she's an amazing person. And she does so much for GBA. I know she does so much for you. I just can't say enough good things about her. Yeah. No. She's amazing. She's a game changer. We couldn't be more thankful to have her, in a world where it's so fun to find people that are committed day in and day out and are consistent. 00:02:23:09 - 00:02:44:23 Unknown Lots of folks can show little glimpses of hope or glimpses of going above and beyond for their clients and for their company. And this woman here is consistently always on top of things and always cares about her clients and her team. And so there's nobody better in the business than Senor Storm. Oh, thank you so much. I really appreciate that, Jake. 00:02:45:01 - 00:03:06:09 Unknown And you remember, how Lincoln Jacob Construction and I met through the GBA? That's right. That, I was working on, being spike of the year my first time to be spike of the year. And Lincoln Jacob was one of my spikes, and they joined, and, God had a plan. And it was an amazing plan, like all of his. 00:03:06:11 - 00:03:32:23 Unknown And he connected Jake and I a perfect timing for myself and for his company. And that's how I. I got started with Lincoln Jacob Construction. Yeah. Great. Great. Chance meeting there. Yes. I've gone almost three, next month it'll be three years. And then with Jake and the team. So the other the ultimate thing that I want to mention is that you guys also founded, a charity, which I think is awesome. 00:03:32:23 - 00:03:54:00 Unknown And I know you're you're both involved in that on some level. Correct. Tell me about the charity and what you guys do there. Yeah. So we founded a charity called the Katie Angels. What I realized a while back, especially in construction, in and in, if you do your job right and you treat people right, there shouldn't be some extra money laying around. 00:03:54:02 - 00:04:13:03 Unknown And it all goes back to the way you treat people. And we've been blessed that so many people trust us with their projects. My family and I've been personally blessed. My wife is a successful career woman as well. She has her own business. And so we decided that we need to give back in a more formal way. 00:04:13:03 - 00:04:33:14 Unknown We always gave back and helped others in need. It's just part of who we are. But we decided to formalize it a couple years back, and we made the Katie Angels with the Katie Angels do is we focus on simple needs. There's a lot of ideas and a lot of stuff that your heart can want to do, but we decided to keep it simple to start the Katie Angels. 00:04:33:14 - 00:05:01:15 Unknown And so we focus on groceries and household essentials for people in need. Most of our requests come through schools and churches and larger, larger organizations. We deal with crisis counselors at the various school districts around the Katy and the Houston area. When families are going through a real tough time, they'll reach out to us. And what we do is we try to offset some of the costs that they may have from other bills, by providing groceries that could last for a while. 00:05:01:17 - 00:05:22:10 Unknown And so that's what we specialize in, is reaching out to folks that are in a sad, depressed or just going through a tough time financially, and we try to cheer them up with something as simple as groceries. And I think scenario you told me before that, you know, I think sometimes with charity situations, people are like, really worried about, oh, is this person taking advantage of me? 00:05:22:12 - 00:05:36:10 Unknown But you guys don't don't dig real far into that, right? If somebody says they have a need, let's take care of them. Right? Like it's not like we don't need to try to figure out if they're trying to game the system. Let's do it. Let's just help meet that need that someone says they have. You nailed it. You nailed it. 00:05:36:10 - 00:06:11:15 Unknown And that's and that was a little hard for me in the, in the, in the very beginning because, you know, the hanger out in Berkshire, that, we had, Alan Griffin, connected Jake with the hanger. And Jake is very familiar with Berkshire as well, so it was just a blessing. But our very first, Christmas, with the Katie angels, Jake and Ariel, we went out, we purchased a lot of toys, took them to Berkshire, told the community, and you just came in. 00:06:11:15 - 00:06:32:21 Unknown You got a bag and you shop. There was no. There was no limits. There was no sign. Your name here. How many children do you have? And it was just it it was just amazing, to, to let God do his will without any red tape is how I. Yeah. No, I think that's great. And I'm glad that you brought that up. 00:06:32:21 - 00:06:54:21 Unknown That is something that we're very proud of. And I think that goes back to when we formed the company, and we wish that we could help everybody that was behind on rent. We wish we could help everybody that's cars broke down. Everyone that's a little behind. On paying for their kids private school or college or, you know, there's so many various things that financial burdens throw at you. 00:06:54:21 - 00:07:13:02 Unknown And I wish I could fix it. All right. And that's one of the main reasons I decided to pick groceries, because if you start paying bills for people, you really can be taken advantage of. Easy. And at the end of the day, you're paying some wealthy guys rent that own some building, that he should have worked it out with someone. 00:07:13:02 - 00:07:33:20 Unknown Right. And so the money doesn't even really go directly to the folks in need. When you're paying bills, per se, even though I know what it feels like to need some help paying bills, that's for sure. So I decided that, you know, what we're going to do is we're going to do milk, bread, eggs, lunch meat, cereal. And so if you're going to take advantage of us, you just took advantage by eating some bread, you know. 00:07:34:01 - 00:07:50:00 Unknown And so if you're going to take advantage or you're, you know, that's the extent of it is you have to eat a free meal or they took a few extra toys, right? Yeah. So I mean, at the end of the day, we're hoping that the toys, the bread, the milk makes its way to kids, you know, and that's what we care most about. 00:07:50:00 - 00:08:10:09 Unknown But I think if you overthink why people are in need or why you should help people, you won't help anyone to be honest with you. Absolutely. So that's that's awesome. A great day at Lincoln, Jacob. Well, every day's a great day. Lincoln. Jake I bet, I'll be in my office and I'll be working on estimates or calling or whatever sales, marketing. 00:08:10:11 - 00:08:28:03 Unknown And, I'll hear Jake in his office. And I'm like, oh, he's talking to someone in D, because I'll hear him. They're gone now. Do you have any allergies? How many children? Well, if you could have one really fun thing, what would you like? What would you like to see? And it's just so cool that I'm in here working. 00:08:28:04 - 00:08:51:01 Unknown And I know that that the funds that we bring in, they're going out his door to help other people, and it just it just makes for an awesome it just makes for an awesome place to be every day. That's great. All right, let's talk about foundations. Let's do it. So mostly we're going to talk about slab on grade foundations because that's, you know, primarily what we have here in Houston. 00:08:51:03 - 00:09:15:05 Unknown Just just a concrete slab on the grounds is what we do here. For the most part, but most of the, this advice, most of our discussion could apply to other foundation types. But, you know, the basic principle is that soil moves, soil gets wet and expands, dries out and contracts. And so that affects really any type of foundation, even basements, which we don't have here. 00:09:15:05 - 00:09:39:02 Unknown Right. So, you know, keeping the, the moisture level around the house, you know, consistent to, to prevent movement is key. But, you know, we have we have a lot of, variation in soil types here in Houston. We have some areas that are really high expansive clay soils where you see just a ton of a ton of movement. 00:09:39:04 - 00:10:05:20 Unknown So I just wanted to talk about, you know, you know, what goes into, kind of causing that. Well, obviously water causes it, but, what conditions will kind of make, make it favorable for soil to expand and contract? So what do you typically see when you go out to look at houses and you're like, oh, you know, you walk up and you're like, oh, I see right now why you have movement. 00:10:05:22 - 00:10:23:18 Unknown What what kind of issues do you commonly see. Yeah. So number one is going to be gutters, believe it or not. The number one cause to foundation issues is a lack of gutters. A lot of folks don't want you to know that because it's so simple to fix, and you can get ahead of it and start reducing. 00:10:23:18 - 00:10:49:08 Unknown The foundation market in Houston is the leading market Texas in all of the world. I mean, it really is. It's it's different. You know, even in the rest of the U.S, they don't know anything about these cheap concrete press pilings that are so common down in Texas. And now there's steel products. There's hybrid products, right? We're the only ones that figured out how to take a paper towel roll, turn it into concrete and shove it under our houses. 00:10:49:10 - 00:11:16:08 Unknown No one's ever even heard of that. Right. And so Texas is the leading market for sure in America on foundation repair inspections and anything related to foundations. And so some of the bigger players maybe don't want you to know that gutters could save, you know, millions of dollars for large real estate owners, folks that own 30,000 rental properties, like some of our clients do, that are on our client list, actually own over 30,000 units in America. 00:11:16:10 - 00:11:36:05 Unknown So the impact of someone that owns that many homes having gutters could save a lot of money, but down to a family level, for those of us that live around Texas, in the Houston area, the first thing you need to check is gutters. You have to divert the water away from your home. As you said, Texas soils are going to be, vulnerable no matter what. 00:11:36:05 - 00:12:01:13 Unknown So you've got to maintain the moisture level. But to be honest, those slabs on greener design have some flexibility, especially with the post tension cable system. They're designed to be able to move with soil movement, where we find the most common foundation. Repairs are in areas that have very poor drainage, missing gutters or gutters that haven't been cleaned out for a couple of years. 00:12:01:15 - 00:12:18:21 Unknown Broken downspouts as simple as your lawn care either your husband, yourself, or your lawn guys clipping your downspout by with the weed eater. And so it starts to close it. If you take a look at your downspouts around any of your homes, you should see where we've had it, where it knocks the elbow or knocks it off completely. 00:12:18:21 - 00:12:40:03 Unknown So now I have a shotgun shooting water. So when I walk up to a building, I can usually tell, when there is significant erosion, I can see it. There's going to be void spots around the perimeter of your foundation. And that's usually where a sprinklers malfunction and there's a plumbing leak of some sort that doesn't always have to be a serious sewer leak. 00:12:40:03 - 00:13:05:22 Unknown There can be an irrigation plumbing leak. Right. Or the most common is going to be something wrong with the gutters. Literally. If they're just filled with debris and leaves, it doesn't allow the water to catch in to that channel. Run over to the downspout and get dispersed the right way. It's basically all trickling over the gutters. So the most common cause of foundation problems, believe it or not, we can always blame it on the soil. 00:13:05:23 - 00:13:29:03 Unknown But it's going to be, poor drainage is going to be the number one cause of foundation issues. And then what happens when that poor drainage starts to attack your home's foundation or your lot? Most folks leave it unattended for years. So then what happens is, number two is erosion. So then significant erosion starts to occur and basically have a beach effect. 00:13:29:04 - 00:13:45:15 Unknown Once I take soil away from the perimeter of my home, I'm allowing on just a regular rain event, a little bit of water to get in under the home and then washes out, comes in and comes out. And so then you'll even see what looks like sand around your house when there's not supposed to be sand and you're not on the beach. 00:13:45:17 - 00:14:09:12 Unknown And that's basically going to be the beach effect I got from water going in and out of your foundation. So just about every time we find a void spot or an area with significant erosion, the readings after we pull out our zip level and do an in-depth investigation, usually we see either readings that are a little bit too high there where it may have heaved, and or we may see settlement in that area. 00:14:09:14 - 00:14:28:02 Unknown So the soil around your house needs to be sloped away from the house. You to have, you know, what we call positive drainage. So the soil should be highest, you know, where it meets the slab and then and then slope away. And like you said, if your gutters are missing and that water is just sheeting straight down, it's going to kind of dig a little trench. 00:14:28:02 - 00:14:43:06 Unknown Exactly. They're all on the side of your house and it's just going to hold water. It's going to hand right. Exactly. So anywhere you get water ponding against the foundation, it's going to find its way down under the foundation. It's going to sit there and it's going to soak into the soil right there in that one spot. And that soil is going to move. 00:14:43:06 - 00:15:09:10 Unknown Right? Exactly right. So, but being consistent on the moisture level is also important, right? So like you don't want it to get like really wet then really dry and have these periods of, you know, like an, like an, a drought condition to a monsoon condition. You want it to stay pretty consistent year round. Right? Exactly. Right. So the way that you can accomplish that is going to be with irrigation systems. 00:15:09:12 - 00:15:30:10 Unknown You can do drip lines. I'm not a big fan of of drip lines. So you're holding soaker hoses. Not a big fan of that in older properties. I think that's something that you're better off when that's a new construction or a fairly new property, because it needs to be managed properly, and you need to take a lot of things into consideration instead of just throwing them out there and hoping that they do the job. 00:15:30:12 - 00:15:50:22 Unknown But you're exactly right. It's those extreme differences that you want to try to mitigate, and it's as simple as watering. Even if you don't have a fancy sprinkler system, you get out there with the water hose. During the drought, you shouldn't see cracks in your soil. Yeah, and you want to try to get ahead of that. You shouldn't see the soil kind of pulling away from the house where you got a gap between where your dirt starts and the house. 00:15:50:22 - 00:16:13:05 Unknown It needs to kind of stay up against the house and stay consistent. Moisture and things like trees can have a big effect on on moisture levels too. I mean, obviously the root structure can have a big impact on foundation, but just the the moisture that trees can draw out of the soil too, as they, as they grow. Right? 00:16:13:05 - 00:16:40:20 Unknown Yeah. I think I read a tree, you know, it kind of an average tree can consume over 100 gallons of water a day. That's correct. Which is, you know, in a drought condition, that might be all the water that's in that area. And so that that tree's going to contribute to drying out the soil. But then I think what people don't realize is if they take a tree out, if they remove that tree from near their house, that tree's been drinking 100, 200 gallons of water a day. 00:16:40:20 - 00:16:58:16 Unknown All of a sudden you take that tree out. Yeah. Now the soil all of a sudden gets super saturated because it's it. You're you're changing that, that dynamic. So, sometimes taking a tree out can cause as many problems as leaving it in. You're exactly right. Yeah. You need to get ahead of the trees early in the game design if you have an option. 00:16:58:17 - 00:17:23:15 Unknown If you're there when you're designing your landscaping, they need to be pushed further away. There's so many structures that we can drive around the Houston area and see where trees were planted, and just cannot believe that it's one foot away from a brick wall, or it's one foot away from someone's home or someone's pool. Or so it looked cute on an architectural drawing 20 years ago, but someone forgot to look up how big pecan trees get and did not do the research. 00:17:23:15 - 00:17:39:17 Unknown So it was cute in a picture when the country was four foot tall. You know, somebody thought it was going to be a bush, but it was a tree. Yeah, so it wasn't a bush. It looked like a bush on the rendering though. They just needed some greenery. So we do see that. So but you're exactly right after the fact. 00:17:39:17 - 00:17:56:15 Unknown So if I get to design my home from scratch, I want to have my trees as far enough away from the property to not pose a risk. Most of us don't have that option, right? Not everyone is building a custom home and designing it. So what? You're exactly right though. You don't go straight to removing a tree, there's a little bit more research that needs to be involved. 00:17:56:15 - 00:18:16:22 Unknown I'd recommend an engineer, a geotechnical engineer, or maybe a foundation repair company. They're they're not always the best to get their free quotes, to be honest with you, sometimes you need an engineer. But there are some options as far as route barriers go that can limit the effect of some of the routes in the system, but not kill the tree. 00:18:17:00 - 00:18:32:20 Unknown So that was a great point, though you do not want to just go straight to destroying a tree or removing it. There's more thought to that. We took it the country out of my backyard last year, and, you know, we we cut it down. At first. We just cut it down about, you know, two feet off the ground with the stump because we're gonna try to get the root ball. 00:18:32:22 - 00:18:52:20 Unknown Yeah. And it was really interesting for probably a week after we cut that thing down, water kept bubbling up from the stump because I think it was it was sucking so much water and the root system was still in place. And so we kept seeing like water coming up, you know, not a fountain, but it was water trickling out of that stone for like a week after we cut it down. 00:18:52:20 - 00:19:11:09 Unknown Yeah, it was crazy. Yeah. Tumbleweed. I've never heard of that one. Yeah. That's interesting. So. And, you know, root, you know, you you mentioned the root beer. The roots can also, kind of be searching for a water source. I mean, that's what they do. So if you do have an under slab plumbing, we you got a sewer. 00:19:11:09 - 00:19:28:12 Unknown We can under your house. And those roots discover that all of a sudden those roots are in your pipes under your house, right? Yeah, that's a great point. So those roots are definitely going to find the smallest separation. Maybe it's the tiniest leak in your system that really would not create backups or any issues that you would ever know. 00:19:28:17 - 00:19:59:02 Unknown But that little bitty drop just, attracted that root system that you're exactly right. I've seen root systems go straight through PVC and run all throughout underneath a home. Yeah. So and for sure, if you have old, old concrete or clay pipes, those things are going to be just destroyed by a tree roots. Absolutely. You know, most of the year, all of the neighborhoods around here that were built in the, you know, 30, 40, 5060s had clay or concrete sewer pipes, originally minded. 00:19:59:03 - 00:20:14:05 Unknown And, yeah, it's it's always crazy when we dig those things up when we're doing a remodel job and we remove those old pipes and you get a chunk of it, and you look at it. Yeah. The thing started off as a four inch pipe. And, you know, there might be a tiny little hole after the middle of that thing. 00:20:14:05 - 00:20:29:00 Unknown The water is flowing through, and you have all these roots in there like a tendril. And yeah, you just wonder how anything ever actually drained. Yeah. You know, you're exactly right. It looks like a core sample from the middle of the earth. Would you pull those parts? Yeah. And you guys do sewer pipe replacement. You said. Yeah, absolutely. 00:20:29:02 - 00:20:42:20 Unknown Because that kind of goes hand in hand, right? I mean, a lot of times it just makes sense if you're if you're putting 20 piers under under a house and you're having to do a lot of digging anyway, it's kind of the right time to go ahead and replace the sewer pipes because the workers are already down there. 00:20:42:20 - 00:21:03:07 Unknown It's the cheapest time to get it done. Exactly. So we're really proud that we're also a master plumber. A lot of foundation contractors like to point the fingers, and they have plumbing separate. So they advise you to get a plumber involved and, and then if anything goes wrong years later, the first thing they want to do is blame it on the plumber, or the plumber wants to blame it on the foundation guy. 00:21:03:12 - 00:21:28:11 Unknown So I do recommend in housing that if you're dealing with the foundation issue, that you, think ahead and make sure that you address the plumbing needs when you're doing a significant foundation repair, which we call an underpin. So this is going to basically be supporting the entire interior and exterior of the home with new piers. Right? Well, the only way to do that properly is we are going to lift the home out of the soil. 00:21:28:13 - 00:21:46:08 Unknown We're going to do what we call a PVR lift. So that's the potential vertical rise of the soil. We want to avoid even the potential rise of the soil in the future. Right. Well, if I'm going to lift your home out of the ground two, three, five inches, you have to ask yourself what's going to happen to my sewer pipe? 00:21:46:10 - 00:22:06:00 Unknown So every time we do an underpin, we actually excavate the entire sewer line, free it up out of the dirt. Once we were ready for our leveling, that sewer line is going to go on steel crevice hangers now, so it's going to be hung from the slab, so it allows it some flexibility in the future. Movement of the slab. 00:22:06:02 - 00:22:29:05 Unknown But so every time we do an underpin we are redoing your sewer system. Now, a lot of homes that need and underpin that still have PVC pipe, maybe their newer homes, usually the sewer system still intact and so we don't have to replace it. Basically the charge is going to be to excavate around that area, but a lot of times you've already paid for tunnels for piers to be installed in that same area. 00:22:29:07 - 00:22:49:08 Unknown So we can keep the cost down as best as possible by just adding some materials for the plumbing supplies, for example. So that's the time to ask those questions. So you're exactly right. Any time you're thinking about a foundation repair discussing one, you need to be thinking about your plumbing as well. Yeah. And often the the plumbing can be the cause of, of the repair. 00:22:49:08 - 00:23:05:14 Unknown And that's needed if you again, if you had a 1950s house and old sewer pipes are leaking that could be causing your house to, to sink in the middle, you know, that that, that all that moisture right in the middle of the house. That's exactly right. Sometimes that is the one and only reason you're getting a foundation repair is faulty sewer system. 00:23:05:17 - 00:23:31:23 Unknown Yeah. What about landscaping? You know, we talked about trees, but, you know, I know if people love to have flowerbeds right up against their house, I think, most landscaping jobs that I see, the flower beds right against the house and, you know, it's not necessarily a bad thing, because if it's if it's designed properly, you know, you're you're you're sprinkler systems maintaining that moisture level like we talked about, which is great. 00:23:32:01 - 00:23:56:02 Unknown But you know what happens when people normally put in a flower bed is that it's a big hump, right? It's kind of built up to the plants. And so now you've got this little, trough going back against the house and again, you're holding water. The water is not draining away from the house. And so you know how that landscaping is installed near the house can, can make a big difference, right? 00:23:56:03 - 00:24:27:09 Unknown Yeah. No, you nailed it there. So I'm a big fan of landscaping, but it is as simple as making sure that you understand the grade of the property and where the water is going. You nailed it. I like landscaping because I want to divert that rainwater away. I want to have a soft landing for the rain. So I like when rain's coming down and hitting bushes and plants and flowers versus going straight on your grass or your soil, especially in areas that maybe you can't have downspouts and gutters and courtyards or something in the open areas. 00:24:27:11 - 00:24:49:06 Unknown But that you nailed it. That's the mistake that's most commonly made, is making it look so pretty and creating that trough in between those pretty bushes in the home in that 12 inch area. And so it's as simple as just making sure that we're graded properly, that we should be level coming out from the foundation to the bushes and then drop off so that you're exactly right. 00:24:49:08 - 00:25:12:07 Unknown One of the most common mistakes is too much mulch. Also, when landscaping, checking the soil level before all the pretty stuff goes in, too many times the soil level is already too low, so I can see too much of your exposed slab and sometimes even clean it out to get ready for the bushes in the mulch. So basically I have erosion that has already occurred. 00:25:12:09 - 00:25:27:21 Unknown Now I'm going to come in and throw about a foot and a half of mulch down, right. And then I'm going to plant stuff. And so it looks beautiful, right? To an untrained eye. But if I go over there and just kick my boot and move a little bit in the mulch, I shouldn't see 18in at your home slab. 00:25:27:21 - 00:25:51:15 Unknown Yeah. So the first thing people miss out on is actually having dirt first, you know, and a good amount of dirt. Basically, the dirt needs to be like you mentioned earlier, where it is, it's sloped away from the home and it's taking water away from the home. If it's doing that now, I'm ready for the pretty landscaping. But a lot of times, especially in commercial applications, our apartment friends out there are retail buildings are warehouses. 00:25:51:17 - 00:26:11:18 Unknown They're going to be the biggest culprits because a lot of times someone's heart's not in it when it's your own personal property, a lot of times you put more thought into it, right? So apartments and in commercial buildings are renowned for having huge erosion problems. And the mulch guys come. And so there's two foot of mulch. Well, that mulch is acting as a screen and a filter. 00:26:11:18 - 00:26:33:03 Unknown Actually it's taking all of the water down directly to the foundation, where if I had compacted topsoil, compacted and sloped away, and then maybe I have 6 to 8in of mulch, then I'm in great shape because it's really the soil that's doing the job, and the mulch is now slowing down. The impact of that rainwater, and it's all working perfectly. 00:26:33:08 - 00:26:53:07 Unknown I like to have, on on the houses that we build. I like to, to, to come off the house. Yep. 12in or so, you know, grade properly, put down some, some gravel or some bull rock and kind of create like a little border all the way around the foundation and then start your flowerbeds and give yourself a little room. 00:26:53:09 - 00:27:09:17 Unknown And part of the reason we do that too, is also so you can see pests, right? If you got bushes right up against the house and you got termites or, you know, ant beds or whatever, it's hard to see those. But if you give yourself a nice, you know, 12 inch rock border. Yeah, it looks nice. Yeah. Termites are going up. 00:27:09:17 - 00:27:26:04 Unknown You can see a termite tunnel. But also gives you the chance to go and get that grading done. And, and to take that a step further, even kind of take that and transition that into some, some fringe drains that are taking water away from the house. Kind of between between the sections of the flowerbed. Yeah. So now I love that approach. 00:27:26:04 - 00:27:47:21 Unknown I think that is fantastic. Because the other thing that we see, very common is mulch and flowers and that are above the poles. Right. So if I'm using the gravel approach like you have, it's going to be hard for someone to pile up gravel above the poles. Right? I think anyone go that looks a little weird. I don't know if those rocks are supposed to be right, but mulch somehow is in 90% of homes. 00:27:47:21 - 00:28:05:21 Unknown It's above the poles, so not even thinking about the impact on that. As far as moisture and pest goes, a lot of folks don't think about that. So I do love that approach that you've got with the gravel. Yeah, in the rocks. What are your thoughts on, on, concrete being poured right up against the foundation separately. 00:28:05:21 - 00:28:32:06 Unknown So like, on smaller lots, you'll see, like a driveway going all the way down the side of a house, and they pour that concrete right up against the foundation so that, you know, it stays dry. That's one thing. But, you know, my thought is, has always been that that that area where that driveway is that is getting zero moisture on that area, whereas the other three sides of the house are getting, you know, some, some amount of moisture. 00:28:32:08 - 00:28:56:08 Unknown Yeah. So that's a great question. I think, you know, I would be okay with concrete creating a barrier around a home if I knew for a fact what the compaction was and how the lot was prepped and what distance away from the home, because what we're going to see a lot is compaction and the way lots are prepped for building with some, some, some folks are going to do only the exact footprint. 00:28:56:08 - 00:29:14:16 Unknown Some folks are going to come out 6in or 12in, and you'd be surprised that corners are cut well soon as you pass that foundation. To be honest with you, there's not a lot of testing when I pass it. Even a couple inches. So if I knew that that dirt was compacted the right way and you wanted to put a border of concrete around, I'd feel good about it. 00:29:14:17 - 00:29:33:09 Unknown What the most important is going to be, how it's sealed, what product? I would recommend not using redwood for joints and things like that. It needs to be a poly product and it needs to be managed. Why I'm concerned about the compaction is typically it's not the same as the underneath the main home. So those end up settling at a different rate than the home. 00:29:33:09 - 00:29:48:22 Unknown So they end up pulling apart. And that's where the way you sealed it matters. As soon as water starts intruding in an area like that, you're in trouble because we can't really maintain it or maintenance it like we need to. So, you know, there's a few factors that go into that. I'm not a real big fan of it. 00:29:49:00 - 00:30:12:16 Unknown If you know, if the lot was prepped properly and all the way a foot or two away from it, we could really be confident in our compaction. And I don't see it being a problem, honestly. Yeah. But it's usually the, the joints, the expansion areas, they end up being trouble, to be honest. Yeah. It trickles down and then the maintenance is, you know, basically demoing out the concrete. 00:30:12:16 - 00:30:33:05 Unknown If you don't keep an eye on it, if it gets too bad that concrete's coming out. Yeah. Because right, right below it most likely is erosion. And you're right. When people are doing foundation paths, they often do the bare minimum. I mean, usually the engineer, the engineers drawings will say, do the foundation pad 12 or 24in beyond the footprint and track. 00:30:33:07 - 00:30:58:09 Unknown In reality, people are trying to save money, save time, and they're not they're not bringing that. There's extra loads of dirt in. You know, one thing that helps us a little on new construction foundations, again, if the plans are followed, the plans and the Geotech reports will often say to bring in select Phil as your as your, your, you know, it'll say like excavate, you know, x number of inches of the existing topsoil which is often clay. 00:30:58:11 - 00:31:26:08 Unknown And then replace that with select fill compacted. So the select field doesn't have the plasticity. It doesn't have the PVR that the clay does. Right. And so if you follow those engineers and there's the geotech recommendations your chance for movement is less than exactly right. So a properly a built new construction foundation and properly drained really should have very little issue. 00:31:26:10 - 00:31:47:04 Unknown I think, houses built again, I go back to the 1950s because I live in the 1950s. House is the stuff that I see all the time in my part of town, over, over near here, know, these post-World War Two houses were built quickly, pretty inexpensively. You know, this was the these were the production homes. This was the K-T of 1950 right here. 00:31:47:04 - 00:32:07:09 Unknown Exactly. And, the stuff was stunning. Quick and cheap. Yeah. And back then, they didn't really either they didn't know about it or the science hadn't really been developed as much. They didn't do all the geotech, stuff that we do now. Right. And so these slabs were just built just right on the dirt. No piers, no select fill, none of that. 00:32:07:09 - 00:32:32:17 Unknown Right? Yeah. And so we have a lot of problems in this area. But again, new construction people who are following the plans, it shouldn't really be as much of an issue. Right. That's correct. No that's correct. Basically in this part of town it's going to be those older trees that it's the same thing. Some of those trees someone didn't think 20 and 50 years from now, what would that tree look like now you got a 30 or 40 inch round oak tree that's 20ft from your foundation. 00:32:32:17 - 00:32:51:04 Unknown That's overhanging your roof. Yeah. Feet. No. And we've done, you know, we've done a lot of work in this area, in a lot of the homes that are 50 years old or they still don't have gutters. And it goes back to, you know, to square one with the gutters and diverting water. Yeah. So in a lot of the homes that are from that era also don't have beams. 00:32:51:04 - 00:33:12:07 Unknown You know, they're just literally a piece of concrete, flat piece of concrete on the ground. So they don't even have great beams. Yeah. They've got cast iron pipe that's porous and has been leaking. Even the best cast iron pipe has to leak because the material it's made. So. Yeah. No, you're absolutely right. Let's talk about, maintenance. 00:33:12:09 - 00:33:29:14 Unknown I know that you have done a lot of, you know, tips and tricks and talks about foundation maintenance in the past. So I kind of I kind of wanted to, you know, obviously, drainage is the one thing that we've talked about drainage and gutters, but the water beyond that. What are your top tips for foundation maintenance? 00:33:29:16 - 00:33:51:01 Unknown So basically, I mean, it's it's tough to get away from. So gutters and, you know, just basically staying ahead of erosion. And just being aware and walking around the house and asking yourself some common sense stuff. I mean, if you see a possum run underneath your home slab, you might want to ask yourself what's going on? But you'd be surprised. 00:33:51:01 - 00:34:08:10 Unknown How do you get down there? That's right. How long has he lived? Why is he paying rent on the first year? You know, but. So you'd be surprised. It's common sense stuff. And of course, it's easy. All of us that are in our different industries, especially if you love what you do, you become an expert at it. So I understand things from my point of view are a little different than your average homeowner. 00:34:08:10 - 00:34:27:00 Unknown That may be a chemical engineer at Exxon and or maybe a schoolteacher or a firefighter or a police officer. They've got other things to worry about as well. And that's why it's just great, when in doubt, to bring the experts in. But the number one thing is, is, is so simple, it's basically keeping water diverted from your home. 00:34:27:02 - 00:34:48:04 Unknown Sometimes it is the tricky things because we've talked about gutters and I'll continue to talk about that because that could save people a fortune if they'll listen to us about gutters, downspouts, drains and, but sometimes some of the more off the wall things are basically having a pool built a little too close to the home, or they sloped the pool to where the water comes to your house from the pool area. 00:34:48:06 - 00:35:06:04 Unknown So you have gutters, you have downspouts, but somehow you got a pool contractor that didn't think about how he was designing the pool area. And so in heavy rain events, we've got water slamming up against the back of the home. Some of the newer construction is it's popular now for what we refer to as like the pier and beam foundations. 00:35:06:04 - 00:35:31:00 Unknown Right. These are newer homes in the heights in the myelin area that are very nice, expensive, custom built homes and million dollars and up right there elevating and so they're vulnerable to, to rain events and not having gutters a lot more than you would think. Your foundation that's, you know, your slab on grade. And if you've got erosion and you're missing dirt to protect that envelope, then it's coming in. 00:35:31:00 - 00:35:51:20 Unknown But those pyramid beams, it it only takes one rainy day and you've already got water underneath the home if the pool is sloped toward your home. So, you know, the main thing is common sense stuff. If you see something that doesn't look right, you need to add some questions. Involve experts as soon as you can and, you know, go from there. 00:35:51:22 - 00:36:20:19 Unknown I saw something just this week that said, Houston is the fastest sinking, city in America. Yeah, the the the whole city is dropping. You know, it's a fraction of an inch a year, but we're we're we're we're number one. Yeah. That's right. And so you talked about underpinning houses and and lifting houses. You know, one of the issues that I see a lot in this area is that, the lots have no grade to them. 00:36:20:21 - 00:36:43:11 Unknown And the houses are, are barely above grade in some cases, like you mentioned, you can't see the weep holes anymore because over time, maybe the house has sunk a little bit and just, you know, the soil level has come up over the years from dirt being brought in and just the accumulation of particles over the years, you know, the the house has gone down the soil levels come up, and now the house is basically sitting flat on the ground. 00:36:43:11 - 00:37:07:20 Unknown Yeah. So I mean, in some situations, even if you don't really need a foundation repair that much, doing an underpinning and just lifting that house a couple inches can allow you to get that, that grade away from your foundation and help eliminate maybe some, some, some, some water intrusion into your house. Yeah. So that is true. So we have had some projects over the years where folks did have water intrusion for various reasons. 00:37:07:21 - 00:37:27:16 Unknown And so those we have underpin and just lift out of that vulnerable area that they were worried about. Those are more 3 to 4 inch lifts I would say under six inches. So it is possible. You know, I, I would just recommend that you researcher lot and do as much research as you can to try to avoid that unless you've got money coming at you if you can cook. 00:37:27:16 - 00:37:45:17 Unknown So a drainage for a drainage. Yeah. But yeah, I mean if, if the it's pretty flat. It's hard to make drains work even. You know I know we've done some drainage project or some drainage on new construction. You know here in Bel Air where we are, we're in the floodplain. You can't bring any dirt into your lot. 00:37:45:17 - 00:38:00:03 Unknown In fact, they they check that stuff when we when we before we start, we do a topo survey. Yeah. And we're finished with that new house. That lot better be the same grade it was when you started. Yeah, well, if it's pretty much even with the street and you want to do area drains, where is that going to go? 00:38:00:03 - 00:38:19:02 Unknown How do you make water drain from point A to point B when it's pretty much level. Yeah. It's just going to sit in the pipes. So you have to look at how are we going to elevate the structure to, to, to shed water. Exactly. So it's crazy what they want you to do. And then you, you know, you can't actually do it or it doesn't make any difference if you do do it. 00:38:19:02 - 00:38:39:00 Unknown So so let's talk about, foundation repair. And I want to start off by talking about, you know, what are the signs that you might need foundation repair. So I think everyone knows if you start seeing cracks in the walls, that's one sign. But what are some other signs that you might need to call somebody? 00:38:39:00 - 00:38:59:08 Unknown Yeah. So basically what you're going to want to look for is you're going to want to look for your doors sticking. Maybe they're not opening or closing. Same thing with your windows. If they're difficult to open or closed, that could be an indication of some settlement that's occurring. Obviously we're going to look for cracks in our sheetrock and in our brick and in our tile floors. 00:38:59:10 - 00:39:22:23 Unknown A lot of time in Texas, we're all going to experience some seasonal settlement is what we call in. So there should be some cosmetics that if we go and really nitpick the inside and the outside of your home, I should be able to find some some small cracks just about anyone's home. We're hoping that that's just seasonal settlement and that that could be just a handyman type of touch up repair. 00:39:23:01 - 00:39:48:15 Unknown When you start seeing stair step cracks that form funky shapes, then that's where we want to be a little bit more concerned. And we'd probably recommend that you get with an engineer or a foundation repair contractor. But the number one, red flag I think is when folks really have trouble with doors, and they are stuck or not closing properly, or the ghost doors that are opening or closing on their own. 00:39:48:16 - 00:40:12:12 Unknown Yeah. That's when you may have a little bit of an issue, because probably you'll notice that the most quickly, like, you know, you may not walk around looking for cracks all the time, but if your bedroom door is not closing and latching, you'll notice that. Yeah. And that's usually the first call that we get from homeowners is going to be something with their doors or their windows, or a large crack, you know, and usually the cracks that they notice most commonly are exterior cracks. 00:40:12:12 - 00:40:35:12 Unknown You know, just because the sheetrock can hide a lot of stuff if you're not really paying close attention. So, yeah, there's a few red flags. And even when you get some of those more serious looking cracks, that does not always mean there's a foundation problem. You know, lots of folks. And of course, the the foundation guys that are sending salespeople to do your free inspection, they like you to think that that every crack means you need a foundation repair. 00:40:35:12 - 00:40:52:23 Unknown Right? But that's just not the case. A lot of it, especially if you're staying ahead of things with your property. A lot of things can be, you know, mitigated. We can have an attack plan to figure out where that crack is. How does that correlate with the readings that we took with our leveling device? And then what does it look like outside in this area? 00:40:52:23 - 00:41:11:14 Unknown What's the landscaping telling us? What's a tree telling us? Did you recently remove a tree. Recently plant one. So there's a lot of different options. Seeing cracks or even doors that are stuck doesn't necessarily mean you need a foundation repair. I think, you know, it's just kind of like going to the mechanic shop. It's like you don't know what you don't know. 00:41:11:16 - 00:41:26:17 Unknown Sonari ever been a mechanic shop? And they're like, Mrs. Storm, I think you need a new, Johnson rod installed. And I think you are going to need some more blinker fluid put in and a few more things. Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And so. And so how do you know that? You don't need that blinker fluid. 00:41:26:17 - 00:41:44:00 Unknown Put it. Well, hopefully you're smart enough to know what blinker fluid is, but yeah. And it's nothing for the record. Really carefully. It doesn't exist. But if you sell blinker fluid somehow, it exists in your world. That's what you sell for a living. So be careful who you invite to inspect your properties is what I would say. Yeah. 00:41:44:00 - 00:42:05:03 Unknown So so there is normal movement that's going to, you know, you're you may have a small crack that closes up during wet season, opens up for dry season or vice versa. Right. And I've even, told people, you know, if you see a small crack one time, you don't necessarily need to call, but but you start seeing it, you start seeing more of them. 00:42:05:03 - 00:42:21:05 Unknown You start seeing them all the time. Then call. But take your pencil and put a pencil mark across both sides of that. If you see your pencil mark, start to start to move a lot, then she probably call somebody. That's right. Yeah, that's for sure. But you can see it come back together sometime. Yeah. Some. It's probably normal. 00:42:21:05 - 00:42:40:14 Unknown This is true. No. And I would say, you know, the best foundation repair contractor in the world is going to be one that helps you to not utilize them. That's going to be the best foundation repair contractor. And I know I've mentioned it a few times, but this industry's been taken over by the free estimate. It is not a free estimate. 00:42:40:14 - 00:43:01:04 Unknown You are getting a sales person sent to your home. Their job is to sell. They make commission. They most likely have got a family to feed. So keep that in mind. Once you give them some ammunition, like you point out all your cracks, these guys got to make a living, right? I always recommend the first step should be a, engineer and really do it. 00:43:01:04 - 00:43:19:01 Unknown The right way to do it is with a geo engineer. First you need to know what's going on with your soil, and basically engineers are supposed to work together to solve foundation problems. Now, we're thankful that our organization has seen so much that we feel confident in our knowledge that we can advise, and we're happy to do that. 00:43:19:03 - 00:43:37:14 Unknown We don't have a sales staff, we don't operate that way, so we're a little different. But I caution my friends, my family and anyone listening to your program to just it doesn't hurt. There's some great companies out there that have some great guys, and although they may be sales guys and sales women, they've been doing it so long that they know what they're talking about. 00:43:37:14 - 00:43:58:00 Unknown So I will say there's a lot of great folks out there, but I'm not sure it's will. It's worth taking the risk though when it's a free estimate. Right. And so that's what engineers specialize in. You got, you know, builders and engineers that work together in those areas in your neighborhood. They may have a lot of education that can help you avoid just getting torqued into something. 00:43:58:02 - 00:44:20:05 Unknown But you're exactly right. Not every crack or every stuck door means that you need to call someone out to come and do a foundation inspection, so the key is just to monitor that over over time. Again, for first time, you don't need to freak out. No, not at all. Monitor it, observe, see what happens with it. And we'd be and we'd be happy to come out and give them a baseline for their readings. 00:44:20:05 - 00:44:41:07 Unknown If they see a crack, right, call us. We'll come out there and, give them an inspection. And there goes that word free. But it is free. As a matter of fact, we just had, a client of ours, we went to look at her home about six months ago, and she was having some issues. And turns out the issues were from the pool. 00:44:41:07 - 00:44:58:10 Unknown There were three major leaks in the pole. And so, Jake, along with our team got together. They advised her, you know, get that fixed and let us come back out in six months. And so that six months has now passed. Just got that email yesterday. And we're going to go back, compare the readings and and compare the readings. 00:44:58:10 - 00:45:17:16 Unknown And we that's one way to do it. And we've not given them an estimate. Yeah. You know the more data the better. That's the other thing is if you do have contractor foundation contractors, they should be issuing you a site map with detailed readings. And I would I would recommend that everyone slow down a little bit. Let's let some data accumulate. 00:45:17:16 - 00:45:33:15 Unknown Let's give it three months, six months, if you're really concerned 3 to 6 months if you're not overly concerned, let's check it a year later. Then we're going to really know what's going on with the home, right? Trusting anyone's readings the first time ever. We don't know. The original pour might have been off a quarter of an inch. 00:45:33:18 - 00:45:49:19 Unknown Yeah. And you got somebody sitting here trying to sell you something because you're off a quarter of an inch. But the thing is, I mean, most, most slabs are not poured level. And I mean, a big slab can be off a couple a couple inches from a levee. Right. And so just because the readings are off doesn't mean anything. 00:45:49:20 - 00:46:07:07 Unknown It doesn't know. And that's where that second set of readings is so valuable to anyone that has any concerns about their foundation. I've got you know, obviously we're talking about about y'all today, but I've got another foundation company that I've known for a very long time, and they've and they've been around for, I don't know, 30 plus years. 00:46:07:09 - 00:46:28:16 Unknown They have a database of measurements they've taken on so many houses in this part of town. Wow. Know I, I've called them several times and give them an address or. But hold on let me check. Yeah. Okay. Well, I've got, readings from 1998 and 2004 and 2002. So let's just compare all those readings and see if it's moved any. 00:46:28:16 - 00:46:51:03 Unknown There you go. And the right thing to do. How valuable is that having like a history on that house of of where that foundation's been. You know and so but you're right, I like having somebody that just keeps those kind of records and that, like, wants to work with you and. Yeah, you know, because I've called them before, and I go ahead and tell them, Mrs. Jones, not to worry about that same readings it was five years ago. 00:46:51:03 - 00:47:09:09 Unknown Don't worry about it, you know. Yeah. So, you know, it's a great, great resource when, you know, somebody's going to be honest with you like that. That's, that's that's the kind of people do the readings. And Jake Jake taught me this early on. When, getting back some of my, site maps from the guys and I'm like, oh, look, that one's down, that one's down. 00:47:09:09 - 00:47:23:18 Unknown And I get all, you know, this was three years ago and like, oh, I probably have one and I have a good one. And and I'll show it to Jake and Jake's like, okay, well what are their pain points? What's going on in the house? We need to figure out what's really going on. If they're really if there really is a problem. 00:47:23:18 - 00:47:50:03 Unknown Because just, readings that seem to be off doesn't necessarily mean there's an issue or there's a problem. Yep. Exactly. So last question is kind of about repair techniques, I guess. I think most of us here in Houston have seen TV commercials for different foundation companies over the years, and they're like, oh, we use the the cable system, or we use the Gator claw system or whatever it is, you know, Gator Claw, I don't know. 00:47:50:09 - 00:48:10:09 Unknown Yeah, I just made that one up. That's a good one, though. I like it. You know what? Yeah, there's a lot of these different things out there and I've always kind of set in. A lot of those are or probably gimmicks. But what what's your take on that? Is there is there a better way. Because I've seen some people that just take cylinders, press into the ground and call it a day or any of those systems better than another? 00:48:10:11 - 00:48:34:06 Unknown Yeah. So there is a system, my, the system that I would most, commonly recommend, if you can afford it is going to be a steel system, an all steel system that's actually made from old oil pipe. It comes from West Texas. And so basically this is going to be a two and 7/8 steel pipe. There's going to be two of them for each 12 inch segment. 00:48:34:06 - 00:48:54:04 Unknown So it's a double walled system that we call it. This is going to get you the best depth and depth is the king when it comes to foundation repair. Once you are in there, once you've gotten to the point that you've decided you do need a repair, or an engineer's told you that, then the number one thing you should be thinking about is depth. 00:48:54:04 - 00:49:17:21 Unknown How do we get maximum depth? Right? So that's where steel is going to have a surface area of that two and 7/8. That's similar to what you see here with my demo. And so when we're when we're pushing that into the ground, the surface area and the friction is so much less than the most common foundation product is a six inch, cylinder, a concrete cylinder. 00:49:18:01 - 00:49:38:14 Unknown Now, I will say we've been using those cylinders for a long time now. We put a lifetime warranty on them. We believe in them, or we wouldn't put a lifetime warranty on them for what you get for your dollar spent. I'm a big fan of this system because I rather see you get an underpin versus a little partial repair. 00:49:38:15 - 00:50:00:19 Unknown That's another weakness in the foundation industry with the lifetime warranty that we all have. Right? What some people fail to bring up is the lifetime warranty. When you bought six piers on your home is right where those six piers are. On the corner of that bedroom. It's a holding. That's it's only those piers. Yeah. And so basically in a we usually warn about six feet away from those piers. 00:50:00:19 - 00:50:19:05 Unknown So if you think about piers on the corner of your home and then six foot into your home, that's it. So you know it, you've got a lifetime warranty on about 80 square foot of your 3000 square foot, home. Right. So that's where when it comes to knowing that and knowing now that an underpin is always the best way to go. 00:50:19:05 - 00:50:37:12 Unknown It can get pricey, but anytime you do a partial repair, you're leaving yourself vulnerable. You should not be upset if someone tells you a few years later, okay, you need more piers now you need more now you need more because you may be chasing it. Also, once I do a partial repair and I lock a portion of your home in, it's similar to the rule about taking the tree out. 00:50:37:14 - 00:50:56:13 Unknown You've caused a change. Now it's like putting a cast on one arm and how it reacts to the rest of your body. The rest of your body has to operate differently. That cast is here. So when I lock in a corner of your home with piers that it's no longer flexible, it can no longer have any type of flexibility with the soil changes. 00:50:56:15 - 00:51:16:18 Unknown But the other 95%, your home is still flexible, so you have to ask yourself what's occurring in those two different areas where they meet up, right? So with that being said, if I knew that someone really and truly needed 80 piers to really put the problem to bed, they could afford it. It's within their budget with the concrete product. 00:51:16:20 - 00:51:35:18 Unknown I much rather you do that concrete product. We've seen the success rate of it. We're happy with it. I think some of the companies that have been around for 90 years have been using it. I won't say any names, but there are some companies in around for 90 years they've used that product. So, if you can afford it, I would always recommend that you go with steel. 00:51:35:20 - 00:51:57:12 Unknown That six inch surface area, you can imagine pushing that down. The average depth of concrete piers in the Houston area is going to be between 15 and 22ft. Myelin. And south here we get into the 20 to 25ft even with concrete. Steel is going to get us 30 to 40ft deep. Okay. You are not at 15ft. 00:51:57:15 - 00:52:25:05 Unknown You know it's going to hold. We're going to get to pressure. We're not going to get to bedrock to keep that in mind. Other parts of the U.S., you can actually install pier systems in hit bedrock. And even in our hill country you can hit bedrock, right? So you can hit granite out in Austin. And you'll know when you do in the Houston area, we're not pressing these pilings into bedrock and pressing them into refusal right into a pressure which is usually between 9 and 10,000 pieces. 00:52:25:05 - 00:52:45:07 Unknown Right. Those concrete piers hit that at 12ft, and I've even seen them hit it at six and seven feet. In the Katy area that is seven feet deep. We're already at 10,000 p.s.i. We're basically, if we keep pressing, pressing, we're going to destroy something. So we have to stop. We have to ask yourself or do a little bit of research. 00:52:45:09 - 00:53:06:12 Unknown We're not through the active soils. You know. We're not in we're not down into the soils that are you know, you've still got that high PII in the clay. You're still in the clay at six, seven, eight feet deep. So that's where that's a risk that even the contractor putting the lifetime warranty on it has because we want more depth. 00:53:06:12 - 00:53:22:22 Unknown If you're a good contractor and you really aren't, you know, honest and you want people to see result from the money they spend with your company, you should want more depth as deep as you can get it. Exactly. It's insurance for you. That's right. So but to answer your question, steel is the way to go if you can afford it. 00:53:23:00 - 00:53:41:02 Unknown And there is a wonderful medium there that's called the hybrid peer system. So that's going to have some of the concrete piers, but it's also going to have a steel element. So it's going to start with the steel. So that we can penetrate. And that's going to give us more depth. It's also going to interlock. Once we use steel we have a locking system. 00:53:41:07 - 00:53:55:22 Unknown Some of the concrete systems you can do rebar or cable in between them. But that's not real common. What's most common is just stacking them right on top of each other and hoping for the best with what is the cable? What's the point of the cables? That is to keep them from kind of walking off of each other? 00:53:55:22 - 00:54:17:22 Unknown Yeah, kind of keep keep them in a straight line. Exactly. So that cable is really more all about lining them up and keeping them from shifting, horizontally, I guess, from, you know, movement, sideward movement, moisture that can get down there and start deteriorating concrete even after 20, 30, 40 years just by having it, you know, tightened up together is where the cable is going to help. 00:54:18:01 - 00:54:37:03 Unknown You know, we've we've mentioned a geotechnical report a few times. You know, a typical geotech report, you know. Well, so for new construction, when we order one, they're usually doing two borings on the site, and those are on and depending on the vendor, 800 to $1200, something like that. And yeah, I think you just did one. Boring. 00:54:37:03 - 00:55:00:12 Unknown It'd probably be less because there's less work for the field crew. But, you know, it's that's not a big investment, to make to, to know what kind of soil your property has. And that's not going to change any, if maybe slightly over the years, if you get that today, and you keep that on file, you know, give it to the new owner if you sell the house. 00:55:00:14 - 00:55:17:05 Unknown But, you know, that's the information that you have about your house. And if you if you have a recent construction, your builder should have gotten one of those. You could ask them for it. I know here in Houston you can file a, public information request with the city and request a copy of your plans and everything from the city. 00:55:17:07 - 00:55:35:11 Unknown The city actually requires those to be on file for for a new construction permit in Houston. Most of the cities do. So there's ways to get Ahold of your your soils report, if you want that. I think a public information request and Houston's like 30 bucks and you can and you can get that that that info and have it for your house. 00:55:35:11 - 00:55:50:20 Unknown Yeah. So or if you want to get a foundation repair if you call in can Jacob, instead of paying for a new geotech report, call the city, get a copy of it for 30 bucks. And, you know, give it to Jake and you got it. That's right. Yeah. So yeah. And we always involving NIRs with our jobs too. 00:55:50:20 - 00:56:10:11 Unknown So that's what is a little bit different with us. So even if we are gracious enough to do a free inspection, our free inspections are a little different than having the salesman salesperson free inspection. So we use engineers on all of our projects. So at some point it's going to be reviewed. Whatever scope we come up with is going to be reviewed by an engineer before it's approved. 00:56:10:11 - 00:56:29:05 Unknown That's great. And we include that, in our pricing from the get go. So we already know we're going to do that when we meet you at your home or your business lets them different than the way most. Yeah, usually it's an add on. And you know, if you want to do it and then it's really more of a rubber stamping anyway because it's kind of after the fact. 00:56:29:05 - 00:56:50:14 Unknown Like, oh yeah, here's your engineer letter. So we're going to present, our findings to engineers ahead of time. And that way they can give us feedback if any changes are needed. So but we love including engineers. There's no reason not to point. Do something as important as your foundation. Yep. All right. So I think that's about all the questions I had. 00:56:50:14 - 00:57:12:14 Unknown What are your biggest, Sonora, we'll start with you. What's your biggest takeaway from this conversation on the spot? My biggest takeaway is, probably that you're, you know, when you move into a home. I can tell you that when I moved to my home, my husband and I bought our home 30 years ago. Is a track home out in, copper Field. 00:57:12:16 - 00:57:29:05 Unknown When we bought our, when we bought our home, you think about. Oh, I need a maintenance air condition, and I need to maintain this, that and the other. And you never, never once that I ever thought, even up until I went to work for Jake, never did I think that our foundation needed any type of maintenance. 00:57:29:07 - 00:57:46:21 Unknown And we were lucky enough that, we bought the house with that, irrigation system in the front for the flower beds, and we put one in the back. And so because we like pretty green grass, we have kept those sprinkler systems running for 30 years. When I went to work for Jake, I was like one of the guys over, I want to know how my slab is. 00:57:47:02 - 00:58:11:16 Unknown And believe it or not, my slab looks great in my slab. Our slab looks great. So my biggest takeaway from this, maybe it's rather. I would love the listeners to have a takeaway and that would be our viewers. And that would be to, your foundation is everything. Make sure that you're taking care of it and you're maintaining it, taking care of it and maintaining it. 00:58:11:20 - 00:58:30:13 Unknown Absolutely. What's your number one takeaway that you want people to have? Just n no, not be afraid of simple things that you see in homes. Too many people get afraid with, you know, little bit of cracking. Or maybe there's a hole around the perimeter in your yard or something. I think people, get a little too afraid. 00:58:30:13 - 00:58:48:03 Unknown Maybe it's because there's been a whole lot of sales involved in the industry, and I think it's just slow down, take a few deep breaths. It's going to be okay. I like to slow approach. I like getting an inspection done by a trustworthy company or an engineer. And then I actually like the idea of comparing it down the road. 00:58:48:03 - 00:59:10:01 Unknown Unless there's some type of safety situation involved, you need to slow down when it comes to something like foundation repair. And my other main takeaway from today is just realizing how blessed I am to be able to do stuff like this and talk with people like you and have this amazing lady by my side who is just an unbelievable person for our company and in our personal life. 00:59:10:01 - 00:59:28:08 Unknown And we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for storm. And so I am just thankful for the people that are on my team and to be here with you today. Awesome. And so I'd say mine is, you know, and we we saw this on several episodes in the past. It's come up with some of our other guests. 00:59:28:09 - 00:59:49:15 Unknown Your home doesn't have a check engine light, check engine light like your car does. So you have to do the legwork to to keep an eye on what's going on on your home. You need to get out. Walk around your house every once in a while. You know, we've we've talked about this so many times how people don't do maintenance like they used to, whether it's their house, their car. 00:59:49:20 - 01:00:07:11 Unknown People just aren't as handy as they used to be. Right? Well, you're you're but your best tool and this is just your eyes. Just walk around and see if there's anything that looks wrong. Do you see any cracks in the brick? Do you see any any any separation around your windows? See any termite hills going to the side of your house for it? 01:00:07:14 - 01:00:23:17 Unknown I'm a pest control side, right? Just use your eyes and you'll be surprised what you see when you do. And I'm preaching to the choir because I'm. I'm the worst about walking. You know, I've got three sides of my house. I see all the time on the front, the back, on the side where the trash cans are. I see those three sides all the time. 01:00:23:19 - 01:00:46:04 Unknown One side of my house. Oh, the five foot setback where all the bedroom windows are. I walk down there once every nine months, I bet, you know. So I'm I'm preaching to myself here, too, but, just get out and walk around your house and, you know, you are the check engine light for your house. You know, you're kind of your responsibility as your, as the homeowner to, to take care of your investment. 01:00:46:06 - 01:01:09:02 Unknown Guess what I'm doing when I get home? You're walking around your house. I sure am. Good. All right. Well, Jake, Sonora, thank you so much for being here today. Thanks for having us. Yep. Great to see you. Always. Great to see you. You too. Curtis, I just want to thank you so much for allowing, and inviting Link and Jacob Construction to come today and, do the beyond. 01:01:09:04 - 01:01:28:11 Unknown The shepherd podcast. So it's Shepherd construction podcast. So thank you so much for having us really appreciate it. And I will see you on Thursday. And, we're going to wax and we're going to swing a stick at some golf balls at top. Golf is is top is top golf Thursday. Yeah. Wow. Okay. You're rolling right. 01:01:28:12 - 01:01:44:07 Unknown Yes I just I, I wasn't ready for it. I was thinking we were just kind of our board meeting on our lunch, but nope. It's we're having our GBA custom builders council, top golf on Thursday. So you know, you can bring your balls, too. Yeah, I'd love to. I love the nachos there. I'll come for the nachos. 01:01:44:08 - 01:01:54:04 Unknown He does feed us. Right. Well, thanks for being here, guys. Thank you. All right. And thank you all for listening to this episode of the Euro Project Shepherd podcast. I will see you next time. Take care.