News and Events

You hear about it often--bentonite soil--it's the stuff nightmares are made of. Highly expansive, unpredictably swelling soil that can crush your foundation like a pop can, or raise and drop it like a high striker game at the carnival. What most people don't talk about are two other issues that can affect your homes stability--mine subsidence and hydrocompactible soil.

However, the problems are generally the same--cracking, settling, bowing, and heaving. They can be slightly harder to detect in a poured foundation, but they are easier to repair.

Sometimes, straightening the wall immediately is the best option and it can be done at a fraction of the cost that wall replacement brings with it.

Buyers ask why builders didn't do a better job Real estate season is gearing up here in the Front Range. Our phones have been ringing with buyers, sellers, agents, and home inspectors asking the same question: Why didn't the builders do a better job building foundations in Colorado?

Denver soils are among some of the most active in the nation. If your home is in the Greater Denver area, then your foundation is experiencing tremendous pressure from expansive soil.

Colorado has some of the most active soils in the nation, from heaving expansive soils to settling hydrocompactible soils, as well as mine subsidence issues in certain parts of the city. It’s always a good idea to know what type of soil might be affecting your foundation when you choose to live in a certain part of town.

As we’re walking around our homes prepping our lawns and planting new flowers, what should we be concerned about?

Heaving soil is a term for expansive soil such as clay, silty clay, bentonite clay, and other moderately swelling to severely swelling soil.

There are several options available to repair, enhance, and reinforce old brick or stone foundations. One solution is called a sister wall, or even a daughter wall. What is a sister wall? What does it do and how can it help my foundation?

With cracking and moisture present in a concrete foundation, exactly how long will it last? Thankfully, concrete foundations are easy to repair, cost effective, too. They can outlast stone, brick, and block by many years. It's estimated that a concrete foundation can last at least 50 years.

Do Denver homes and foundations always settle? Yes, many times, home settle. This can be due to the compaction of fill soils, which is the most common reason.

Denver foundations are experiencing unprecedented movement during this extended drought. The experts at Peak Structural can help you assess that movement!

When should you do the cosmetic repairs to your home? If you're putting your home on the market and need to move fast, here's everything you need to know!

Foundations are susceptible to drought conditions because they rest on the Active Layer of soil right beneath your home. This active layer experienced seasonal temperature fluctuations, drying and wetting cycles from weather and landscaping, and other changes that do not impact the deeper soil layers.

A lot of people believe houses just settle over time, is this true? Yes, many times, home settle. This can be due to the compaction of fill soils, which is the most common reason.

I’m hearing from a lot of the homeowners that we've seen in recent months that as this drought continues (the weather guys are telling us to expect more of the same for 2013), the floor or walls cracks that they had us look at the end of 2012 are getting worse and it is happening a lot more quickly than people thought it would.

Follow along with us as we learn more about foundation repair options for Denver's most common foundation problems--settling and heaving. We are interviewing Peak Structural's top Design Specialist, Aaron Moore, to learn more about settling and heave in Denver.

I recently had an opportunity to sit down with our top Design Specialist, Aaron Moore, to learn more about the soil conditions that impact our Denver homes.

Peak Structural answers some of the more frequent concerns and questions they receive from customers to explain the differences between two service types: mudjacking and foundation repair.