It is possible to repair a sinkhole home. There are a number of different remedies that professional engineers will recommend as adequate methods to firm up the soil and ensure the home is properly supported on a firm foundation.

Compaction Grouting
The most common method of sinkhole repair is grouting. During a grouting repair, pressurized concrete is pumped into the ground around and below a home. The goal of grouting is to cause the concrete to fill any potential voids (such as sinkhole voids), and otherwise denseify any loose soils. Numerous holes will be drilled around the home, and big concrete trucks will drive up and pump the concrete dozens of feet below the ground. In theory, the concrete will harden over time, and prevent the home from sinking further.

Problems With Grouting
Grouting is a very unscientific process - pour a bunch of concrete into the ground, and hope it fixes the problem. And in fairness, sometimes concrete grouting can be successful. But there are major problems with concrete grouting - the most basic being that nobody, including the engineers, can know what happens to the concrete once its pumped into the ground. Perhaps it does as intended and fills voids below ground. Or perhaps it sinks into the aquifer and is washed away. Maybe it will end up underneath a neighbor's yard, or perhaps concrete will suddenly spring from the ground blocks away - all of which has happened in the past.

In one familiar example, over 500 cubic yards (about 50 concrete trucks worth of concrete) was pumped under one home. But just months later, geologists performing tests on the property could find no traces of concrete anywhere - it just disappeared!

No Grouting Warranty
If the old adage of “put your money where your mouth is” is accurate, it may be telling that no grouting company will offer warranties on grouting repairs. Nobody. Why? Because grouting is so unscientific and unpredictable that nobody - not even the grouting companies themselves - can know with any degree of certainty that grouting works! What doesn't come with a warranty these days? And if there's no warranty, can you really trust it?

Don't Be Forced Into Grouting!
Many insurance companies will attempt to insist that a homeowner repair his or her home though grouting. Why? Because grouting is often the cheaper way to fix a home! But cheaper isn't necessarily better, particularly when it comes to sinkholes. Don't let an insurance company force you to accept substandard repair protocols.

If your insurance company has recommended that your home be grouted, call the experienced sinkhole attorneys at the SinkTeam today. The SinkTeam will consult with you for FREE, either in person or by telephone, listen to your problems, answer your questions, and help you understand your rights and options. Call today to arrange a FREE, no cost no obligation consultation by calling 813-435-1616.



Underpinning
A common alternative preferred by many homeowners is a sinkhole remediation process known as “underpinning” or “pinning.” There are numerous types of pinning available, but the most common types of pinning involve attaching steel rods to the foundation of the home, and driving those rods into firm bedrock deep in the soils. This process transfers the weight of the home from the dirt underneath the foundation, which the concrete slab rests on, through the steel rods into the bedrock below. A way to think of it is like a home resting on stilts - a stilt home - except the stilts are in the ground. The weight of the home is no longer dependent on the sinkhole impacted soils beneath the home - the weight rests on competent bedrock deep in the earth.

Built Like A Skyscraper!
Many skyscrapers are built by sinking heavy steel pilings deep into the ground, and building the skyscraper on these pilings. Pinning a home is, to some degree, a similar process. For most homes, however, pinning can be overkill if the home rests on a solid soil foundation - normally the concrete slab resting on soil (known as a “slab on grade foundation” is more than adequate to support a home - a home weighs a lot less than a sky scraper! But when the soil underneath the concrete slab is sinking away, the soil can no longer support the weight of the foundation and the home - hence the benefit of a steel pinning system to transfer the weight down into competent bedrock!

Warranted
Pinning is almost always warranted for 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, or even for life! Compare the pinning warranties with grouting - which offers no warranty! Why is pinning warranted? Because it is a much precise method to repair a home. Pinning companies sink the steel rods deep into bedrock, and then level the home using exacting measurements. In fact, it is not at all uncommon for cracks in a home being pinned to actually close up by themselves as the home is re-leveled!
For more information on pinning, questions about pinning or sinkhole repairs in general, contact SinkTeam today for a FREE consultation at 813-435-1616.