What You Should Know About Injection Underpinning Repairs
One of the clear signs that you are likely having problems with your home's underpinning is cracked brickwork. When you begin to see this, especially in large areas, you need to call an underpinning contractor. One of the options that may be offered to you as a repair option will be injection methods. Before you overlook this idea for other underpinning repair options, consider the key points you should know about this underpinning repair method.
Epoxy Injections
The first thing you need to know about injection based underpinning repair options is that there are two types. These types are epoxy and urethane. Both have their uses, benefits, and disadvantages, depending on your home and current underpinning repair severity. Epoxy is generally used for smaller issues that may be caused by water damage. For example, if you had cracks develop in the floor of the home due to flooding and those cracks are now causing the underpinning issues, then epoxy may be used to waterproof the cracks and seal them if no major shifting has occurred.
Urethane Injections
Urethane injections are a more modern and stable answer to older epoxy methods. Urethane can be used when the underpinning and foundation is still wet. In fact, it uses water as a catalyst. This makes it ideal if you do not want to wait or if drying out the area is more of a challenge than normal. Urethane is also a flexible injection, meaning that it can flow into other areas of the underpinning that may be cracked and help fill them.
Drilling and Injecting
In addition to understanding the two main forms of injections, you will need to understand what happens during the actual underpinning repair. Your contractor will drill a hole into certain areas of your foundation near the site of damage. They will then use a high power injector to send the epoxy or urethane of your choice through into the foundation. This will fill the cracks with minimal to no issue that will affect your current living situation. This means you can stay in the home during and following the repair with no upheaval.
These are just a few of the key points related to injection based underpinning repair methods. If you think this method may work for you, consider contacting your underpinning contractor for answers to further questions, pricing, and a home inspection and estimate. They will also be able to tell you if other issues may be occuring that need your attention.