You may have seen the signs: cracks in the walls; doors that won’t open or close properly; items you dropped on the floor promptly rolling away to one side of the room; furniture that never seems to sit plumbly against your walls. These are evidence of a house that needs leveling. Over time, many homes will require leveling, which is a process by which a house’s floor is restored to a level state through foundation work. While this may seem like a daunting or costly repair to many homeowners, and one which is necessary to maintain the structural integrity of the home, it can be a straightforward process with the help of an experienced contractor who will find the most efficient and cost-effective way to level a house.
Why do houses need to be leveled? Shifts and movements are to be expected with any foundation, regardless of type. However, when different parts of the foundation settle disproportionately, called differential settlement, this can compromise the structure and cause areas of the house to sag or bow. This is usually caused by various ways water and the soil around the foundation interact, such as with soil erosion or expansion caused by extreme dry and wet seasons, absorbent clay-like soil, or plumbing issues that occur under the foundation. In rare cases, it can also be caused by a foundation that is deteriorating due to rotting or sub-par materials or even shoddy workmanship. How does house-leveling work? There are many ways to go about leveling a house; however, which method a contractor employs first depends on the type of foundation the house has. For slab foundations, many issues can be resolved by working from the exterior and adding piers or pilings to sagging areas. Sometimes additional concrete may be poured underneath or a chemical substance added to the soil that stems soil expansion. For pier and beam foundations with a crawl space, new piers and concrete pads can be installed or hydraulic jacks can be put in place. In instances when the piers or beams are made of wood and are deteriorating, they can be reinforced by fresh lumber or steel I-beams. Fortunately, most of these repairs can be completed with minimal disruption to the functioning of your home. When might a house be lifted? Lifting a house is an extreme measure that is required in only a few instances. If possible, contractors will seek to avoid this method in the event of foundation issues, by addressing the results of differential house settlement or deteriorating wood foundation elements without lifting the home. However, in instances where the entire foundation must be replaced or when it is too difficult or impossible to reach the problem areas, a home must be lifted. House lifting is also usually required when adding another level to the structure, instead of removing a roof and exposing the interior of the home and building from the top. Mares & Dow Construction have been serving the Bay Aare since 1983. Our general contractors and home remodeling experts are knowledgeable about leveling homes. Contact us today to learn more.
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The Conco Companies’ reputation for concrete contract work in Portland and throughout the Western U.S. was not created overnight. Like most enterprises, Conco can attribute its success to many factors, including the expertise and hard work of its founders, as well as taking advantage of a certain time in history. The mid twentieth century saw several exciting concrete construction projects in the United States. These decades featured bigger and bolder projects with novel uses of concrete, as well as many innovations in concrete production and implementation. Amid this heyday of concrete construction, The Conco Companies first opened its doors in 1959 in California’s Bay Area.
A Growing Array of Services From its inception, Conco has kept pace with new technologies and honed its use of innovative concrete construction techniques. With its ability to participate in every step of the process including design, formwork, reinforcing, pumping, placement, and finishing, Conco has developed unique features of its operations that benefit its customers and their projects. Conco grew to one of the largest independent contractors of reinforced steel in the western United States, touting its own rebar fabrication facilities, as well as the largest concrete pumping company in the US. In this arena, Conco seeks to even further enhance its operations by leveraging its proprietary foam concrete Confoam™ and by utilizing customized pumping strategies for each project, including long boom pumps that improve the air quality on job sites and meet emissions requirements. Becoming a Leader in the Industry Not only has the The Conco Companies evolved to provide a variety of concrete construction services, it also has grown to serve an extensive area of the US. Conco has been contracted on construction projects throughout the West, from San Francisco to Denver and Seattle to Los Angeles. This large network and depth of expertise is enhanced by the many industry organizations that Conco’s founders and leadership have not only participated in, but been recognized by, such as founder and former company president Matt Gonsalves’ induction into the California Building Industry Foundation Hall of Fame in 2000. The current leadership has been involved in Building Industry of America, the Concrete Contractors Association, the Home Builders Association, the Engineering & Utility Contractors Association, and the American Concrete Pumping Association. Conco’s mission is to be the best supplier of concrete services in the Western United States and to bring expertise, experience, and quality to each project. We continue to upgrade and expand facilities to better serve the growing market for multi-family, commercial, educational, public works, and parking structure projects as well as other construction development. Please call or email for more information on how Conco can assist your next project with Confoam™. Foam concrete is a lightweight concrete that provides benefits that cannot be achieved with traditional construction materials. The Conco Companies, a leading supplier of concrete services in the western United States, produces and places Confoam™, their proprietary foam concrete. Conco has the specialized production equipment and the professional training and experience to safely and skillfully place the highly flowable, cellular lightweight concrete, which saves projects both time and money.
What is Confoam? Foam concrete is a cement-based slurry that has a high percentage of foam entrained into the plastic mortar. It is created by mixing Portland cement, water, and fine sand to create the mortar base. Little or no coarse aggregate is used to keeping the mixture light, making it closer to a mortar than a usual concrete mixture. The cement-based slurry is then mixed with a synthetic foam that forms small bubbles, allowing the air content to reach 40-80%. The bubbles in Confoam have a high level of stability ensuring that their designed structure will be maintained through mixing, placing, and hardening. Benefits of Foam Concrete There are many benefits of Confoam compared to traditional concrete. First, introducing the foam to the mixture makes it very lightweight and less dense than base materials or native soils and removes the need for expensive foundation solutions, as well as virtually eliminating any settlement. Also because it is a mortar without coarse aggregate and a higher water content, it is self-compacting. This eliminates the need for mechanical compaction after placement, saving time during construction, and also allowing for safer placement as employees do not need to go into the excavation area. Lastly, Confoam does not have unexpected strength gains, making it easy to excavate with common construction equipment. Conco’s experience placing Confoam Conco developed Confoam to be able to be customized for each specific application, optimizing its characteristics for your project. This level of customization along with its fluid nature and ease of pumpability makes Confoam an ideal choice for the most difficult voids, including underneath slabs or narrow, unstable trenches. Conco’s customized Confoam combined with their expert team members who are highly trained in pumping and placing foam concrete ensures that your project will be delivered on time and on budget. Conco’s mission is to be the best supplier of concrete services in the Western United States and to bring expertise, experience, and quality to each project. We continue to upgrade and expand facilities to better serve the growing market for multi-family, commercial, educational, public works, and parking structure projects as well as other construction development. Please call or email for more information on how Conco can assist your next project with Confoam™. A fun weekend project is to build a wine rack using reclaimed lumber. You can leave the finished product rough, or sand it down and add the luster of a hard sealant finish. Either way, the tightly cured wood from days gone by creates the perfect visual appeal for well-cured wines and soft lighting. The Lumber Baron wants your project to turn out beautifully, and we believe that reclaimed lumber adds something special that is not available through today’s big-box lumber stores. To help you make the best lumber decision, we compiled a few reasons why creating a wine rack using reclaimed lumber is a great idea.
Fine Grain and Deep ColorAt The Lumber Baron, most of our reclaimed lumber comes from old buildings, bridges, wine vats, and tanks that have been taken out of service. During our hand-selection process, we pay close attention to the grain of the lumber and its coloration. For a wine rack, the coloration can be especially important because of the unique tints available both through old-growth heartwood and because some of our reclaimed lumber was once used in winery tanks, and the color of the liquids have penetrated the dense material of the lumber. Insect and Decay ResistantOld growth lumber tends to be a lot more dense than today’s managed growth lumber. In those days, forests had aged for hundreds of years, and the oldest, largest trees were prized for the hardness of their heartwood. Because the grain of the wood is so tightly compressed, it is almost impervious to insects, mildew, and other types of deterioration. If you treat your wine rack with a couple of coats of polyurethane sealant, you won’t have to to do anything again for many years. Use it Rough or Newly ResurfacedWhen you buy lumber direct from a lumber yard like The Lumber Baron, you can choose to get lumber with a rougher cut, or finely resurfaced to meet your personal requirements. Our sawmill is on location, and we can provide you with lumber finishing services that aren’t available at those other stores. The Lumber Baron has the best selection of reclaimed lumber available to the public in the Bay Area, and we have decades of experience in all aspects of lumber selection and milling. To get a more visual idea of what you can do with reclaimed lumber, take a look at our gallery of customer projects or visit us today. |
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