Foundation questions we hear around Bowling Green

A walk around the outside to check grading, gutters, downspouts and any low spots; floor elevations taken with a level; crack widths measured with a gauge; a look at the crawl space or basement for moisture, rot, bowing or settlement; and a written plan with the cause, the fix and the price. There is no charge and no obligation.

No. Thin, straight shrinkage cracks in poured concrete and hairline cracks in mortar are common and often harmless. The cracks worth acting on are stair-step cracks that are widening, horizontal cracks in block walls, cracks wider at one end than the other, and any crack that comes with sticking doors or sloping floors. We measure them so you can watch for change.

Two reasons stacked on top of each other. The clay that covers the limestone swells when it is wet and shrinks when it dries, which moves footings season by season. Below that, the limestone is full of cracks and caves, and water moving down through it can carry supporting soil into the voids. The city even sends stormwater underground on purpose through drainage wells and improved sinkholes.

Often, yes. Piers can carry a house down past the clay to firmer bearing, and drainage changes can keep water from concentrating near the footing. What a foundation crew should not do alone is fill or grout an active void under a house; that calls for an engineer and sometimes a geotechnical study, and we will tell you when a job has reached that point. A new sinkhole on public land is reported to Public Works at 270-393-3628.

Inside Bowling Green city limits, the City's rule covers work that constructs, alters or repairs a structure, and its homeowner guidance says alterations that change a building's structural form need a permit. Structural repair falls under that; we confirm with the Building Division and the permit is posted before work starts. Outside the city, the county or city building office where the house sits decides.

Kentucky does not issue a statewide general contractor licence. The state licenses electricians, plumbers and HVAC contractors; Louisville and Lexington run their own programs. For foundation work around Bowling Green, ask for proof of insurance. Ours carries general liability and workers' compensation.

State law, KRS 367.4911, requires notice to the one-call center at least two and no more than ten full working days before excavation. Pier holes and drain trenches are excavation, so the locate ticket comes first.

A typical pier job needs several piers, often somewhere between five and ten, and the digging, driving and lifting usually takes a few working days once the permit and the locate are in hand. Larger or tighter jobs run longer; the plan gives you the expected days.

A pier, brace or anchor stops the part of the house it supports from moving further. It will not stop drywall from showing hairline cracks as a house lives through Kentucky seasons, and it will not fix water problems on its own. That is why our plans deal with drainage at the same time.

Usually not for settlement, clay movement or sinkholes. Standard policies typically exclude earth movement, including sinkholes, though some insurers sell sinkhole coverage as an endorsement. Read your declarations page and call your agent. Our insurance guide covers what to ask.

It turns a damp, vented crawl space into a sealed one: a heavy reinforced liner across the ground and up the walls and piers, vents sealed, and a dehumidifier holding the humidity down. The floor above stops absorbing moisture, wood stops rotting, and the musty smell usually goes.

The Kentucky Geological Survey flags radon as a concern on the sinkhole plain, noting that about 60 percent of measured values in one rock unit exceeded the EPA limit. A sealed crawl space liner is not a radon system by itself. Test the house; if the number is high, mitigation is its own job.

Yes. We cover Warren County and the county seats around it: Glasgow, Cave City, Scottsville, Franklin, Russellville, Auburn, Brownsville and Morgantown, plus Smiths Grove, Oakland, Alvaton and Woodburn. See where we work.

Yes. Calls are taken at every hour, and a person phones you back to book. If water is pouring in or a wall shifted overnight, say so and it moves to the front of the line.