A friend has purchased an old brick tragedy with more cracks that can be counted. An engineers report suggested Uretek to use as a reinforcement. Has anyone heard of or used it before?
My gut feeling is to bog it all with no more gaps and repair it down the track.
Any thoughts…Bog and patch is always an option as long as there is a way of measuring the movement behind the repairs. Often the exposed brick work of exterior walls is a good place to monitor movement. You don’t want to hide a serious problem though. I’ve been told that anything between 10 and 20mm movement is considered significant and you should get a professional to look at it. Have a look at the information on Jetpin Australia's website in their Frequently Answered Question section. I know from experience that Jetpin’s advanced underpinning system has saved some fairly tragic homes. I’m not sure where your friend is located but Jetpin Australia operates in the Melbourne metro area.
A couple of points:
If it is sufficiently serious to warrant an engineer's report, then follow their advice. Has the engineer indicated whether the problem has been caused by footing failure or by the drying/wetting cycle of the reactive clay (or other material)? If this is a footing failure, then the cracks will only continue to the point of failure (in an unknown timeframe).
Cracks less than 5 mm you could get away with a bit of bog however you are talking serious movement here.
If you undertake the repairs, what is the remaining life of the building? ie will the cost of the repair outweigh the useful life/should you look at partial demo and rebuild/extending the house instead?
Uretek is not a reinforcement – it is grout injection into the soil to increase its bearing capacity and to raise the slab back to its original position/limit further movement. This engineered solution should reduce further differential settlement.
Used the uretek system about 18 months ago and it worked amazing. Had a double storey town house in melb. where the outside bearing wall sunk 30mm and needed to be raised and underpinned. Instead of underpinning, i contacted uretek and they came in for one day and injected the two part mix and it lifted the slab back to the original possition. It cost about 15K to lift 10m of outside slab. After they had finished, i had to repair a small amount of brick work which had cracked from sinking. Highly recommended. No mess and quick
May I draw your attention to an important Uretek experience on another forum? Link and content pasted below.
It is also my understanding that with chemical underpinning such as this that clients need to get a firm MATERIALS quote upfront like I did with a mob in Adelaide called Urathane Solutions Pty. Ltd. who guarantee all clients that there will be no further material cost, and that Urathane Solutions totally covers any excess cost themselves, should it happen. My understanding is that quotations from Uretek can vary significantly for materials once the job is in process, and come as an unpleasant surprise.So make sure your quote for materials for underpinning is fixed whoever your contractor is.
http://www.notgoodenough.org/viewtopic.php?p=317788#317788
<moderator: I have deleted the content. Please see link if you are interested>
Uretek did a great job! There was no dust to clean up. Our house was more leveled than I expected it to be. As far as we know everything was done well. The technicians did a great job, and the sales representative was very professional and enjoyable to deal with. We were impressed with how quickly the project was completed. We were very pleased with Uretek's performance, before, during, and after the job. We were well educated during this project. Our walls moved into place, doors opened and closed, and cracks in the wall closed! It was pricey, but well worth it. Overall, great crew and customer service.
Just wondering about the post from Johniebgood.
If Uretek are injecting a substance into the soil under the foundations of the building, how is it going to be exposed to the air and cause a wall fire? Why was there a huge hole cut in the floorboards? Everything I have read says it is like keyhole surgery (using tiny holes) and most often done from outside the building. I am confused with what procedure the person complaining is referring to.
On another note, can anyone please tell me what they have paid to have work done by Uretek?
Many thanks!We had Uretek repair our home almost 2 years ago, they were brilliant.
Came out quoted the job approx $8000
We accepted the quote paid our deposit, Uretek arrange a day to come.
Arrived on time and with 5 guys, everybody knew their jobs and within 1 hour the rear section of our house was raised 70mm.
A perfect job and no mess or turmoil for us.
Also,
When the house was raised the back patio concrete slab looked weird as it had sunk with the house. I asked the guys how much to repair the slab as they were there with all the equipment. They said they had some material still left and would fix it included in the quote. They drilled several holes in the slab and within another 30 mins the slab was perfect.
I only have praise for Uretek perfect job and almost 2 years later no movement.
Great job and very nice people to deal with.I am a practicing structural engineer with 30 years experience and I would say that if you have a problem of settlement of poorly compacted fill it is likely to be a very good solution. If on the other hand you are on an expansive clay and your cracks are opening and closing as soil moisture varies in the 2.5 m beneath them, then I would suggest that this is not a long term fix. To get a handle on time frames maximum movements may take from say 5 to 20 years to occur so if you are selling next week then again this may be for you, although you may not have done the purchaser any favors in the longer term. One risk that is seldom discussed is that if they do close an open crack and the moisture changes to the old profile the crack can no longer be closed so new cracks may emerge nearby. 20 years on the situation may therefore have worsened as a result of the treatment.
I am not saying that Uretek does not have a valid role at times but it is certainly not in my view the 'silver bullet' that others in this forum seem to be indicating.
I just thought I'd add a comment here. I have a cottage built over 100 years ago on a row of bluestones instead of footings, on very deep highly reactive clay soil. I think it's pretty good that's it's survived at all, but what with alternating water from leaking pipes and years of drought, then above average rain, and no provision for stormwater runoff, the cracks got bigger and bigger, both inside and out, as the soil moisture varied. The engineer I consulted recommended site management to get the stormwater away from the house, and he also recommended urethane injection over conventional underpinning, as it would lift the house over a wider area, thus spreading the stresses.
I got quotes from both Uretek and Urathane Solutions, and had no hesitation in choosing Urathane Solutions. The Uretek quote was a price range scribbled on the back of a business card after a brief look. The Urathane Solutions quote was fixed price, with, as others have stated, any extra costs to be borne by the contractor. In my case the cracks worsened between the quote and the suitable season to do the work, and there was indeed another 2 metres of injection done, at no extra cost. Urathane Solutions also provided written explanations of causes and solutions to the problem.
While the job was being done, we got comments from neighbours, 3 of whom had had conventional underpinning done and still had problems. I also had a chat with a passing engineer who had seen a Uretek sudden injection being done which had lifted the house too much, and caused the urethane to burst out between paving etc. Mine was a much slower job, over about 2 and a half days, so that progress could be measured. The cracks did not close completely…no-one says they will, but there is a visible difference, and hopefully when the house has settled and I have the cracks filled, it will last longer.
I am very happy with Urathane Solutions.
Hi Jannan,
How long ago did you get the Urathane done?
Just curious.
Hi Derek,
Only a few weeks ago, so I can't comment on long-term effects, especially as we have not had any real rain in that time. (With the site management that should no longer be an issue.) The main thing I can say is that I found Mark's personal guarantees about costs, and the information he provided, very reassuring.
Jannan
Cheers for that – I am am just filing information away just in case it is ever needed.
Hey all,
I am also in Adelaide and thinking of using Urathane Solutions to raise and stabilise our house prior to extensions.
We had both Uretek and Urathane Solutions come and quote.
Uretek quote was pretty hit and miss and really not a quote at all. I am still awaiting Urathane Solutions fixed quote.
As mentioned Mark from Urathane Solutions seemed to have a far more methodical approach to the job. The Uretek system to me seems that any one with a high pressure pump and access to the product could carry out the task.
Has any one else used Urathane Solutions in Adelaide? Would be great to hear of any other happy customers.
Thanks.
A fire that occurred at our Northcote property on January 12, 2007, that was caused by the spontaneous combustion of the patented polyurethane product called “Uretek” that is intended to improve the bearing capacity of foundation materials, and which is currently and extensively employed by Uretek throughout Australasia. I am concerned and saddened that, some writing in this post have doubted that this incident actually occurred. I can assure you it did, and I can provide photos and other details that shows the aftermath of a serious fire that was attended to by two fire trucks, and which, as the gas was still on at the time, could have destroyed our home and killed my wife and the Uretek technicians present on the day of the incident. If you are still contemplating hiring this company, ask them to tell you about the 2007 incident. Ask them to put in writing that the process is safe, and ask them to tell you what happens when the Uretek material is exposed to air and spontaneously combusts. <moderator: delete personal comment>
I contacted Mike from Urathane in South Australia who offered an excellent
service. He was professional knowledgeable and gave great advice.
He advised me on how to fix my falling damp problem and next year when
my house foundations are dry he will reassess the problem.
I highly recommend Urathane who work in Melbourne and Sydney
Mark from Urethane Solutions just finished lifting a corner of my house today (Forestville, SA). I watched as he did the work and was there when he hit concrete – the house had obviously previously been underpinned with concrete by the previous owners, but because they hadn’t fixed the drainage problem, the concrete dropped again. No fuss or bother, he just continued drilling through the concrete, welded some extensions to his tubes and injected under the old underpinning, lifting that as well as the foundation (1920’s house, probably bluestone or slate foundation).
No mention of extra cost or complaints about the extra day on site, in Mark’s words, “I work to a result, not a time”. From his original inspection and advice to fix the drainage problem before he would do the work, he was very thorough and methodical. He lifted the base of the wall and returned the top of the wall to nearly square (previous repairs to the large cracks meant he couldn’t get it absolutely square without risking more damage).
End result, the cracks inside the house are completely closed, the larger cracks outside nearly closed, and the brick lintel in the door next to the corner which had been in danger of falling out, back to original. The screen and wooden doors which previously been skew-whiff in the frames are square again, and I only had to move the striker plate on the door lock back to it’s original position and the doors close perfectly again.
The house is tenanted and they were concerned about the disruption, imagining the hole digging and concrete pumping that would be necessary, but Mark explained exactly what he would be doing, and they are happy at the minimal disruption. There is still some cleanup to be done from foam plumes which came up through cracks in the ground and the pavers alongside the house need to be relaid because they too got lifted by at least 100mm, but I am extremely happy with the outcome.
Hello all,
Just after an update on Urathane Solutions and if anyone went ahead and used them and those that have used them what is the current state of the cracks / moving of your home.
We are at this moment looking into getting our house either underpinned or using Urathane and would really love some feedback as it is going to be a rather costly affair!Many thanks in advance.
I too would like to hear from anyone using Urethane Solutions or Uretek as I am considering both for my Adelaide property.
Especially if some time has passed since the repair was done.
Should we need an advice from a structural engineer before we commit on using Uretek or Urethane Solutions?
Because I have been in contact with some engineers, and they don’t seem to know much about slab injection using this solution.
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