Foundation Repair in Orlando, FL
45 minutes from our DeLand office and lab.
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Sinkholes in Orange County
Real karst, and most cracks are still something else.
Ground conditions by area
Sand ridges, buried lakes, and limestone underneath all of it.
Orange County was built across a landscape of sand ridges and closed lake basins. What your parcel sits on depends on which of those it occupies.
The lakes that are no longer there
Orlando grew partly by filling small lakes, ponds, and cypress heads, mostly before anyone documented it. A house across a former basin edge sits half on native sand and half on fill, which is why distress shows on one side and not the other.
Where a former basin is suspected we bore both sides of the structure as standard, then design the pier layout around what the two logs actually show.
Who installs the repair
BTR Foundation Services is the installation arm of Bechtol Engineering and Testing: same company, same engineers, operating under its own name for repair work.
Foundation repair needs an engineer to design it and a crew to build it. Split those across two companies and accountability goes with them. Here the engineer who calculated the pier layout is in the same building as the crew installing it, and the same firm signs the certification.
Services in Orange County
The soil decides the method.
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Environmental Engineering
Phase I and Phase II ESAs -
Geotechnical Engineering
Soil borings and foundation recommendations -
Construction Materials Testing
Soil, concrete, and asphalt testing -
Forensic Engineering
Why a foundation or structure failed -
Sinkhole Evaluation
Borings into limestone and grouting design -
Foundation Repair
Helical piers and underpinning by BTR
Orlando FAQs
How much does foundation repair cost in Orlando?
It depends on the cause, the number of piers, and how deep competent bearing sits, which varies considerably across Orange County. Anyone quoting a figure before borings is quoting a guess. What we can tell you is the sequence: evaluation first, then borings, then a sealed design with a fixed scope and a real number.
Do you have an office in Orlando?
What causes foundation settlement in Florida?
Four causes account for most of it: fill that was never properly compacted, organic material buried beneath the footing, water escaping from a supply or drain line, and karst activity where limestone sits near the surface. Each produces similar cracking and each has a different remedy, which is why the cause is established before a repair is designed.
What is a helical pier?
A steel shaft with helix plates that is screwed into the ground until it reaches soil capable of carrying the load, transferring the structure's weight off the failing soil. Installation torque is measured continuously and correlates to capacity, so each pier's capacity is known as it goes in rather than estimated afterward.
Do I need a permit for foundation repair in Orlando?
Structural repair generally requires a permit, and the sealed drawings are what gets reviewed. Which authority issues it depends on the parcel, because Orange County has many separate city building departments. Confirm with the one covering your address, and we provide the sealed drawings it reviews.
