Chemical Soil Injection Foundation Repair

WHAT IS CHEMICAL SOIL INJECTION FOUNDATION REPAIR?

Non-toxic, water soluble chemicals (potassium ions and ammonium salts) are injected into the ground under your building or home. These chemicals inhibit soil’s ability to absorb water so that when it rains your soils do not swell up.

WHEN IS IT USED?

Chemical injection also called Soil injection is an appropriate remedy to use when upward movement has started to affect a small area under the foundation. Chemical soil injection is done to reduce the ability of expansive clay soils to retain water, reducing “heave” in soil and the damage it can cause. The varying wet and dry cycles during the year cause the realignment of platelets in clay soils. This causes the soils to contract. In the Dallas, Texas area, it is best used when uplift is less than 1.5 inches and has not yet extended more than 10 feet towards the interior of the building. This does not remove the upheaval but stops the upheaval from increasing and/or spreading. By stopping the upheaval and leaving the slightly sloped foundation as is, owners can avoid more costly repair from soil damage.

HOW DOES SOIL INJECTION WORK?

Chemical injection allows excess moisture to be drained away by loosening the bond between molecules of water and the platelets. Chemical injections change the composition of the soil and reduce the expansion/contraction cycles. Water has many uses and sticks to almost anything including clay. This attraction causes clay soil to expand. By using a non swelling chemical to stick to the clay before water does you can prevent this. When an appropriate concentration of the right chemicals is injected into clay, the chemicals stick to the clay molecules and prevent the clays from absorbing water. Once in place, the chemicals stay attached to the clays. In layman`s terms, by injecting the chemicals into the soil and “coating” the clay, you create a moisture barrier, stopping water from causing more foundation upheaval.

HOW DOES POWER JACK FOUNDATION REPAIR DO IT?

Injections into the soil are made by Power Jack Foundation Repair with the aid of a high pressure insertion process, with equipment designed and produced specifically for chemical soil injection. In most cases, for existing structures, chemical injection is done around the perimeter of a foundation. If there are driveways, patios, decks, or other paved surfaces, ¾ inch diameter holes are drilled through the paving to reach the underlying soils. The chemical solution is injected to depths ranging from 7 to 10 feet. The solution is injected at relatively low pressures, typically on two separate days. The solution is pumped from a truck to a manually operated injection wand. Injections can be done on the interiors of buildings, however, interior treatment requires that holes be drilled though the floor every 2 feet (one hole for every 4 square feet). While exterior injections are hardly noticeable, this is not true for interior injections. When interior injections are being done, the contents of a home must be removed because the chemicals do stain and can splatter during injection.
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IS SOIL INJECTION TOXIC?

The materials used in the solution are not toxic in small quantities. The materials should not be consumed or ingested. If the soil injection solution gets on a your skin, we recommend cleaning the solution off with soap and water.