Our Underpinning Process makes your life easier

Our house Underpinning Process is designed to make underpinning easy to understand and transparent from start to finish. It is an 8 step process we call “Wunderpinning” that removes the uncertainty from foundation repair.

An overview of the Underpinning Process

We talk to hundreds of people every year who have questions about underpinning and foundation repair. One question that comes up a lot is “what’s involved in underpinning my house?” or “how does it work?”.

Underpinning isn’t something most people are familiar with and it is a very sensitive topic - the safety, appearance and value of a family home is potentially under threat.

Additionally, we’ve heard from people who have endured a painful underpinning experience where they were in the dark or had an unsatisfactory outcome.

For this reason we developed a structured Underpinning Process we call “Wunderpinning” which maximises transparency and communication throughout the process, alleviating stress and uncertainty for our clients.

Before we Begin

Foundation advice

We start out by helping people better understand their situation, providing clear advice and answering any questions they have. This is a complimentary service we provide to anyone unfortunate enough to be in a situation where their house is cracking and or subsiding in some way.

Home Checkup

Next we pay a visit to the home to conduct a checkup, so that we can assess the damage ourselves, understand the cause, take levels and outline available options. If necessary, we will recommend a structural engineer’s assessment at this point.

Underpinning quote

If it turns out your foundation needs repairing, we will provide an all-inclusive quote, written in plain language, with all costs clearly explained. Our quotes are always fixed price. There are no extras or hidden charges added on afterwards. And our terms clearly outline what is included and what is excluded from the quote. No nasty surprises.

Schedule the foundation repair

When someone is ready to proceed, we schedule a start date that fits in with their life and arrange a Kick-off Meeting to confirm all details and make sure we’re on the same page before we get started. You can then be confident of when we’ll be starting on site and when the work will be finished.

The Foundation Repair

Underpinning Headstock

The house underpinning work commences, starting with ground preparation and excavation of the foundations. Once completed, we begin locating and screwing the Katana Screw Piles in place. We then concrete the pile “headstock” in place (the top of the pile that extends from the earth).

Underpinning Lift

The second stage involves lifting the house back to the desired height. Once complete, we concrete the entire foundation solidy at this new height, locking it firmly into the screw piles.

Property Clean-up

Lastly we return once the concrete is set to confirm the level of the house and foundation at pre-assessed points. We finish by removing all equipment and conducting a clean up of the site. We then hold an Exit Meeting with you to review the completed work and ensure you are happy with everything.

After we’ve Finished

Completion Report

Within 48 hours of completion we provide you with our Foundation Completion Report, which includes all the details of the work and the Form 16 Inspection Certificate. This also ensures you have a record of the quality of work carried out, should you sell the property in the future.

What else you need to know

It is not uncommon that cosmetic repairs will be needed after an underpinning job. With excavation equipment and concreting happening on your property, there will inevitably be disturbance to lawn and gardens, for example (we make all this clear prior to starting with you).

Similarly, where there were cracks in the house, these most often close up after the building is lifted back to the correct position. However, there is usually still visible evidence of cracking and therefore a need for some rework.

Cosmetic repairs do not form part of our standard quotes (e.g. restoration of lawn, gardens, cracks, utilities). We can work with you to provide these services or recommend companies to you who can carry out this work.

We recommend any such repair work to be carried out after the settling-in period, typically one month after underpinning.

Still have questions?

If there are still some things we haven’t answered, pick up the phone to us and we’ll gladly help make things clearer.

If on the other hand you’re ready to have someone come to you home to provide some clarity on your foundation condition, book in a complimentary Home Checkup service.