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What is a band? Another term with many meanings. Today, we are most interested in the band in your crawlspace. Usually, there is also a second band between the floors in a two-story home. This band is, usually, two boards that run the perimeter of the house and support the exterior walls of the home. This part of the framing is crucial. The floor joists connect to it, supporting the floors. The walls sit on it, meaning all the exterior walls, doors and windows, depend on the band for support. Sometimes, people call the band [...]

One word for many things. Some words get applied to many things, which can create confusion. Take the word sill, for instance; almost all the meanings relate to something in your home. There is the sill of a door or window. A stool is the little wooden shelf at the bottom of the window that you see in your house; this is not it. The sill is the framing that is under the window that the window sits on. There is also a piece of trim on the window called the sill, but it's on [...]

What is all this stuff? Every trade and profession has its own unique jargon and inside language. This makes communicating within that group more precise and quicker. But it generally has the effect of making things more confusing for those outside the group. Construction is no different. Even within the broad construction field, the various trades can struggle to understand each other. On top of unique terms for each trade, there are also regional differences in the terms that get used as well. Today, we are going to try to make sense of the structural [...]

Structure vs. Foundation Out of sight, out of mind. This phrase applies well to the foundation and structure of our homes. It can be a big unknown and confusing area for most of us who are outside the trades. All this makes them even easier to ignore. Until there's a problem, that is.   Today's topic is trying to make sense of what is down there on the most elementary level possible. Or, put more simply, what part is my foundation, and what part is the structure?   While this easy rule of thumb does [...]

Let's get the technicalities out of the way. There are more than two types of foundations. We are aware of this. These two broad categories cover most homes where we repair foundations in the Southeastern United States.   Slab homes   This is the newer category. However, they are growing in their use each year. They appear to be on track to become the majority of new homes built in our region.   A slab foundation is one where they build the house on a large concrete slab. Nothing is accessible under this concrete layer. [...]

Why does a foundation and structural repair company need a blog?   Admittedly, it seems strange for us to be starting a blog. We felt the same way, but here are some reasons we decided to do it.   The biggest reason is that we've seen and learned some things over the years and want to share them with others. One worrying thing about our industry is the ability of predatory salespeople. They often do this by taking advantage of information asymmetry. That means one person knows very little about a topic, and the other [...]