My insurance company is recommending grouting alone to repair my home. Will that be enough?
One of the most common methods utilized in attempting to repair homes damaged by sinkhole activity is grouting. (What is a sinkhole?) The most important thing to know about grouting sinkholes is that it does not fix the home. Instead, the purpose of grouting is to “solidify the soil matrix” near or beneath the home. The grout that is used in sinkhole damage repairs is not like the grout you find in tile applications or in flooring. Instead, it is a slurry of water and cement, prepared at a predetermined consistency. It is injected beneath the home at an angle, and designed to prevent future damage caused by the movement of the soils.
The biggest concern raised with the use of grout is that it does not repair the home itself. If there is a reasonable belief the home has moved, which is most often the case, grout does not put the home back to its pre-loss condition. In this context, while grout may stops future movement beneath the property, other, structurally based methods are required to complete the repair. The most common structural repair necessary to complete a sinkhole repair is underpinning of some kind, either along the perimeter or on load bearing walls.
If an engineering firm calls for grout alone in their recommendation, it would be wise to inquire as to the method of moving the home back into its original place. While the use of grouting may stop the continued movement of the soils, pinning is likely to necessary. Over these past several years, while most engineering firms were focused on grouting exclusively, the increase reporting of failed repairs has focused homeowners in sinkhole-prone areas, such as Marion, Hernando, and Pasco counties, to request that their insurance companies also pay for pinning. Any grouting only recommendation should be evaluated by an independent engineering firm to determine whether it is adequate for the property.
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