Advanced Structural Repair:

Strengthening Denvers Foundations

by Michele Dawson, TheConcrete Network

Chris Boortz loves his job. He works with a great group of people, he eliminates a dire situation and he can move houses at nearly the turn of a lever. Boortz, a Ram Jack dealer, runs Advanced Structural Repair, based in Aurora, Colorado.

"Its the funnest work and the results are phenomenal," Boortz said of his profession, which primarily involves repairing foundations, as well as drainage, landscape, and drywall repairs.

Boortz graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in construction management in 1987. He then moved to San Diego, where he spent about four years building what amounted to about 200 houses.

He then found his way back to Colorado and worked with a company specializing in foundation repair work before making the leap and starting his own company about eight years ago. Today he has more than 20 employees.

Boortz developed his own piering system during his companys infancy years a system that engineers questioned, he said. That prompted him to look at alternatives, including the Ram Jack company. After meeting with representatives at a tradeshow, Boortz enthusiastically became a dealer.

Ram Jack is a family-owned foundation repair business that was formed in 1968 in Ada, Oklahoma. Concrete piering was the original repair method because it was essentially the only technology being used at the time. Within a few years it became evident that the concrete pier didnt provide long-term stabilization of foundations.

The owners embarked on a research program to develop a repair system that would stand the test of time and one in which an acceptable warranty period could be provided to the building owner. The first patent of the Ram Jack system was issued in 1985. Additional refinements and patents followed over the next 10 years.

The modern system involves piling or piering the technique of driving steel pipe pilings to remedy failing building foundations and to correct foundation settlement.

Ram Jack's patented lift system is used to recover settlement in homes. High-carbon, steel pilings are driven vertically by 70,000 lbs. of hydraulic power to an average of 22 feet below the home to anchor the structure and prevent future settlement.

A hydraulic pump uses a synchronized lift to raise the affected areas of your home simultaneously to maximum practical recovery.

Boortz estimates that about 80 percent of his work is residential.

"In Denver we have a unique situation with the soils," Boortz said. "Houses with basements are built on concrete piers. The houses actually start pushing out of the ground like a banana coming out of the peel. Were actually digging out from under the walls."

The work is year-round in Denver with just a slight slowdown during the winter months.

Boortz works directly with builders and also gets projects through insurance companies or as the result of litigation. And a smaller percentage of jobs come directly from the homeowner.

Most of the houses he repairs are less than 10 years old and are still under warranty with the homebuilder.

Generally the homeowner is relieved when the builder takes care of the problem, Boortz said. The more difficult jobs are those that come as the result of litigation.

"After litigation the homeowners are already mad," Boortz said.

And for the homeowners who hire Boortz directly, its a bag of mixed emotion, he said.

"For the homeowner its a Catch-22," said Boortz. "Its a relatively inexpensive fix in relation to the value of the house, but then again its not cheap and its not like youre spending the money for a trip to Hawaii."

Indeed, homeowners are sinking money into their sinking homes after they find telltale clues.

"The homeowner might see cracks in the drywall or brick, the floors might have humps or wont be level. Its all pretty visual like when you see the house move to another zip code," Boortz jokes.

All joking aside, Boortz once repaired a home that was 22 inches out of level. So when you entered the front door, walked the length of the home and out the back door, you actually traveled upward or downward almost 2 feet.

Another extreme example involved an apartment building in which Boortz used the Ram Jack system around the perimeter and then worked a dirt vacuum system underneath, ultimately sucking up 100 square yards worth of dirt and bringing the building down 7 inches.

Boortz said the most common time for a homeowner to experience foundation problems is two to three years after buying a new home. The major housing boom that has rippled from the Denver metro area over the past 10 years is a big contributor, he said.

"Denver was built on a river bed of sand and gravel great for building homes on," Boortz said. "Eventually, all the good land was taken."

Now an increasing number of homes are being built on a heavy clay soil in deeply dipping bedrock.

"Its real messy," Boortz said. "Builders do their best to make corrections."

Another contributor is the minimal rainfall in the Denver area. Foundations sitting on the dry clay-based soils become saturated when homeowners water their lawns and landscapes.

"It soaks deep and causes havoc," Boortz said.

It takes a good two or three years because its the change of clay going from wet to dry or dry to wet that prompts movement and, ultimately, foundation damage.

"Any change in moisture will do it," he said.

And when theres one house with foundation problems, odds are the homes in the same subdivision will experience problems, too.

With the great housing boom over the past decade, Boortz expects to remain busy; in fact, his company has experienced growth every year during its existence. And hes glad he has the Ram Jack name and system to repair foundations in the Denver area.

"Its a great group of people. The call-backs are nonexistent. And the results are phenomenal," he said.

But most of all, Boortz likes being able to fix the problem.

"You could say were the Monday morning quarterback."

Advanced Structural Repair
Chris Boortz
8484 South Valley Hwy., Suite 210
Englewood, CO 80012
(303) 366-4383
(303) 366-0588 FAX

Michele Dawson

Michele Dawson writes each week on one of the contractor members of The Concrete Network (www.concretenetwork.com). She has written about the home building industry for several years and was on the public affairs staff of the California Building Industry Association.

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