Job review from Ana in Jacksonville, FL 32225 on 01/12/24
Overall Rating:
4
out of 5
We believe the capabilities of the Polylevel were a little oversold. None of the areas to be lifted were lifted enough to close the gaps or notice any real change. The slabs may be stabilized to hopefully prevent future sinking, along with the full house gutters we just had installed, but for all intents and purposes, we are left exactly where we started in the areas we were most concerned about.
The two bedroom windows affected are left sunk, mismatched to the internal trimwork, without clearance to the latches for opening/closing without trim modification. One vertical crack in the brick facade over the left-most window was closed by about an 1/8" of an inch at the porches hinge point, but the large opening on the far left end of our porch remained essentially unchanged with a 1-1/4" gap as well as the 3/4" opening under the brick facade by the garage at the right end of the porch. It too was essentially unchanged. He filled both with caulk to hide the holes/cracks and keep wildlife out. The large crack nearest the entryway into the front door had no real effect, both pieces are still unlevel by about a 3/8", similar to before. He simply ground a v-notch and filled all the cracks with silicone and dusted with grout to try to hide them. Something I easily could have and would have done if we knew there wouldn't be any change in true elevation.
Anthony, the technician onsite, indicated that it is often sold that it will lift anything, but sometimes cannot, leaving customers disappointed, unless it's a simple pad like a driveway with no bearing weight or adjacent concrete. He used 2 digital levels in all areas to compare change, and as I watched, the change was often only in the hundreths of an inch (0.30" to 0.25" in some areas) in angular deflection during the lift.
Also, somewhat frustrating, there were no spare parts or equipment in the truck, so once the foam injector clogged, that was it, he couldn't attempt to try to lift the left end of the porch more in holes he had just drilled, since the gun fouled.
I'm not complaining about Anthony, he did what he could and injected areas for close to 2 hours, trying and trying again, but in the end, it seemed a bit like smoke and mirrors to me to close gaps and make cracks level with one another. He asked if I was happy with the work and I replied I was with the effort he put in, but I believe he knew I was disappointed that no real change happened. I think he was a bit disappointed too. He did his best, but it ended up not near what we thought the end result would be.
Just my two cents. Further caution homeowners with this type of work against expectations, especially where weight bearing comes into play.
What type of work did you have done:
Concrete Lifting & Leveling
What made you choose our company:
Evaluation of the issues to be corrected was more aligned with work we wanted completed than what other companies offered or were interested in quoting.
Jacksonville, FL 32225
Duval County
Friday, January 12th