Eileen Hsu
Julian Construction's team replaced two foundation walls that formed a corner. My problem was the old corner had cracked from top to bottom in two places, one on each of the adjacent walls, and the detached corner was beginning to sink, causing the house to slide toward that corner. The lack of a long tube from the gutter downspout leading rain water away from the house was a likely culprit. How did I know? The doors around that corner were not closing. I like treating issues as they arise and I knew this problem could stand no delay. I asked for estimates from a handful of foundation companies that other homeowner friends had recommended. Julian's was the only one that had a well-documented inspection, a thorough scope of work, a fair price, and reasonable contract terms. Mayo was on top of it. She scheduled me within a week after I submitted the signed contract and deposit. The crew showed up at 7AM and the foreman spent an hour talking with me while he guided his team into action.They had to jack up the house. The foreman and I stood in the room being elevated and I could hear the creaking wood and straining nails like an old man stretching his joints to his limit (my house is 115 years old). It was scary but I felt like I was in good hands. The foreman was observing every reaction of the house and giving immediate instructions to his team. He also gave me an education on foundations and how houses slide, pointing out the the accelerating slant of the vertical wood pieces in my cripple wall. I do some much home repair myself so I ate up this education! The team worked fast. I was onsite the first and last day. On the first, they asked me a lot of questions about how much leveling I wanted (I opted to keep a slight slant or else my old doors would be jammed) and I could show them all the resources (power, water, fusebox) to help them do their job. They were really nice and had a good sense of humor even though the work was heavy and hard and the summer temps were nearing 100. Mayo had asked me to clear the space (remove plants, remove gutters, remove siding if I wanted to reuse them, protect the AC unit), so I did before they came. On the last day, I was dazzled by the new foundation walls. The floor in the house even felt better to walk on, much more solid. Julian's team offered to put the gutter and the siding back for me, making a vent hole to match the old one. This saved me so much time. Their work passed inspections. The entire process was very smooth. The crew was orderly and handled all items with care. We spoke in English and in Spanish and it was fine. I'm a native Californian so knowing some Spanish comes with the culture here. Up until this experience, I was nervous about foundation replacement but working with Julian Construction made me feel it is a manageable process, even a pleasant one. When I need further work on my foundation, I know who to call and I won't be stressed out about it anymore!
