Dear Robin:
I have a large wrap around porch. It comes out 10 feet from my home on two sides. One of the ends of the porch is sinking. Can I hire a mud jacker to jack that corner back up and expect that to fix the sinking? Sincerely, My Porch is sinking.
Dear Sinking Porch:
When a porch is sinking it is usually relative to dirt, footings or design. Is the soil under footings the proper type? Clay soil will swell and shrink. Is the soil eroding from under the footing? Proper grade and drainage will not allow erosion. Was the footing installed to the proper depth per local codes? Location of cities have differing footing depth requirements because of frost and freeze depths. Was the deck designed for code compliance? Sometimes homeowners or contractors save money by not hiring an architect or engineer to design a covered porch. Was the porch designed attached to the home or on its own foundation system? Paying to have the porch mudjacked may temporarily raise the porch but you may need to hire an experienced forensic and structure engineer to determine the cause and origin of the sinking porch so a solution can be defined for a permanent fix.
