11/16/2017
I would like to announce that we will now be replacing crumbling foundations with Epitome composite foundation panels. I saw this product installed in Union, CT, with all of you on the evening news. I knew immediately it was a solution for all of us with failed foundations (1/3 of our home has a 2001 foundation from Mottes). I researched its applicability to the foundation replacement model I have been working on since 2016 and realized, in Jim Paquin’s words, it will be a problem solver. Here are the highlights of the problems it solves: what use to be a $220,000 colonial style house foundation replacement can now be done for $125,000, what used to take three months to complete will now take 5.5 weeks to complete, what used to force home owners out of their houses for the duration of the repair will now allow them to stay in the house during the work.
I spent dozens of hours on the phone with Composite Panel Systems LLC (CPS), the creator of this revolutionary product, explaining our needs and examining exactly how we will apply the product to our brace and replace methodology. It was a perfect fit! CPS concurred with my assessment and is acting as quickly as possible to set up fabrication shops in our area to get us the Epitome composite product as inexpensively as possible. Their compassion for our situation was impressive. At that point they were as excited about this possibility as I, so I went out to Wisconsin to investigate. I participated in a foundation installation with CPS’s Justin and Larry. We started at 7AM, temp was 8 degrees F., snow fall was moderate, and the wind was gusting in excess of 30 knots. In true Wisconsin farmer fashion, we set this new home foundation using the farmer’s excavator instead of the modern crane used in the Union installation. 2.5 hours later we left that farmer with a finished, insulated, 9-foot-high foundation. It was pristine. The installation of Epitome will not be affected by our harsh New England winters. This year-round cycle will be critical to completing as many failed foundation replacements as possible as we begin this rebuilding process.
I have shared my model, an incremental foundation replacement model that does not result in concrete “cold joints” existing below grade, with all contractors that would listen. I have reached out to all the State of Connecticut approved remediation contractors (we, NE CT Concrete Foundations, are on that list of approved vendors) explained this process and associated tasks to them and am urging them to purse this much more reasonable pricing model with their current and future customers.
An additional benefit of this incremental model is that one contractor will not bottleneck the installation process for the thousands of houses that need to be addressed. Multiple subcontractors can now participate in the remediation process. Once the contractor is a qualified Epitome installer, she or he will perform just that critical aspect of the project and allow others to do what they are good at (excavation, concrete slab work, etc.). It will allow many of our community members to take part in this process.
Beginning immediately I will use this new pricing model when distributing proposals to prospective foundation replacement customers. I know this is still a staggering amount of money to throw under our houses. However, if we do have to spend the money there is no longer a need to live with the typical basement characteristics associated with concrete – musty and damp. The finished product is absolutely dry and well insulated (R value of 16.5). Available basement floor space is now greater with this 7.5-inch wall compared to a 10-inch concrete wall. I can’t say enough about how this product will facilitate all the privately and publicly funded foundation replacements in our area.
Please visit our website (www.NECTFoundations.com), call 860 929-0677 or text. We will give you an estimate that you can then compare to the rest of the industry, driving the cost of this work as low as possible, to ensure we maximize the number of homes repaired as State funds become available soon.
John Sharon
Replacement of crumbling foundations in Tolland, CT, and surrounding communities: We use state of the art house lifting and concrete forming technology to give you the piece of mind you deserve as a home owner - an owner of a home on a solid foundation.
