Service Area
Foundation repair in Loma
Loma is an unincorporated community roughly twenty minutes west of Grand Junction, out past Fruita where the irrigated valley floor starts to give way to open country. It is the part of the Grand Valley where the underlying geology is closest to the surface and hardest to ignore.
The pale grey badlands visible from the highway out here are Mancos Shale weathering at the surface, and the soils derived from it are fine, clay-rich, and mineralogically dominated by smectite, which is the expansive clay family. This is the same formation that sits under most of the valley, but around Loma there is less alluvium on top of it, which means houses are more likely to bear on shale-derived material directly.
Soil survey mapping in this part of Mesa County includes several series with high shrink-swell ratings and clay content in the forties percent. High shrink-swell does not mean a house will move; it means the ground has the capacity to move if its moisture content changes, and it puts a premium on keeping that moisture content steady.
Loma properties are frequently on larger parcels with their own irrigation, wells, and septic, which introduces water sources that a town lot does not have. A leaking lateral, a septic drainfield, or a stock tank placed conveniently close to the house all put water into the ground in a way the foundation was not designed around.
The practical advice out here is unglamorous. Know where every source of water on the property is going, keep the first several feet around the house falling away from it, and if a crack starts widening, get elevations shot before deciding what it means.
Repair types available in Loma
- Foundation Settlement Repair
- Steel piers driven or screwed past the moving soil to competent bearing, then the footing is transferred onto them
- Basement and Stem Wall Repair
- Cracked, leaning, and bowing foundation walls braced or anchored back so the movement stops
- Crawl Space Repair and Encapsulation
- Failed piers and posts replaced, sagging girders re-supported, and the ground sealed off from the house above
- Concrete Leveling and Slab Lifting
- Sunken driveways, walks, patios and garage slabs raised back to grade by injecting under them rather than replacing them
- Foundation Drainage and Grading
- Getting roof water, irrigation water, and yard runoff away from the foundation so the soil under it stops changing volume
- Foundation Inspection
- Elevations, crack mapping, and a written opinion on whether the movement is finished or still going
For a price on a specific address in Loma, call (970) 644-6329 or send the quote form. The visit and the written quote cost nothing.
Background reading
Field Notes
Written for Grand Valley homeowners
Contractor Licensing and Building Permits in Grand Junction and Mesa County
Who has to be licensed, who issues the permit, which code editions apply in Mesa County, and what a foundation repair building permit actually adds to the bill.
Mesa County Publishes a Foundation Requirement for Every Subdivision. Find Yours.
Mesa County lists foundation requirements for more than 600 platted subdivisions. What the codes mean, and why 234 of them require an engineered foundation.
Uranium Mill Tailings, Grand Junction Foundations, and the Permit Trigger
Tailings went into more than 4,000 Grand Junction properties as fill and aggregate from 1950 to 1966. Applying for a building permit is what triggers removal.
Get a foundation quote in Loma
Ring (970) 644-6329, or send the form, and a Grand Valley foundation contractor prices the work at no charge.