Orange County
Foundation repair in Winter Garden, FL
Winter Garden has two kinds of housing with little in common under the floor: an old downtown built between the wars, and large newer neighbourhoods on slabs. A foundation call here usually begins with which of the two you have.
The old downtown
The city's Historic Downtown overlay covers a district whose historic buildings date mostly from 1915 to 1940. Houses of that age were often built on piers with a framed wood floor, or on low masonry walls, and many have been extended since. Sagging floors, tilted piers and additions that have settled apart from the original house are the usual finds. The crawl space page covers them.
Winter Garden has an Architectural Review and Historic Preservation Board, and the overlay sets standards for major improvements to existing structures in the district. If a repair will change the outside of a building there, ask City Hall on 407-656-4111 whether it needs review.
Newer neighbourhoods
Houses built in recent decades are slab on grade, on lots that were graded when the subdivision was laid out. Their signs are the slab kind: tile cracking in lines, stepped cracks in block walls, a pool deck or lanai dropping at its outer edge. If the house is only a few years old, look at your purchase papers and write to the builder as well as calling a repair company, because a builder's warranty may still apply.
Many of these neighbourhoods drain to ponds. The Florida Geological Survey counts drainage gathered in one place, ponds included, among the things that can contribute to sinkholes. Notice changes in the ground between a pond and your house, such as a new dip or a fence starting to lean, and report them to the association or city that maintains the pond.
The city's Building Department
Winter Garden's Building Department is at City Hall, 300 West Plant Street, phone 407-877-5136, Permits@cwgdn.com. Contractors apply through the city's online permit system. An owner acting as their own builder signs the application at the counter. The city notes that work begun without a permit can lead to code enforcement and higher fees.
Give the company the street address so it can check the permit jurisdiction.
Winter Garden questions
Our pool deck has dropped but the house looks fine. Who do we call?
For a pool deck without signs at the house, ask a concrete repair company about the deck. Explain that it is the deck and not the house, and mention a screen enclosure if there is one.
Does the City of Orlando handle permits for Winter Garden?
No. Addresses inside Winter Garden go to the city's own Building Department. Nearby addresses outside the city limits go to Orange County's Division of Building Safety.
Other places
Ready to have the house looked at?
Only someone standing at the house can tell you what is going on under it. Call, explain what you have noticed, and ask for an inspection.
Describe the problem, book an inspection
Say where the cracks or dips are and when you first saw them. The independent local foundation repair company you reach can set a time to look at the house.
Call (407) 598-8829The call may be recorded. See how referrals are paid for and what happens to your details.