BOOK COVER
BOOK DETAILS
Pub Date: September 12, 2023
Genre: Home Improvement/Real Estate/Consumer Advocacy
Publisher: Advantage Media Group, Inc.
Page Count: 156
Format, ISBN, Price: Hardcover, 978-1-64225-638-3, $19.99; e-book, 978-1-64225-637-6, $9.99
Awards:
Pinnacle Book Award from the National Association of Book Entrepreneurs
Literary Titan Book Award
ABOUT THE BOOK
SECRETS FROM AN INDUSTRY INSIDER
Do you have cracked or deteriorating walls, uneven floors, or sticking windows and doors? These tell-tale signs of a shifting foundation are hard to miss, but what do you do about it? Who do you call?
Foundation repair contractors often lack engineering knowledge or have conflicts of interest, and yet we call them first. Get the inside story on whom to call and what to expect from an engineered investigation.
Thirty-five-year industry veteran, RK Bob Brown, spent years working with licensed engineers and university professors to develop a patented solution to remediate unrecognized foundation problems. Now, he reveals little-known solutions to save you time and money by avoiding costly repairs (or worse, the wrong repair).
Foundation Repair Secrets shows real estate agents and brokers, insurance and mortgage underwriters, home inspectors, foundation repair engineers and homeowners what you need to know to find the right solutions.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
RK Bob Brown is an author, speaker, patented innovator, and the foremost authority on foundation repair diagnosis. As an insider with more than 35-years-experience, he brings transparency, accountability, and engineering efficacy to an otherwise opaque industry. His forthcoming book, Foundation Repair Secrets (Advantage Books) reveals little-known solutions to save time and money by avoiding costly repairs (or worse, the wrong repairs).
He holds a Bachelor of Design Science from ASU’s School of Architecture and a Bachelor of Science from ASU’s School of Business specializing in Real Estate and Finance. He founded Arizona Foundation Solutions in 1989 and built one of the only foundation repair companies to utilize licensed professional engineers on the front end to analyze initial conditions, make recommendations, and specify repairs before presenting proposals. Bob sold his business in 2022 to focus on writing and speaking. He currently holds four patents and has three pending. He also developed a cloud-based software solution to streamline and assist engineers and contractors in home foundation investigations.
He has been designated a certified Foundation Repair Specialist by the National Foundation Repair Association, is LEED Accredited by the National Green Building Council, is an EPA-approved Radon Measurement and Mitigation Specialist, is Level 1 Post Tensioning Institute certified, and is an ADRE CEU Provider, among other accreditations.
With the perfect blend of engineering savvy and construction practicality, he shows real estate agents and brokers, insurance and mortgage underwriters, home inspectors, and foundation repair engineers what they need to know to find the right solutions. He demystifies concepts to help anyone easily understand soil behaviors, structural mechanics, foundation performance evaluation, objective severity performance standards, data-based recommendations, and existing repair evaluations. In short, Bob Brown knows dirt—which is why people call him the Dirt Whisperer.
TALKING POINTS
- How can homeowners protect themselves from becoming victims of incompetent, undereducated or ethically conflicted foundation “experts?” Bob can share 10 questions that homeowners can ask when the foundation “expert” says “you need foundation repair.”
- Bob can explain the difference between settlement and heave that most “experts” ignore or are clueless about.
- 5 ways real estate agents can help their prospective home buyers/sellers when cracks are noticed in the home
- Bob can explain how and why moisture accumulates under a foundation slab and offer ways to prevent it.
- Bob created MoistureLevel® Smart Foundation System. How does it work? Who is it for? Pros/cons
- 5 “red flags” that mean foundation issues to look out for when buying a new home
- Do’s and Don’t’s when hiring a foundation “expert”
- Why you should always demand a foundation expert is a licensed professional engineer, and how you can be burned if you don’t.
- How to see through claims from “experts” and make sure that the engineer who seals the permitted plan is really understanding the causes and vetting solutions for those problems
PRAISE
“R.K. Bob Brown has created a step-by-step guide for homeowners to understand potential causes and remediation techniques for foundation and slab movement issues. Foundation Repair Secrets takes Bob’s years of expertise in the foundation repair industry and presents them in a simplified manner for everyone to understand. This book makes clear not only Bob’s knowledge and passion for the foundation repair industry; but also his devotion to ensuring homeowners are provided the correct repair for their individual needs.”
—Greg Bakkum, S.E., P.E.
“As a homeowner considers having to make a significant investment in their home, this book will be a great resource to navigate foundation assessments and repair options. Well informed homeowners are better equipped to ask questions of the repair contractor in order to make better decisions and avoid unrealistic expectations. The more you know, the better the outcome.”
—Gregg A. Creaser, P.E., President/Geotechnical Team Principal at SPEEDIE & ASSOCIATES, Inc.
“R.K. Bob Brown’s book is a great resource for homeowners who want to learn how house foundations work and make informed decisions regarding foundation repairs.”
—Randolph Marwig, P.E., President Western Technologies Inc.
“R. K. Bob Brown used a personal approach to explain a topic that might seem foreign to most. Using anecdotes and real life experiences, Bob shares ideas and a vision in his book, Foundation Repair Secrets, that will likely save a lot of people time and money on their foundation repairs.”
—Clint L. Mueller, P.E.
“This book is a great, easy-to-read guide for homeowners with distressed houses in need of repair. Although distress assessments can be costly, you will likely have a better chance of a successful repair with geotechnical and structural engineers involved. Most distress results from various contributing factors that take knowledge and experience to fully understand. It is cheaper to fix the actual problem the first time, rather than hope a repair works. Foundation Repair Secrets provides some basic knowledge for the homeowner to make informed decisions on one of their biggest investments.“
—Chet L. Pearson, P.E.
BOOK DETAILS
Pub Date: May 17, 2022
Genre: Memoir / Christian Inspirational
Publisher: She Writes Press
Page Count: 304
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1647429003
Price: $15.99
