Perry sits about 30 minutes south of Macon, deep into the upper coastal plain at the southern edge of Houston County. It’s a town with two foundation profiles: the historic downtown and surrounding older neighborhoods, and the rapidly growing newer subdivisions that have spread out from town along Highway 41, Highway 96, and the I-75 corridor.
We work on both kinds of homes regularly.
Historic Perry
The original Perry development from the mid-1800s through the early 1900s was built on what was practical for the era — pier and beam construction with brick piers, often with shallow footings, on the sandier upper-coastal-plain soils that characterize this part of Houston County.
The homes that survive from this era are concentrated around downtown, the General Courthouse Square area, Carroll Street, Macon Street, and the older streets closer to the rail line. Many are 100 to 150 years old. They’ve been through a century and a half of Middle Georgia weather, including the tropical systems that periodically push this far inland.
The foundation issues we see in historic Perry:
- Settled brick piers that are an inch or more below original elevation, often with leaning that follows the prevailing slope of the lot
- Rotted sill plates from decades of humidity and crawl-space moisture
- Termite damage in original heart pine girders — universal in homes of this age
- Cracked masonry foundations in homes with continuous brick perimeter walls
- Failed crawl space drainage in the lower-lying areas of town
Our approach to historic Perry homes mirrors what we do in Macon’s In-Town and Vineville districts: careful, period-appropriate restoration that preserves what can be preserved and replaces only what must be replaced.
Newer Perry — South of Town and Along I-75
Perry’s recent growth — the subdivisions south of town, the developments along Highway 41 and out toward the Georgia National Fairgrounds, and the homes along the Houston Lake side toward Bonaire and Centerville — is mostly slab-on-grade construction.
The soils here are sandier than what you find in Macon proper. That sounds like good news for foundations, and in some ways it is — sandy soil doesn’t have the shrink-swell of clay. But it has its own failure modes. Sandy soil can wash out from under a footing during heavy rain, especially when surface drainage isn’t well designed. Concentrated runoff can undermine an outside corner of a slab over a few rainy seasons. We see this pattern in Perry more often than in Macon.
Slab repair here uses the same push piers and helical piers we use throughout Middle Georgia, but we pay extra attention to surface and subsurface drainage as part of the repair — fixing the slab without fixing the water source guarantees a return visit.
The Georgia National Fair Factor
Perry hosts the Georgia National Fair every October, and the area sees significant runoff and traffic during fair season. Several homes we’ve worked on are within a few blocks of the fairgrounds, where surface drainage patterns can be affected by the larger paved areas. We’re familiar with the local drainage patterns and design accordingly.
Service Throughout Houston County
In addition to Perry proper, we serve:
- Bonaire — newer slab construction
- Kathleen — mostly newer subdivisions, some older rural property
- Elko and Henderson — rural Houston County properties, often older farmhouses
- Other unincorporated Houston County properties
Free Inspection
If you’re in Perry or anywhere in southern Houston County, call (555) 555-5555. We’ll come out, do a thorough inspection, and give you a written report and quote at no cost.