Sticking doors, new cracks and floors that slope toward one corner usually mean the house has settled. We lift it and hold it steady.
Foundation raising in East Los Angeles, CA lifts a house that has settled back toward where it started, or holds it steady so it doesn't sink any further.
Most people call after a door stops latching, a window starts sticking or a crack runs out from the corner of a window. Those signs usually mean part of the foundation has dropped. One common fix is helical piers, steel shafts with screw-shaped plates that turn down into firmer ground and attach to your existing foundation, so the house sits on them instead of the soil that gave way.
The price moves with how many piers the drawings call for, how deep they have to go before they reach firm ground and how much is in the way along your walls. The schedule turns on the engineer's drawings and on what the permit office for your address needs, which we check before we set a date. I'll walk the job and give you a written quote that spells out what's included.
Before we talk about piers, these are the things I look at on a settling house, because they decide whether a lift makes sense and what it'll take.
Doors that rub at the top or won't latch, windows that stick, cracks that run from the corners of doors and windows, and floors that slope toward one side are the usual signs. One of them alone can come and go with the seasons. Several on the same side of the house is worth a look.
A lift fixes the house, not the cause. Water pooling against a wall, a downspout dumping right beside the foundation or ground that was never packed under one corner keeps working on the soil, so I look at where the water runs around your house before we talk about piers.
Piers go in right beside the foundation, so whatever sits along the wall matters. Tight side yards, planters, walks, patios and driveway slabs all add work, and some of it has to come out and go back. That's a big part of why two lifts on similar houses can price very differently.
Plaster, stucco and tile have set in the house's settled position, so bringing it back up can open some cracks while closing others. Plan on some patching and paint after the lift, and hold off on redoing finishes until the house has been lifted and checked.
Here's how a foundation raising job runs with us, from your first call to the walk-through at the end, and who you'll be dealing with at each step.
Call (213) 338-1030 or use the form, and tell us what you've noticed, like doors that stick or cracks that keep getting longer. We get back to you to set up a time for me to come out.
I come out, measure, check where the water runs and ask what you've seen change. I find out which office handles your address, then you get a written quote that spells out what's included.
The engineer's drawings set where the piers go. In East Los Angeles, if your job needs a permit, the County's plan check, a review of the plans against safety, building and environmental standards, comes before we dig. Then our crew lead runs the job from prep to cleanup.
I walk the finished work with you before we pack up, so you can see the backfill, the cleanup and how the house sits now, and ask anything while we're still there.
I don't guess where piers go. We work from an engineer's drawings, so the number of piers and where they sit are set by someone who has worked out the loads on your house. Before anyone digs, I go over what your yard will look like while it's open along the walls, so nothing in a planter bed or along a walk catches you off guard.
Our crew lead runs the work with our own crew. When a patio, a walk or a garage floor sits right where the drawings put a pier, we handle the concrete cutting ourselves, with clean, square edges so the opening is easier to pour back. If settling cracked your driveway, or a section has to come out to reach the wall, we can pour you a new concrete driveway on a dug-out, packed base.
When the lift is done, we take final readings, the level measurements that show where the house ended up, and check that your doors and windows open and close the way they should. That's the moment you find out whether the lift did its job, so I want you standing there for it, not hearing about it later.
Some houses only need holding steady so they don't sink further. Others get lifted back toward where they started. Lifting moves more doors and finishes, so I'd let the engineer's readings and drawings make that call, not how the cracks look.
If water is what softened the soil, deal with the downspouts and the grade while the ground along the walls is already open. Coming back later costs more, and the same water keeps working on the ground around the new piers.
Send the form with your address and a quick note on any sticking doors, windows or cracks you've seen. We respond within 1 business day to set up a free estimate at your property, and it's obligation-free. I come out, measure and give you a written quote that spells out what's included.
(213) 338-1030East Los Angeles isn't its own city. It's an unincorporated part of Los Angeles County, so LA County Public Works issues building permits for homes here, and you ask its local office what your project requires. Don't assume a lift goes without one. We check with the County for your address before we set a date, and when your job needs a permit, we take care of it and the inspections that go with it.
Most of the cities around us, like Montebello and Monterey Park, run their own permit counters, so the office changes once you cross the line. We're based in East Los Angeles and work in those cities, Downey and plenty of others nearby, and we sort out the right office before anything else.
Most of the county's mapped soil rates Low for shrink-swell, a measure of how much it swells when wet and shrinks when dry. That's the county as a whole, not your lot, so when a house here has settled I check your own lot first. We see plenty of older houses on tight lots with walks and drives right against the walls, where roof water and drainage are the first things to check.
I started this business in 2013 after working concrete every summer through school, next to finishers who'd been at it for decades. Thirteen years in, I still come out to look at the job and write the quote myself, so the person pricing your lift is the one who walked your walls and saw what's in the way.
On a lift, what counts is what's covered up by the end, like the digging, the pier layout and the backfill, so that's where we spend the time. I'd rather lose a job by quoting it right than win it by skipping steps. We're fully licensed and insured. Our work is backed by our satisfaction guarantee.
If your doors have started sticking or a crack keeps getting longer, call (213) 338-1030 or send us a message. Give us your address and a quick note on which doors, windows or walls are giving you trouble, and I'll come out and take a look.
When a pier has to go through a patio, a walk or a garage floor, a clean saw cut keeps the opening square and makes it easier to pour back.
A driveway that cracked or dropped along with the house usually needs to come out and go back on a packed base, not get patched over the old break.
We're based in East Los Angeles and do foundation work in the cities around it, like Montebello, Downey and Monterey Park, plus plenty of others nearby. Find your city below.
The price comes down to how many piers the engineer's drawings call for, how deep each one has to go to reach firm ground and how much is in the way along the walls. Patios, walks and planters add work, and so does the repair after. I give you a written quote that spells out what's included.
You may be able to. One pile maker says helical piles suit repair work because portable equipment can set them in tight spaces, even inside a building, so the people living there can carry on with little inconvenience. Whether that works for your house depends on where the piers go, and I'll tell you at the visit.
Yes, along the walls where the piers go. One installer's guide has crews dig down to the footing, the concrete base the walls sit on, either as one trench along the wall or as a separate hole at each pier, then backfill with clean rock and topsoil so you can replant. Pull any plants you want to keep before we start.
Plan on drawings, yes. The same installer's guide says pier layout should follow an engineer's or design drawings, so ask any contractor early who prepares them and how they shape the plan. Those drawings are usually the first thing the schedule waits on, along with whatever the permit office needs.
LA County Public Works issues them for East Los Angeles homes. Its East Los Angeles Building and Safety Office is open Monday through Thursday 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Friday 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. That's who we check with for your address before we set a date.
The state licensing board's building moving and demolition class covers contractors who raise, lower, crib and underpin structures, foundations included. That class doesn't cover alterations, additions, repairs or rehabilitation of the parts of the house that stay in place, so the lift and the fix-up work on the house around it aren't the same kind of work.
Expect some follow-up work. The installer's guide lists crack repair and waterproofing after the lift, along with inspecting the drain tile, the perforated pipe that carries water away from the footing, and replacing it where it's damaged. Count those in when you plan, because the lift moves things that had set in the old position.
Write down which doors and windows stick and take photos of the cracks, so you have something to compare against afterward. Clear patio furniture, pots and anything stored along the walls. Have your address ready when you call so I can find out which office handles it.
Call (213) 338-1030 seven days a week, 7 AM to 11 PM, or send the form, and have your address and a list of the sticking doors or windows ready.
