Sticking doors, sloping floors or new cracks in the walls? We find what's moving your house, then lift it and set it on new support.
Foundation raising in Calabasas lifts a settled house, foundation and all, and underpins it, which means setting new support under the house so its weight rests on ground that can carry it.
Most people call us after a door starts sticking, a crack opens above a window or something rolls across the kitchen floor on its own. The biggest thing that moves the price is what your house sits on, because a slab house has to be lifted on piers driven down to load-bearing soil, while a house over a crawl space can usually be leveled by shimming or replacing the piers under the framing, and that costs less.
The schedule turns on the same thing, plus how many piers your house needs, since each one gets dug, set and loaded before the lift. I don't put a number on anything until I've walked the house, so your own figure comes from the estimate I write up after that visit.
Here's who you deal with from the first look to the day we pack up.
I'm the one who walks the inside and the yard, listens to what you've noticed and answers your questions. I've run this business in Calabasas since 2020, and I'd rather answer one more question before we start than leave you guessing afterward.
We're fully licensed and insured. In California the state treats raising and underpinning a house as its own kind of contractor work, separate from repairing the parts of the house that stay in place, so I'll be clear with you about where the lift ends and the patch-up work begins.
Once you're ready, we sort out the paperwork with you and do the prep, and I'm on the job with our crew from the first hole to the last shovel of backfill. Satisfaction guaranteed on every job.
We start by looking for whatever is moving the house, like water running toward the foundation, expansive clay, a leaking supply line or soil washing away, because a house that shifts a measurable amount each season has an active cause, and lifting it without fixing that only buys time. Once the cause is fixed or planned for, we dig at the points that need support, set the piers and bring the house up a little at a time. We lift partway and stop where the house is stable instead of forcing the floors flat, since an aggressive lift cracks plaster, tile and plumbing in other rooms.
Concrete often sits tight against the house. When a pier has to go where a patio or walkway meets the wall, we use concrete cutting to take out a clean section rather than breaking up more than we need. If the driveway along the house cracked while it settled, we can replace it with concrete driveway building once the house is holding still.
Every house is a little different, but the order of the work stays about the same.
I check the inside for sticking doors and cracks and the outside for low spots, downspouts and soil pulled away from the walls, because those usually point to what moved the house.
We settle how to deal with the cause, which piers to use and how far to lift before anyone picks up a shovel. Then we sort out whatever paperwork the city asks for.
Our crew digs at each support point around the house and sets the piers, and that's the loud, messy part of the job. One pier maker's installation guide has installers call 811 first so buried utility lines get marked with paint or flags, and you can ask us whether that call has been made.
We bring the house up in small steps and stop at the partial lift we planned. Then we backfill the holes and clean up so you get your yard back.
Tell us what you've noticed, whether it's doors, cracks or a floor that slopes, through the form or at (747) 269-3817, and we'll reply within one business day. I'll come out, look at the house and answer your questions, then write up a free estimate with no obligation and no pressure to book.
(747) 269-3817Across the US, leveling a house usually costs about $3,500 to $30,000 per job, and that's the market's range, not our price. Where your house lands in it mostly comes down to the slab or crawl-space question and the pier count. Your own number comes from the estimate after I've seen the house.
It mostly comes down to how heavy your house is. Push piers are driven in hydraulically and use the weight of the house to push against, while helical piers are screwed in with a hydraulic torque motor. A trade magazine's rule of thumb favors helical piers when a house may be too light for push piers, since they work regardless of weight and in most soils, and I'll tell you which I'd use on yours and why.
Usually, yes, you can stay home the whole time. Shimming a pier-and-beam house generally takes 1 to 3 days, and underpinning a slab house takes about 3 to 7 days depending on how many piers it needs. Slab work is noisy and means digging around the outside of the house, so plan on some racket and a torn-up yard while it's going on.
The City of Calabasas planner on duty decides what permit your project needs. If any work reaches into the public right-of-way, the city requires an Encroachment Permit, and you can also reach the Building and Safety Division at BuildingSafetyInfo@cityofcalabasas.com. We check with the office that covers your address before we start and work through what they ask for with you.
Expansive clay is one of the causes I mentioned, soil that swells when it's wet and shrinks as it dries, so it can keep moving a house season after season. In California you can find out whether your property has expansive soil from your home buyer's disclosures, the local building department, or a soil engineer or geologist, and it's worth knowing before you settle on a fix.
We're based in Calabasas and work across the cities around it, including Agoura Hills, Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village and Simi Valley. If your city isn't on our list, call and ask.
If you have an engineer's report or your home buyer's disclosures, have them handy when you call (747) 269-3817 or fill out the form, because one cost guide suggests getting the engineer's report first so every contractor prices the same findings.
If something about your house has you wondering, send us a message and I'll talk it through with you.
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