Foundation raising in Agoura Hills CA - a house back near level on solid support
Sticking doors, sloping floors or cracks that keep widening? We check whether the house is still moving, then lift it onto solid support.
- Licensed and fully insured.
- Free estimates at your property.
- We reply within 1 business day.
Does my house in Agoura Hills need foundation raising?
Foundation raising lifts a settled house in Agoura Hills back toward level and onto support that can carry it, which can stop cracks from getting worse.
Most people notice it first as a door that won't latch, a floor that slopes toward one wall or cracks over the windows that look longer every season. The price mostly turns on whether your house sits on a slab or over a crawl space, how many supports it needs and how it's built, and the schedule turns on those same things plus any permit review, so your own figure comes in the written estimate after I've seen the house. The state contractors board puts raising, cribbing and underpinning a house in a license class of its own that doesn't cover repairs to the rest of the house, so the lift and the drywall patch afterward can fall under different licenses. We're licensed and fully insured.
How we handle foundation raising
The first thing I work out is whether your house is still moving or settled long ago and stopped, because that decides whether lifting makes sense at all. Plenty of older houses are a little out of level and work fine, and lifting one of those isn't always worth it. When it is, our crew sets hydraulic jacks and lifting beams, raises the house a little at a time and stacks hardwood or steel blocks, called cribbing, under it to hold the weight between lifts and while we work below. We bring it back close to level rather than dead flat, because forcing the last bit is how drywall cracks and pipes break. If the budget's tight, I'd spend it on the support under the house before the patching above, since a patch won't hold if the house keeps moving.
Slab jobs mean digging along the edge of the house, and when a walk, patio or step is in the way we use concrete cutting to open just the spot we need. If the same settling broke up your driveway, we can replace it with a new concrete driveway on a packed base once the house is supported.
Pier and beam houses shimmed from the crawl space
If your house sits over a crawl space, we reach the framing from underneath and shim or replace the piers it rests on, which is usually the simpler job. Wood-framed houses lift well, while brick or stone ones need more support points and careful planning because masonry cracks easily.
Slab houses lifted on piers
A slab can't be shimmed, so the house gets lifted on piers driven down to soil that can carry the weight. That takes more digging and more steel, which is why slab jobs cost more than crawl space jobs.
Call (747) 219-1796 instead of waiting when cracks are getting longer or wider month to month, because a house that's still moving is the one to look at soon.
What happens after you call us about raising your house?
Here's how a foundation raising job runs with us, from the first call to the walk-through, and who you deal with at each step. Mostly that's me.
Call or send a message
I still answer the phone at (747) 219-1796, and the form reaches the same place. Tell me if you're on a slab or a crawl space and whether the cracks are still changing, and we set a time for me to come out.
Get a written estimate on site
I look at the cracks, doors and floors, check whether the house is still moving and write up the support work, drainage and steel it needs, with the price, so you know the cost before anything is lifted. If the job needs an engineer or a scan first, I tell you right then.
We lift and support the house
I'm on site with our crew from the first jack to the last block. That way the person who wrote your estimate is the one watching your house come up.
Walk the house together
Before we pack up, we walk through with you, opening doors and checking the floors and the cracks you showed me. Then we clear out the equipment and clean up around the house.
Get a written estimate for raising your house
We reply within one business day, then I come out to your property for a free estimate in writing. There's no pressure to book, and nothing gets lifted until you've decided.
(747) 219-1796What can shape a foundation raising job in Agoura Hills
California requires cities and counties to use the state's mapped zones for unstable foundation soil and hillsides in their construction permitting. In a mapped zone, the soil or slope has to be checked, and design steps that address the risk go into the work on lived-in buildings. You can see whether your address falls in one of those earthquake hazard zones on the state's EQ Zapp map from a phone, tablet or computer. Whether your lift needs a permit is up to the building office for your address, so we check with them before we start, and if it does, we tell you at the estimate and apply for it before any work begins.
Most calls start the same way, with a sticking door or a crack that wasn't there last year, and we hear the same from homeowners in Thousand Oaks and Calabasas. We're based in Agoura Hills and work in the cities around it on both sides of the county line, so if yours isn't listed, call and ask.
Foundation raising questions from Agoura Hills homeowners
How much does it cost to level a house in Agoura Hills?
Leveling a house across the US usually costs about $3,500 to $30,000 per job, and that's a national range, not a local quote. Your own number comes from the estimate, after I've seen what's under your house.
How long does foundation raising take, and can I stay home?
Most owners can stay home through the whole job. Shimming a pier and beam house usually takes 1 to 3 days, while slab underpinning, which means adding support underneath, usually takes 3 to 7 days depending on how many piers go in. Slab work is noisy and means digging around the edge of the house, so plan your days around it.
Will raising my foundation fix the cracks in my walls?
Lifting can stop cracks from getting worse and can partly close some of them, but it doesn't patch them. Most contractors leave drywall, trim and paint repair out of the price, so plan a separate budget for it, and we put in writing whether touch-up is part of ours.
What causes a house to need leveling again?
A house that needs leveling again usually has a cause that was never fixed, such as drainage soaking the soil, a footing too small for the house or settling that needed piers and got shims. On stable soil, a properly leveled house shouldn't need it again. Our work is backed by our satisfaction guarantee.
Do I need an engineer's report before getting quotes to level my house?
You don't have to, but the usual advice is to get an engineer's report first and then three bids priced against it, because then every contractor is pricing the same work. If you have one, send it before I come out and I'll write the estimate against it.
How do I check if my Agoura Hills property is in a hazard zone?
Put your address into the state's EQ Zapp map, linked in the section above, and it shows whether the property sits in a mapped earthquake hazard zone. If it does, mention it when you call, because the soil and hillside checks in those zones can shape how a foundation job is designed.
Concrete work that can come with a lift
When a walkway, patio or garage slab sits right where a pier has to go, a clean saw cut opens the spot without breaking up the whole slab.
Settling that tipped your house sometimes cracked the driveway too, and once the house is supported, a new driveway on a properly packed base can follow.
Have us look at your settling house
Call (747) 219-1796 or send the form, and since we take calls until 9 PM on weekdays and 10 PM on weekends, you don't have to call from work.