Foundation raising in Vacaville CA - a level house with the cause fixed first
Cracked walls, sticking doors or sloping floors? We find what sank your house, fix that first, then bring it back toward level.
- Fully licensed and insured.
- Free estimates at your property.
- We reply within 1 business day.
Can a settled house in Vacaville be lifted back to level?
The short answer: Usually, yes. Foundation raising lifts a house or slab that has settled back toward level. At Custom Vacaville Concrete Company we do it for homes in Vacaville and the cities around it, from Davis and Woodland to Napa, Vallejo and Concord.
If your doors have started sticking or a crack is creeping up the wall, the house has moved, and the first things to find out are whether it's still moving and why. The price mostly turns on whether your house sits on a slab or over a crawl space, how many points need lifting and how much water or drainage work has to happen first. The schedule turns on those same things plus what the city wants for your address. After I look at it, you get a written estimate that spells out what's included, so you know what you're paying for before we start.
How do you know if your foundation has settled?
Stair-step cracks in walls
Cracks that step along brick or block mortar, or run at an angle off the corners of doors and windows, usually mean one part of the house dropped more than another. Left alone, they tend to keep opening as the ground keeps moving, and the lift gets bigger.
Doors and windows that stick
A door that used to latch fine now rubs at the top corner, or a window won't slide, because the frame has been pushed out of square. You can plane a door, but it'll bind again if the house underneath is still shifting.
Floors that slope or gap
A marble rolls across the room, or a gap opens between the floor and the baseboard. That usually points to a settled corner or a failing pier, and the longer it goes, the more the walls and trim above it pay for it.
Water standing near the house
Puddles along the foundation after rain, or downspouts emptying right at the slab, are usually what's moving the house in the first place. Until that water goes somewhere else, any lift is fighting it.
How we handle foundation raising
I start by finding out why the house sank, because lifting it doesn't do much good if the water or drainage problem that caused it is still there. That means looking at where the downspouts empty, which way the yard sends water and whether there's a leak, and getting that fixed before or alongside the lift. Before we start, we put in writing what's in the job and what isn't, like drywall and paint inside, so nobody's surprised at the end. Then my crew digs where we need to get at the foundation, brings the house back toward level a little at a time while we watch the floors and door frames, packs back the dirt we moved and cleans up.
Some jobs reach past the foundation. When we need to get under a slab or take out a broken section, concrete cutting gives us straight edges instead of a jackhammered mess. And if your driveway sank with the house or broke up too far to lift, a new concrete driveway built on a dug-out, packed base is often the better spend.
Slab homes
If your house sits right on a concrete slab, it has to be lifted on piers driven down to soil that can carry the load, which is why slab homes cost more and take longer to level. One pile maker's manual says helical piles attached to an existing foundation can steady a house against more settling or lift it back to near original condition.
Pier and beam homes
If you have a crawl space, the framing can be reached from underneath, so leveling usually means shimming the piers or replacing the ones that have failed. It's usually the smaller job, with less digging around the outside of the house.
Sunken outdoor slabs
A driveway, patio or walk that dropped but is still in one piece can often be raised by pumping material under it instead of tearing it out. If it's cracked into pieces or the ground under it is soft, replacing it usually costs less in the long run.
What happens when you call about foundation raising in Vacaville?
Here's how a foundation job runs with us, from your first call to the last look at the finished work, so you know what's coming at each stage.
- Step 01
Call or send a request
Call (707) 898-1384 or use the form, and tell us what you're seeing, like cracks, sticking doors or sloping floors. We'll set a time to come out.
- Step 02
Walk the house and yard
I come out, look at the cracks, floors and frames, check where the water goes and ask how long it's been changing. You get a written estimate that spells out what's included, so the cost question is answered before anything starts.
- Step 03
Fix the cause, then lift
If you go ahead, we sort out what the city wants and set the work dates with you. Then my crew does the drainage work, the digging and the lift with me running it.
- Step 04
Walk the finished job
When the house is back toward level, we clean up and walk it with you. We check the doors and floors you pointed out on the first visit.
Foundation raising in Vacaville on Solano County clay
Inside Vacaville city limits, the city's Building Division reviews and inspects improvements to existing structures, so we find out what it wants for your address before we dig. When a permit's needed, we pull it, keep the papers on site and meet the inspector, and if you're outside the city we check with the county instead.
About 51% of the soil area across Solano County is expansive clay, the kind that swells when it takes on water and shrinks as it dries. That back-and-forth lifts and drops a foundation unevenly, which is where the stair-step cracks and racked door frames come from. It's why the water gets handled before the lift, and why the lifting method has to suit clay, which the FAQ gets into. We see the same ground on jobs in Fairfield and Dixon, so the approach doesn't change much from one city to the next.
Get a written estimate for raising your foundation
We reply within one business day to set a time, and I come out to look at the house myself. The estimate is free, written and done at your property, with no pressure to book.
Why Vacaville homeowners call Custom Vacaville Concrete Company
The owner looks at your house
I come out to see the job myself, and my crew does the digging and the work with me running it. The person who sized up your house is the one standing there when it's lifted.
In business since 2013
I started this company in 2013, 13 years ago, after spending school summers on concrete crews doing the shovel work. That's the part of a foundation job nobody sees, and it's where I put my attention.
Licensed and insured in California
California's contractor licensing board has a classification that covers pile driving and pressure foundation jacking, which means injecting concrete or mortar into foundations to steady them. We're fully licensed and insured.
If the cracks are growing or the doors keep getting tighter, call (707) 898-1384 or send a request, and I'll come take a look.
Foundation raising questions from Vacaville homeowners
How much does foundation raising cost in Vacaville, CA?
House leveling across the US usually costs about $3,500 to $30,000 per job, and that's the national market, not our price. Where yours lands depends mostly on slab versus crawl space, how many piers it takes and what water work comes first. You get a written number from me after I've walked the house.
Is foam injection or mudjacking better for a sunken slab on clay soil?
Foam is usually the better choice on clay. Mudjacking pumps a heavy slurry under the slab, so it can settle again where the soil can't carry that weight, while foam adds next to no weight and is strongly preferred on expansive clay, weak soil and high water tables. Neither one fixes what made the slab sink, so the water problem has to be handled before or alongside the lift.
How long does it take to level a house, and can I stay home during the work?
Shimming a pier and beam house usually takes 1 to 3 days, and underpinning a slab house takes 3 to 7 days depending on how many piers go in. You can usually stay home the whole time, but slab work is loud and means digging around the outside of the house.
Who reviews foundation work in Vacaville?
The city's Building Division does, for work inside Vacaville city limits. We find out what it wants for your address and handle the permit when one is needed, as described above.
How do I know if my house needs foundation raising or is just old?
Whether it's still moving matters more than how far out of level it is. A common industry rule of thumb counts 1 inch of drop over 20 feet as out of level, but most older homes are a bit off and work fine. If cracks are growing or doors keep getting tighter, that's the time to have it looked at.
Will lifting my foundation close the cracks in my walls?
Some of them, partly. Leveling stops existing cracks from getting worse, and lifting can partly close some, but the rest still need patching. One cost guide says most contractors leave drywall, trim and paint out of the job, so budget for that separately and get it in writing.
Concrete work that often goes with a lift
Concrete cutting
When a slab has to be opened to reach the soil or a broken piece has to come out, a saw cut leaves straight edges that patch cleanly.
Concrete driveway building
If the same settling cracked your driveway into pieces, pouring a new one on a properly packed base usually costs less over time than lifting it again.
Book a look at your settled foundation
Call (707) 898-1384 or send the form, and tell us whether you're on a slab or a crawl space, where the cracks or sticking doors are and whether they're getting worse, so I come out knowing what to look for.