Foundation raising in Goleta CA - a house lifted only as far as it safely can
Sticking doors, cracked walls or a sloping floor? We find what settled and why, then raise your house back toward level without overdoing it.
- Licensed and fully insured.
- Free estimates at your property.
- We respond within 1 business day.
Why is my house settling, and can it be lifted?
Foundation raising in Goleta lifts a house or slab that has settled back up toward where it belongs, either with piers under the footings or by filling under a sunken slab, depending on what actually went down.
Most people call after months of watching a crack and hoping it stops growing. The price turns mostly on whether the footings or just the slab settled, how many spots need support and how much digging it takes to reach them. The schedule depends more on the planning and any permit than on the lift itself, and the written estimate I leave after walking your house gives you the figure for yours.
Does your house need foundation raising?
Doors and windows sticking
When doors stop latching and windows bind, the frame has usually shifted because something underneath dropped.
Cracks that keep growing
A crack in drywall or stucco that widens over months points to settling that hasn't stopped.
Floors that slope or dip
A marble rolls across the room, which usually means part of the slab or a footing sank.
A porch pulling away
A porch, stoop or garage floor that's pulled away from the house is often where settling shows first.
How our crew handles foundation raising
We work out what actually settled and why before anyone starts digging, then figure out whether the footings went down or only the slab, since that decides the whole job. Once the plan is set, we open up the spots we need to reach, set the supports and bring the house up slowly while I watch the doors, the cracks and the floors. I'll be honest about how much lift your house can safely take, and that isn't always dead level. When it's up, we backfill and put the ground back as close to how we found it as we can.
Some jobs need more concrete work around the lift. If a footing sits under a floor or a walk, concrete cutting lets us open a clean section instead of breaking up more than we have to. When the driveway went down with the house and broke up past saving, we can tear it out and pour a new one through our concrete driveway building work, on a base that's dug out and packed this time.
Push piers
These suit a heavier house whose footings went down, because they're driven into the ground using the building's own weight to push against. They only work when firm ground is within reach below.
Helical piers
These screw into the ground instead, so they suit lighter loads like a porch or a small addition. They also fit tight spots where there's little room to work along the house.
Slab lifting with mudjacking or foam
This raises a slab from underneath, either with a cement slurry pumped in or with foam. It suits a slab that dropped on its own while the footings stayed put.
What happens when you call about foundation raising in Goleta?
Call or send the form
Call (805) 285-4985 or use the form, and we'll set a time for me to come out. Mornings, evenings and weekends usually work if you want to be home for it.
I walk the house with you
I look at what settled, ask what the house has to carry and where the water goes, and find out which office covers your address. You get a written estimate that says which method I'd use, how far I think the house can come up and what drives the cost.
Settle the plan before digging
If you go ahead, anything the job needs on paper, like an engineer's design or a permit, gets lined up first. Digging waits on that, so you're not left with an open trench and no plan.
We lift, backfill and clean up
I run the crew on site through the lift and the backfill, then we clean up. At the end we walk the house with you and check the doors and floors together.
Should an engineer plan your foundation raising?
One field guide says yes, before any digging.
That guide's advice is to find out why the foundation moved and have a structural or geotechnical engineer design how the load gets carried before anyone digs. For you, that means the cause and the design come first on the calendar, and the lifting comes after.
Skipping that step is the cut people are tempted to make, because it delays the part you can see. I'd keep it. Once the house is sitting on new supports, there's no do-over on where they went, and a lift on ground that's still moving may not hold.
Examples of concrete work
Look through these examples of concrete work, from slabs and foundations to driveways and steps, to get a feel for what different jobs involve.
Get a foundation raising estimate at your house
Send your address and a list of where floors, walls or doors have moved, and we'll reply within one business day to set a time. The estimate is free, done at your property, with no pressure to book.
Why Goleta homeowners call Goleta Concrete to raise a foundation
The owner on every job
I come out to look at every job, write the estimate myself and run the crew on site through the lift. You deal with the same person from the first visit to the last walk-through, so nothing gets lost between a salesperson and the crew.
In business since 2013
That's 13 years of pouring and repairing concrete, after summers spent learning the trade on other people's crews. It means I've seen what happens when the setup gets rushed, and I don't rush it.
Licensed, insured, easy to check
We're licensed and fully insured. California's licensing board has license classes for contractors who raise and underpin buildings and for foundation jacking, and its license lookup shows any contractor's complaint record, so it's worth a look when you compare bids.
We know which office covers you
Around here your address might fall to the city, the county or the campus, and I find out which on the first visit. When your job needs a permit, we handle the application and set up the inspections, so call (805) 285-4985 to get that visit on the calendar.
Questions about raising a foundation
How do I tell whether my house needs piers or just slab lifting?
Start by finding which part settled, because a footing that went down needs piers, while a slab that dropped over stable footings may only need mudjacking or foam. Cracked walls and doors out of square usually point to the footings, and a sunken floor with straight walls usually points to the slab. I sort that out on the first visit before recommending anything.
Will my floors be perfectly level after foundation raising?
Not always, and you shouldn't want it forced. Perfect level often isn't realistic or wise, especially on an older house or one that settled a lot, because lifting too far can crack things that held up fine through the settling. I'll tell you how much lift your house can safely take, and we plan the job around that.
How much does foundation raising cost in Goleta?
It depends mostly on whether you need piers under the footings or lifting under a slab, since piers are the bigger job. How many spots need support, how hard it is to dig along the house, and whether an engineer's design and a permit are involved all move it too. The written estimate from the visit gives you the figure for your house.
How long does foundation raising take?
Most of the time goes into what happens before the lift, like finding the cause and getting any engineer's design or permit in place, rather than the lifting itself. Pier work outside also takes longer than lifting a slab, because of the digging along the house. Your estimate lays out the order of things for your job.
What causes a house foundation to settle?
Usually it's the ground under the house changing, from water collecting along the foundation, soil drying out and shrinking, or fill that was never packed when the house went up. That's why we work out the cause before lifting, since the same thing can pull the house down again if nobody fixes it.
What happens to my yard during foundation pier work?
Expect some of it to be dug up, because exterior piers mean digging along the foundation. Flower beds get disturbed, bushes may have to come out, and sections of sidewalk or patio may need to be moved. We'll go over which ones before we start, so you can save any plants you care about.
Wondering what settled under your house?
Call or send the form, and I'll come out to walk the house and write up an estimate at your property.
Work that often goes with it
Foundation raising permits and jobs around Goleta
Who issues the permit depends on where your house sits. Inside the city of Goleta, the city takes building permit applications, and you can reach its building office at (805) 961-7552. Once a city permit is issued, inspections are booked on the city's line at (805) 961-7553 at least one business day ahead. In the unincorporated parts of Santa Barbara County, the county requires a permit before any work to alter or rebuild a building, and its ordinance lists the exemptions. Whether your lift needs one is the office's call, not mine, so I check with the right office before we dig.
We're based in Goleta and work in the cities around it along the South Coast and beyond. On older houses we see a lot of porches, steps and garage slabs that pulled away, and walks that dropped where roof water runs off, and we see the same on jobs in Eastern Goleta Valley and Santa Barbara. Fixing where that water goes is often part of the job, because a lift won't last if the same spot keeps getting soaked.