Investor · Maui, HI · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 3k+ votes
Hey folks,
I'm looking to do an addition on my primary residence (live-in flip) and before I do, I need to level the house some. It's a post-and-beam house, with a concrete block perimeter. One corner of the house drops about 2 inches. I guess I'm wondering:
1.) Does anyone in Olympia, Tacoma, or Seattle have any good recommendations?
2.) Anyone know how much this might cost? (I know... it depends. But ballpark?)
I'm looking to do an addition on my primary residence (live-in flip) and before I do, I need to level the house some. It's a post-and-beam house, with a concrete block perimeter. One corner of the house drops about 2 inches. I guess I'm wondering:
1.) Does anyone in Olympia, Tacoma, or Seattle have any good recommendations?
2.) Anyone know how much this might cost? (I know... it depends. But ballpark?)
Thanks!
@Brandon Turner you need to figure out why it's sagging first, then you can figure out the cost.
My house had a fire and they replaced the 100 year old wood with newer wood, and 2x4s etc are not exactly 2x4, but they were in the old days. So that's 1/2 inch dip, not enough for me to give a crap about, so I left it like that.
2" is a lot though, so it might be some settling or erosion under the foundation.
If it's a solid concrete pad, there is some new product (like expanding foam) that they can shoot in under pressure and raise it up a couple of inches.
If it's cinder block, you would probably support the house beams near the sagging wall with lolly jacks, then take down the cinder block and rebuild it, but 2' higher.
Investor · Murphy, TX · Member since 2011 · 189 posts · 86 votes
11y
We paid 6k to have our pier and beam rehab project leveled in Dallas. That included some drainage work, so maybe just 4k for the foundation alone. My partner/contractor feels like we overpaid for the amount of work that was done.
Something else to think about... our home had a garage on slab that had been converted to an addition and tied in with the rest of the house. So we had both slab and pier and beam in soil with high clay content and pretty extreme seasonal moisture and heat variation. Things shift over time, the 2 different foundation structures don't react the same, but are tied together. It created some problems for us as we tried to level the pier and beam portion of the house. I don't have a solution to offer, except to say it is something to consider as you design your addition. @Michael Kaufman can probably add more detail if needed.
It is great that you are making sure your existing structure is as level as possible before adding on. Seems like common sense, but I'm doubting that happened with whoever originally did our addition.
Rental Property Investor · Seattle, WA · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
11y
We have elected to live with sloping floors for now, but we had an estimate for $10K. Our contractor was out of Portland and frankly we didn't move forward because they were very unresponsive/disorganized about scheduling the work.
Contractor · Spokane, WA · Member since 2015 · 29 posts · 6 votes
11y
@Peter Sanchezmight have been onto something with the foam. I am not sure if the base would be wide enough or if the load would be too heavy. However, I did see this poly level recently and it might be an option. Here is a company near you you could check into: http://www.matveyconstruction.com/concrete-lifting...
There is also a short video of how it works, more on youtube. The foam they inject is also lifting at the same time. So maybe to make it work you lift prior to the injection. But then again you could also do that with concrete. Long story short, I don't have a direct answer for you but wanted to chime in ;) lol
Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
11y
@Brandon Turner Texas seems to be the epicenter of all things foundation related, as 9 out of every 10 houses in some areas either do or will require foundation repair.
Anyway, the good news for you is that it's pier & beam. Much, much cheaper to remediate. If it's just the corner, meaning the slope doesn't start in the center of the house, it's likely you have a pier that has failed, which wouldn't be surprising with the amount of moisture you guys get. That would be a pretty cheap fix. Around here I would think about $2,000 to jack the house up and replace the pier. If it is starting to slope further into the house, you're obviously talking about multiple piers, and there is a per pier cost, usually around $1,250. The other thing is, until you get someone out their to look at the under-layment, you aren't going to know what actually needs to be fixed. It could be a failure in a beam that is causing the issue, which is cheaper.
Real Estate Agent · Oakland, CA · Member since 2015 · 28 posts · 7 votes
11y
@Brandon Turner is your place in Montesano? I'm in Northern Cal but originally from Shelton and I've got a family friend that does foundation work there. Let me know if you'd like his contact info.
Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2015 · 677 posts · 309 votes
11y
My recommendation would be to pay from $300.00 to $500.00 to a structural engineer to come out and tell you what is really up with your foundation. Chances are you are going to need an engineer to design the work anyway to get a building permit then you will know for sure what to get bids on. I have done allot of work on foundations over the years but sounds to be like between $2800.00 to up to $6,000.00 worth of work depending. You might also simply need to jack up the house and pour a few inches on the existing foundation. New tied into the existing with rebar and epoxy. That might be allot cheaper. Even cheaper if actually your foundation is fine and its just the piers that are failing. A new concrete pier footing and a longer post on the pier footing sometimes will do the trick just fine and that's only a few hundred dollars worth of work without requiring engineering.
Not saying I am actually addressing the problem with your foundation but these are just things to think about.
Investor / Lender · Seattle, WA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 730 votes
11y
@Account Closed mentioned Matvey Construction. Using them on a flip project right now to fix huge sloping (one corner of the house was 8" shorter than the other). They gave us a good bid; give them a try :-)
Engineer · Seattle, WA · Member since 2014 · 59 posts · 35 votes
11y
Hey Brandon,
So I would start with a geotechnical engineer or a engineering geologist. They can evaluate the problem by collecting subsurface data then propose a solution based on your site conditions. I dont know much about Montasano from a geotechnical standpoint but here in the northwest we dont tend to have expansive soils like texas so solutions tend to be different. Many of the residential foundation problems in the puget sound are rectified by using 'pin' piles which are basically a pipe shoved into the ground untill it reaches a dense "bearing" layer. That layer could be 5 or 500 feet down so thats why you need sub surface information. A block foundation complicates the issue because it doesnt have much tensile strength so some other member may be needed to load the pins. With no information specific to your site its very hard for anyone to give you a ballpark and have it mean much. You are looking at 1500 to 3500 ish to get a geological evaluation done and some preliminary design work. The fix cost will depend on what they find. There will be professionals based out of Olympia/Tacoma that you can get bids from for the soils report and design work. Ive been out of the full time practice for a few years so I don't have any specific names to share. If you need any help sorting through the process feel free to get in touch.
Engineer · Seattle, WA · Member since 2014 · 59 posts · 35 votes
11y
Heck I should have also said that it could have been built that way. But with the planned addition it is likely that a soils evaluation will be required. It makes sense to me to prioritize that and see what it reveals about the area of concern and then move into the addition/repair phase informed about the situation and fix(s). Then you can set your budget and aspirations based on remedial work if any is needed.