Sloping floors, sticking doors or a cracked wall? We find out why it moved, then fix the support and the water behind it.
Foundation repair in Summerville, SC adds support under a house that has settled, with piers screwed or driven down to firmer ground, concrete poured in sections under the footing, or posts that lift a sagging beam back toward level.
Most people call us about a floor that slopes, a door that won't latch or a crack running up a brick wall. A sagging floor tells you something moved, but not why. The cause can be the house settling, damaged framing, rotted wood or moisture, and each one needs a different fix, so we want that answer before anyone talks about jacking the house up.
The price turns mostly on the type of pier, how deep it has to go and how easy the wall is to get to. The schedule turns on how many piers the job needs, the soil, how hard the digging is and any permit review. Your written estimate spells out the materials, the steps and anything not included, so you can see where the money goes.
There are a few ways to put support back under a house. Which one fits depends on whether the ground is still moving and what's wet underneath.
When the footing itself has settled, the fix has to reach past the soft soil. Helical piers screw into stable soil, push piers are driven down until they stop, and some jobs get concrete poured in sections beneath the footing. Around the Charleston metro, helical piers are more common near the coast and in soils close to the marsh.
Adjustable posts under a beam fit when the beam has dropped but the crawl space soil and footings are stable. Posts add support. They don't correct a foundation that's still moving, so you need to know which problem you have before you pay for either one.
One crawl space guide notes that nearly every structural problem down there, like rot or a beam sitting in wet soil, has moisture behind it. If the repair leaves the water where it is, the same repair is likely to need doing again, so the water fix belongs in the plan.
From the first call to the final walk-through, you deal with me and our own crew. Here's the order things happen in, and where a permit can add time.
Call (843) 376-1285, email hi@summervilleconcreteandmasonry.com or use the estimate form. Have your address handy, whether it's inside Town limits if you know, and a short note on the cracks or sagging you see.
I come out, look the job over, measure it and ask what you want the repair to do for you. Then you get a written estimate that lists the materials, the steps and anything not included.
Before we start, I check with the office that covers your address about permits. If the Town reviews plans for your job, that review takes three weeks in most cases, and workload and weather can stretch it. Then our crew does the work while I check it.
When the work is done, we walk it with you so you can see the new support, the water fix and any masonry we patched. We leave the site clean before we go.
Before anyone lifts a house, I want to know why it moved, so we start with the cause. One guide on this work says it needs an engineer's assessment first in nearly every case, and we bring in an engineer when the job calls for one. That's the kind of extra checking I'd rather do up front than have you find the same crack down the road.
Then I walk you through what each choice does, piers or posts, and what it won't do. Posts get raised a little at a time, because lifting a settled house too fast can crack drywall or make doors stick. We plan the water fix as part of the same job, since leaving the water in place is how a repair ends up being done twice.
Settling usually shows up in the brick too. Once the support underneath is set, cracked mortar joints can be raked out and refilled with tuckpointing, using a mortar chosen to suit the wall, and a chimney that cracked or leaned as the house moved can get its own chimney repair. We do that masonry ourselves, so it's planned with the foundation work rather than after it.
Reaching the footing means digging outside the wall. One pier maker's guide has installers dig either a trench along the whole wall or a hole at each pier, and which fits depends on the job and what's in the yard.
We'd rather repoint cracked brick after the house is back on firm support than before. Mortar put in while the wall is still moving can crack again, so the masonry work comes last.
Send the form and we'll get back to you within one business day to set a time. I come out, look the job over and measure it, then you get a free written estimate with the materials, the steps and anything not included. There's no obligation and no pressure to book.
(843) 376-1285A Summerville address doesn't always mean the Town of Summerville. Your home may sit in unincorporated Dorchester, Charleston or Berkeley County, and the Town's rules apply only inside Town limits. Inside them, the Town's Building Department requires permits and inspections for repairs to a building's structure. We find out which office covers your address and handle the permit and inspections when the job needs them.
Most of our calls come from owners of older brick homes, and a lot of those houses sit on crawl spaces, where a damp crawl space and a dropping beam tend to turn up together. We do the same foundation and brick work in Ladson and Goose Creek, and the first visit there runs the same way, with a tape measure before any talk of a fix.
I come out to look at the job and measure it myself, and our own crew does the work while I check it as it goes. I learned brick, block and stone on a big commercial outfit where every course got measured and checked before the next one started, and I've run this business in Summerville since 2013.
On licensing, the state board, SC LLR, counts anyone who builds or oversees the repair or improvement of a home as a residential builder once the job costs more than five thousand dollars. We're fully licensed and insured. Satisfaction guaranteed on every job, and that starts with the layout being right before anyone mixes mortar.
If your floors have started to slope or a wall has cracked, call (843) 376-1285 or send the form on this page with your address and a short note on what you're seeing, and we'll set a time for me to come out.
A chimney carries a lot of weight on a small footprint, so when a house settles it can crack, lean or pull away from the wall and start letting water in.
Settling leaves stair-step cracks in brick mortar, and once the house is steady, fresh joints close those cracks and keep rain from working into the wall.
We're based in Summerville and work across the cities around it in Dorchester, Berkeley and Charleston counties. The cities below have their own pages, and we're glad to hear from you if yours isn't listed.
Pier underpinning for settlement along one wall or corner of a house in the Charleston metro usually costs about $9,000 to $24,000 per job. That's what the work generally runs across the area, not our price. Your written estimate gives the figure for your house, with the materials and steps listed.
Usually because the ground under each house is different. The Cooper Marl, the dense layer deep under the metro, sits at different depths block by block, so neighboring lots can need noticeably different pier counts. One pier maker's guide also ends with door and window checks, crack repair, waterproofing, a drain tile inspection and final elevation readings, so ask whether each quote includes those.
Inside Town limits, plan on one, since the Town requires permits and inspections for structural repairs. If your home sits in the county instead, that office decides. Either way, we check which office covers your address before work starts and take care of the permit when the job needs it.
One guide puts underpinning a full wall at one to two weeks, depending on how many piers it needs, the soil and how easy the digging is. Your estimate lays out the steps in order, so you can plan the weeks around them.
Mostly, make room along the wall that needs support, because the crew has to dig down to the footing outside the house. Landscaping, a deck or a narrow side yard can make access harder and the job longer. I'll point out what needs moving when I come out to measure.
Cracks are easier to read before anyone fills or paints over them, so call (843) 376-1285 or send the form while they still show how the house moved.
