Foundation, settlement and earth movement repair
Southern California builds on expansive clay, on fill, and on hillsides. Foundations here move, and when they do the argument that follows is almost always about whether the movement was caused by the soil, the design, the construction, the drainage or the maintenance.
We do not replace the engineer. We price and perform what the engineer specifies.
Cause determination on a soils related claim belongs to a licensed geotechnical engineer, and structural adequacy belongs to a structural engineer. Our contribution is the part those disciplines are not equipped to supply: what the specified repair will actually cost to build, and whether it can be built as drawn.
That distinction matters at deposition. An expert who overstates their qualification gets impeached on it. We stay inside our lane, work directly with the engineers of record, and produce the construction cost and constructability opinion.
In practice this means walking the site with the engineer, understanding the repair concept before it is finalized, and flagging the access, shoring, utility relocation, phasing and occupancy issues that turn a clean engineering drawing into an expensive project.
Conditions we work on
- Differential settlement of conventional and post tension slabs
- Expansive soil heave and seasonal movement
- Fill settlement and improperly compacted pads
- Landslide, slope creep and slope failure
- Retaining wall movement, rotation and failure
- Slab cracking, curling and separation
- Post tension tendon distress and slab repair
- Foundation undermining from drainage and erosion
- Seismic damage to foundations and cripple walls
- Damage from adjacent excavation or grading
Pricing the repair the engineer specifies
Each of these carries very different cost drivers, and the difference between them is often the largest single number in a soils related claim.
Underpinning and piering
Push pier, helical pier and drilled pier systems, priced with the access, spoils handling, interior work and finish restoration that the pier drawings do not show.
Slab and structural repair
Slab replacement, partial removal and replacement, structural overlay, post tension repair and associated flooring and cabinetry impact.
Drainage and grading correction
Site regrading, subdrain installation, area drain systems, downspout tightlining and moisture control at the foundation perimeter.
Retaining and slope stabilization
Retaining wall replacement and reinforcement, soldier pile systems, slope repair, keyway reconstruction and erosion control.
Superstructure repair
Correction of racked framing, out of plumb walls, binding doors and windows, drywall and stucco crack repair, and releveling of finish surfaces.
Occupancy and relocation
Temporary relocation, storage, utility interruption and phasing costs, which on an occupied foundation repair frequently exceed the structural work itself.
The pier drawings show fifteen piers. They do not show that eleven of them are inside an occupied house with tile floors and custom cabinetry above.
On Constructability ReviewWhy constructability review pays for itself
We are frequently asked to review a repair recommendation before it is finalized. That review has saved clients substantial money in two directions. Sometimes it reveals that the specified repair cannot be built as drawn without a far more expensive approach, which needs to be known before the number is relied upon. Other times it reveals that a less invasive repair achieves the same result at a fraction of the cost.
Either way, the review happens before the repair is committed to rather than during construction, when every change is a change order.
Foundation repair to price or perform?
Bring us in alongside your geotechnical and structural engineers, before the repair concept is finalized.
- Direct(619) 464-3997
- Toll Free(800) 619-4833
- Office7777 Alvarado Road, Suite 408A
La Mesa, CA 91942 - LicenseCSLB #345079