Doors sticking, floors sloping or new cracks in the walls? We find out why the house moved, then bring it back to level.
Foundation raising in Torrance brings a settled house back to level, either by shimming or replacing the piers under a raised floor or by lifting a slab home on piers set down to firm, load-bearing soil.
Most calls start with a door that won't latch, a floor that rolls toward one corner or a crack that wasn't there last year. Plenty of older houses are a little out of level and work just fine, so the real question is whether yours is still moving, because a house that settled years ago and stopped needs a different plan than one that's moving now. The price turns on whether the house sits on a slab or a raised floor, whether it's the whole house or one corner, how many piers it needs and what's causing the movement. The schedule turns on that same pier count, plus any permit the city calls for. I'll come out, take a look and put all of it in the estimate, so you know what you're paying for before we start.
I come out myself to look at the house and write the estimate, and I work alongside our crew when we lift it. The person who measured your floors and asked about the cracks is the same one under the house on lifting day.
I spent years as another contractor's right hand, running the crew and sorting out the jobs that didn't go by the book, then started our company in Torrance in 2023. Tight access, cuts through old slabs and walls on a property line are the jobs we like.
California requires a state license for anyone altering a building once labor and materials come to $1,000 or more, and a house lift is well past that. We're licensed and fully insured. Call (424) 318-3115 or use the form to set up a visit.
We reply within one business day to set a time, then I come out to measure your floors, look underneath and write a free on-site estimate, with no obligation. It helps if you send your address, whether the house sits on a slab or a raised floor, and any cracks or floor changes you've noticed and when they started.
Permits in Torrance go through the city's Building and Safety Division, and every submittal now goes in electronically. Before you apply, the city wants Zoning Clearance from its Planning or Environmental Division, and proof of it goes in with the application. Whether a lift on your house needs a permit is something we settle before we schedule anything, by checking with the city or county office for your address, and if one is called for, we handle the paperwork with you. California also maps liquefaction zones, areas where the stability of the soil under foundations has to be looked into, and cities and counties have to use those maps when they issue construction permits, so where your lot sits can change what the permit review asks about.
Around here we see both kinds of houses, older ones up on raised floors and slab homes, and on every settling call we look at where the water goes, from downspouts that empty right against the wall to driveways that tilt toward the garage. We do the same work across the cities around Torrance, including Redondo Beach and Lomita.
Across the US, leveling a whole house usually costs about $3,500 to $30,000 per job, with slab homes at the higher end. That's the national range, not our price, and leveling just one corner costs considerably less than the whole footprint. I'll give you a figure for your house in Torrance once I've seen it.
Shimming a raised floor usually takes 1 to 3 days, and setting piers under a slab usually takes 3 to 7 days, depending on how many piers it needs. Most people stay home the whole time, though slab work is noisy and means digging around the outside of the house. Your pier count comes out of the estimate, so you'll know which end of that range to plan for.
A house leveled properly on stable soil shouldn't need it again, and when one does, it usually means a cause was never fixed, like water soaking the soil or a footing too small for the load. After the work, check your floors with a level once a year, because movement that comes back within a few seasons means the cause is still active.
Type your address into the state's EQ Zapp tool to see whether your lot sits inside one of California's mapped earthquake hazard zones. It's worth doing before we come out, so we can talk through what it means for the permit.
Mudjacking or foam leveling can usually lift a sunken patio, walk or driveway slab without tearing it out, but neither one fixes soil that's still moving. Mudjacking pumps a cement or soil-based grout under the slab and its published prices start lower, while foam goes in through smaller holes and adds less weight. If the ground is still settling, the lift may have to be repeated, so pulling the slab and pouring new is worth weighing, depending on how cracked it is and how much it's expected to move.
