Foundation raising in Fayetteville AR - your settled house brought back to level
Doors sticking, floors sloping, cracks climbing the walls? We lift your settled house back to level and set it on solid support.
- Licensed and fully insured.
- Free on-site estimates.
- Expect a reply within 1 business day.
What does foundation raising involve, from the lift to the yard cleanup?
Foundation raising lifts a settled house in Fayetteville back to the level it was built at and sets it on support meant to last, so the floors sit flat and the doors close again. It usually comes with some utility work, cutting and patching the floor, and putting the yard back together afterward.
Most people call me after a door quits latching or a crack shows up over a window, and by then the real questions are how far the house has dropped and what it's sitting on. A house on piers and beams takes less labor to lift than one on a concrete slab, so a slab house usually runs more, and the price also moves with whether you want it back to level or raised higher and how much utility, floor and yard work comes along with it. The schedule mostly turns on the city's permit and when its inspectors can come out, and once I've seen the house, my written estimate puts your own numbers on all of it.
How do you know your house needs leveling?
Doors that stick or won't latch
A door that used to close fine now rubs at the top or won't catch, because the frame racked when one corner of the house dropped. Wait too long and you'll be planing doors that just bind again, while the cause keeps working underneath.
Cracks over doors and windows
Diagonal cracks running up from the corners of doors and windows, in the drywall inside or the brick outside, usually mean part of the foundation is moving more than the rest. Patching them only hides the problem until they open back up, often wider.
Floors that slope or dip
If a ball rolls across the kitchen on its own, or one side of a room feels lower, the floor is following the foundation down. The longer it sits, the more trim gaps, cabinet gaps and cracked tile you'll have to fix once the house is level again.
Work that often comes with leveling
Concrete cutting
Saw cuts open the slab where work has to happen inside the house, and straight edges make the floor patch afterward look like it belongs.
Concrete driveway building
The same ground movement that drops a house can crack a driveway or tip it toward the garage, and a new one on a packed base sheds water.
How we handle foundation raising
First we figure out whether you need a settled house brought back to level or a house raised higher, because those are two different jobs, and leveling is the main one on this page. I'll look at what your house sits on, where it's dropped and where the water runs around it, then go over what the quote covers, like the utility work, patching the floor and fixing the yard after, so nothing shows up as a surprise halfway through. On the job, our crew does the digging and prep, the house comes up slowly and gets set on support meant to stay, and then we patch, backfill and clean up. If the budget's tight, I'd rather spend it on what holds the house up than on making the cracks look nice, because a pretty patch over a house that's still moving just cracks again.
Some of the work around the lift is concrete work in its own right. When we need to get under the house from inside, we use concrete cutting to take out a clean section of slab floor so it patches back neatly. If the settling broke up your driveway too, we can replace it through our concrete driveway building work once the house is sitting right, with the base packed and the water headed away from the foundation.
Leveling a settled house
This suits a house that's dropped at a corner or along one side, with sticking doors and sloping floors, because the goal is getting it back where it was built to sit. It's usually what people mean when they call about a sinking house.
Raising a house higher
This suits a house that needs to sit higher than it ever did, usually to get it above flood water, and it's a bigger, separate job. Tell us up front if this is what you mean so the estimate matches the work.
Get a written estimate to level your house
Send the form and we'll reply within one business day to set up a free on-site visit, no pressure and no obligation. You can also call (479) 598-4435.
Call (479) 598-4435Why Fayetteville homeowners call AJ Fayetteville Concrete Construction
The owner walks your job
I come out to look at the job myself, and I'm on site running it while our crew handles the prep and the concrete work. The person who measured your house and wrote your estimate is the one you'll find there on the day of the lift.
Six years, public works trained
I learned concrete on a city public works crew, pouring sidewalks, curbs and the odd wall, and started this business in 2020. That work teaches you to get the ground and the drainage right first, because nobody wants to dig up a curb twice.
Licensed and fully insured crew
We're licensed and fully insured, and I'm happy to show you that before we start. Lifting a house means people working under it, so you want that settled before anyone picks up a jack.
Plans built for Washington County clay
Parts of Washington County sit on high shrink-swell clay, the kind that swells when it's wet and shrinks when it dries, and if nobody plans for that uneven movement a house can literally break apart. We're based in Fayetteville and work across Northwest Arkansas, so I plan every lift around where the water goes and how that clay will act next season.
What matters most is knowing which job you need before anyone lifts anything, so tell us about your house or call (479) 598-4435 and I'll come out and take a look.
What happens after you call about leveling your house?
Call or send the form
Call (479) 598-4435 or send the form, and we'll set a time for me to come out. If you already know whether you want the house leveled or raised higher, mention it.
I walk the house with you
I look at the foundation, measure, check where it's dropped and talk through your options. You get a written estimate with your price and what it covers, and you can take your time with it.
We sort out the city side
Once you say go, I check with the building office, handle any permit paperwork and line up inspections. Fayetteville sends inspectors out on repairs as well as new work, so we build their visits into the schedule.
We lift, patch and walk it
Our crew preps the site and does the work with me on site, then we patch what we opened and clean up. When we're done, I walk it with you so you can check the doors and floors for yourself.
Common questions
What does foundation raising do to a settled house?
Foundation raising lifts a settled house back to the level it was built at and gives it permanent support underneath. Contractors usually do it with hydraulic jacks or steel piers, depending on the house. Once it's level, the doors, floors and walls line back up, and you can fix the cosmetic damage knowing it should stay fixed.
Do I need a permit to raise my house in Fayetteville?
Usually, yes, because Fayetteville's building office requires a permit for work that repairs, alters or moves a building. The owner or an authorized agent has to apply before work begins. When you hire us, we handle that paperwork and line up the inspections.
How do I check if my Fayetteville house is in a floodplain before foundation work?
Check with the city's Development Services Division before the project starts, because all development in the floodplain needs a Floodplain Development Permit. Let me know what you find out when you call, so I know which permits to plan around.
What adds to the cost of foundation raising?
Disconnecting utility lines, getting permits and repairing the landscaping afterward all add to the total on top of the lift itself. Ask whether each quote includes those items, because a lower number that leaves them out isn't really lower.
What license should a foundation contractor have in Arkansas?
Look for a home improvement license from the Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board, whose application includes a foundation category covering construction, drilling, pile driving and stabilization. A Limited license covers residential home improvement jobs under $50,000 counting labor and material, while an Unlimited license covers any size, so make sure the license fits your job. Before work starts on a residential job, the contractor also has to tell you a lien could be filed.
How do I know if I need my house leveled or elevated?
If the house has settled and you want it back where it was built to sit, you need leveling, and if you want it sitting higher than it ever was, that's elevation, a bigger and separate job. Federal flood guidance lists three ways to elevate a house: on continuous foundation walls, on open foundations like piles, piers, posts or columns, or on fill. Say which one you mean when you ask for quotes, so every contractor is pricing the same job.
Book a look at your settling house
Call (479) 598-4435 or send the form with your foundation type, whether you're in a floodplain and whether you want leveling or raising, so I show up with the right questions.