Before someone starts a project, one of the first questions anyone wants to answer is what will it cost? In the case of a settled structure, people are left with few options on methods to fix or resolve their problem, and want to know what, if anything they can do to fix it.
In this blog, we want to explore the costs of different lift applications to give customers a good sense of what to expect for their specific project. We will cover general ballpark pricing for different scenarios, compare structural foam costs to alternatives, applicable engineering/permitting fees, and overall try and be as transparent as possible to have you make the best informed decision.
Ballpark Pricing for Different Scenarios
-Whole House Foundation Lift: When it comes to lifting an entire house foundation, costs can vary pretty widely. An overall range we will tell folks is typically most projects land somewhere between $40k-$100k for a structural foam lifting/bedding scenario. This includes costs for engineering and permitting, which may not be required depending on your location in Alaska. A home on a crawlspace can be cheaper, since all of the work can be performed from inside of the crawlspace. If the garage needs lifted as well, this can add cost since the foundation footers will need exposed from the exterior in order to be lifted, and the slab will need drilled and injected to raise. Homes with a daylight basement can still be lifted from the inside via pilot holes cut in the the basement slab. This is a bit more involved and can add cost to the project. Amount of settlement has some impact, but not as much as you might think. If a house is settled 2″ vs 10″, there is certainly less material used to lift and bed it, but all of the overall steps are essentially the same. Also, we do Deep Injection around the perimeter of every house we lift, and if there is troubled soil it can take a fair amount of material to properly strengthen the ground. The alternative cost to lift a house with helical piers is typically $100k-$200k, so fully double the price of geo foam. Engineering and permitting is around $3-5k, so a customer can save this amount if this is not required for their house lift.
-Garage Slabs: Garage slab lifts tend to range between $5k-$8k for a structural lift and/or void fill. Some factors that affect this are the presence of heat tubing, how badly the slab may be cracked, how much it has settled, and obviously the overall size of the slab. There isn’t a good alternative to raising a garage slab, so the other option is to tear out and re-pour. This can typically range between $12k-$15k and be a fairly invasive procedure.
-Sidewalks/Patios: Smaller sidewalk projects can be pretty tricky to lift properly. Foam will always follow the path of least resistance, so may try coming up into the lawn instead of properly lifting the sidewalk. Because of this, we will often lift mechanically, and then bed with geo foam. Sidewalks and patios can range between $1.5k-$3k, and often times it can be the same cost or potentially cheaper to just have someone tear it out and repour it. Structural foam isn’t a magic bullet, and if your sidewalk is severely cracked and worn, it might be better to simply have it replaced than to have us lift it.
Other Alternatives to Structural Foam
A few alternatives to geo foam exist. For a whole house foundation, a tried and true method is helical piers, installed generally every 8′ around the house and attached to the foundation. It is a great system, but is typically at least twice the cost of a structural foam approach, and is very invasive since the entire foundation will need excavated around the outside of the home. this would mean the removal of decks, patios, plants, and the like. For slab lifts, hydraulic mud jacking is a rather outdated option compared to geo foam. It can be cheaper, but is a fluid lift versus a chemical lift, so is much harder to control and rather prone to bulging/swelling in various spots.
And that basically wraps it up! Obviously every project is unique, so ballparks can always be tricky and your project may be less or more expensive than the ranges indicated above. At Polyseal we always offer free estimates for anything local, so feel free and call or email to get further pricing for your project. We will typically ask for photos and further information, and can narrow the ballpark from there and set up a site visit to get you a firm price. We take pride in our work, and plan to be servicing Alaskans for as long as we possibly can, so give us a call to see if we can help.
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