Foundation raising in Williston ND - a level house on a sound new foundation
House settling, floors sloping, the old foundation giving out? We lift the house so the foundation under it can be rebuilt solid.
- Licensed and fully insured.
- Free in-person estimates.
- Expect a reply within 1 business day.
How do you raise a house in Williston?
Foundation raising in Williston means lifting your house on hydraulic jacks set under its carrying beams and holding it up on supports while the foundation underneath is rebuilt, so the house comes back down level on concrete that's sound.
Most people call Williston Concrete about this once patching cracks has stopped fixing anything. The price moves with the size of the house, how much reinforcing it needs before it's safe to lift and how much of the foundation gets rebuilt. The schedule turns on the check of the house, the permit and the weather for the pour, and I'll write all of it into your estimate once I've seen the house.
How can you tell your foundation needs more than a patch?
Doors and windows sticking
When a door that used to close easily starts to bind, the walls around it have usually gone out of square because the foundation under them moved. Waiting lets it keep moving, and both the cracks and the fix tend to get bigger.
Cracks running through drywall
Cracks above door frames and at window corners usually mean the framing is moving with the foundation, not that the drywall was hung badly. Patch them and they come back, so it's worth finding out what's going on underneath first.
Floors that slope underfoot
A floor you can feel tilt, or one where a dropped marble rolls to the same corner every time, usually means part of the foundation has dropped. Left alone, the framing above it takes the strain, and that can mean more repair before the house is safe to lift.
How our foundation raising works
Before any lift plan is final, we have the house looked over by someone qualified to judge whether it can take the lift, because some houses need framing reinforced first. Then our crew sets hydraulic jacks under the beams that carry the house and raises it a short way at a time, setting it down on cribbing, stacked timber supports, after each lift. With the house held up, we tear out the old foundation, dig and pack a firm base so the new concrete isn't sitting on loose dirt, pour the new foundation and set the house back down on it. I'll also tell you at the first visit that you'll need somewhere else to stay for part of the work, and if you're in a flood zone, that visit is the time to tell me.
A raise usually touches the concrete around it. If the job calls for work through a basement floor or a new opening in a wall, we do the concrete cutting with a saw so the floor around the cut stays whole. Once the house sits higher, the slab out front may no longer line up with the garage floor, and we can replace it through our concrete driveway building work.
Whole-house lift with a new foundation
This suits a house whose foundation is cracked, crumbling or too far gone to save, because lifting the house clear lets us build a new one from the bottom up. It's the bigger job, with more time out of the house, and it's what most people mean by raising a house.
Piers under the existing foundation
Helical piers are steel supports set into the soil under the foundation, and they can suit a house where the foundation is sound but one part keeps settling. Done from inside a basement, it means opening a square of the floor at each pier, cutting the rebar, the steel that strengthens the slab, and digging down, so expect some mess indoors.
Get a free estimate on raising your house
Send the form and you'll hear back within one business day. I'll come out, look over the house and write up a free in-person estimate, with no pressure and no obligation to go ahead.
(701) 401-8095- Based in
- Williston, ND 58801
- Hours
- Mon–Sun: 6 AM–11 PM
What happens after you call about raising your house?
Here's how it goes from your first call to the day the house sits back down, and who handles each part.
- +01
Call or send the form
Call (701) 401-8095 or send the form, and we'll set a time for me to come out. Tell me what's been bothering you about the house so I know where to look first.
- +02
I walk the house
I look the job over, ask what you need from it and write up the estimate, which spells out whether it covers the lift alone or a whole new foundation. If something looks bad, you'll hear it from me then, not after the truck shows up.
- +03
We sort permit and date
Once you say go, we handle the permit side and pick a pour date with the weather in mind, because I'd rather move a pour than rush one. That's when you line up a place to stay.
- +04
We raise, rebuild and lower
I'm on site with a small crew for the lift, the new foundation and setting the house back down. We clean up before we leave, so the job ends with your house back on solid ground and not a pile of cribbing in the yard.
Why Williston homeowners call Williston Concrete to raise a house
On a raise, what matters most is knowing the house can take the lift before anyone sets a jack. Ask for an estimate and I'll come take a look.
I see the house myself
I come out to look at the house and write the estimate, and I'm on the job with a small crew when the work starts. The person who priced it is the one standing under it, so nothing gets lost between a salesman and a crew.
Back on concrete since 2023
I learned the trade on a crew when I was young, did other work for a lot of years and started Williston Concrete in 2023, so we've been at it 3 years. I came back because I missed building things people stand on, and a house is about the biggest one there is.
A license the state requires
North Dakota requires a contractor's license for any job whose cost is over $4,000, and raising a house is well past that line. We're licensed and fully insured, and it's fair to ask anyone you're comparing to say the same.
Raising a house and the foundation work around it in Williston
Williams County requires a building permit before a building is altered, repaired or moved, and that includes structural changes to an existing house, which a raise is. The City of Williston takes its own residential alteration permit applications, but its list names work like additions, remodeling, siding and windows, not raising a house, so for an address in town the city is the office to ask. Before work starts, we figure out with you whether the city or the county covers your address, and we take care of the permit paperwork when the job calls for one.
We plan around frost here too. Ice can form in the ground near the water table and lift the soil, and the foundation, basement floor and walls with it, and that's more likely where the water sits high and the ground is clay or silt rather than gravel that drains. That's why we time a new foundation pour around the season, and it's the same planning we do on jobs across Williston and the cities around it.
Questions about foundation raising in Williston
How much does it cost to raise a house in Williston?
Raising a typical single-family house usually costs about $20,000 to $80,000 per job across the US, and that's a national figure, not our price. Where yours lands depends on how much of the work the contract covers, since replacing the whole foundation costs more than a lift alone. I'll give you your own number in the estimate after I've seen the house.
How long will we be out of the house when it's raised?
Raising a house usually takes 6 to 12 weeks of construction, and you'll be out of the house for part of that time. Line up a place to stay before the lift begins, and I'll tell you at the estimate which part of the job that's likely to be.
Who issues permits and licenses for foundation work in Williston?
The building permit comes from Williams County or the City of Williston, whichever covers your address, and contractor licenses come from the North Dakota Secretary of State. We sort out the right permit office with you before work starts, and we're licensed and insured as noted above.
What causes a house foundation to shift in North Dakota?
Soil moving under it, most often by drying out and shrinking or by frost lifting it. When soil shrinks, it stops holding up the foundation and the house can shift, and the frost lift I covered above does the opposite in wet ground. Either way, the fix starts with a good look at the house.
How do I know if my house can be lifted safely?
Have it evaluated by a qualified structural mover or engineer before the lift plan is final, which is what one lifting equipment maker's guide advises. Houses with rotted sills, the wood the walls sit on, failing framing or severe settlement sometimes need a lot of reinforcing first, so plan for that visit and any added work. We set up that look before we commit to a plan.
What changes if my house is in a flood zone?
If your house sits in a Special Flood Hazard Area, a flood zone FEMA identifies, you need a floodplain development permit from the local Floodplain Administrator before any work begins. If the house is improved by more than 50 percent, it has to fully meet the floodplain rules, so tell me at the first visit if you're in one.
Related concrete work when you raise a house
When pier work goes through a basement floor or a wall needs a new opening, clean saw cuts keep the rest of the concrete sound.
Once the house sits higher, the old driveway may meet the garage at the wrong level, and a new one on a packed base fixes that.
Service areas for foundation raising around Williston
Williston Concrete is based in Williston, ND, and works in the cities around it. Williston, ND is the one area with its own page here, and it covers what we see on jobs in the city.
Book a look at your house first
Call (701) 401-8095 or send the form with your address and a note on any sticking doors, drywall cracks or flood zone status, so I come out knowing what to look for.
Williston, ND