Typical cost in Burien
A corner that has dropped, a lean, a floor that no longer sits level: Burien Foundation Repair looks for the cause first, then explains push piers, helical piers and underpinning and where each runs out.
We serve Burien, SeaTac and Normandy Park. Burien’s older stock, with about 38 percent of homes built before 1960, includes the houses where footing movement is a fair question to ask. A sloping floor does not by itself mean a house needs piers, so the cause comes first.
What contractors call a push pier, HUD calls a mini-pier: steel pipe, 2 to 8 inches across, pushed down beside the footing by hydraulic force against the weight of the house itself, down to rock or firm bearing ground. HUD lists cracking the foundation or slab when misused, and poor economy where firm ground lies deep, as the drawbacks.
A helical pier is installed by turning, not pushing: a steel shaft with a helical plate goes into stable soil and is bracketed to the footing, and the torque logged on the way down is a gauge of capacity. HUD says the method fails in soils of limited bearing capacity.
Underpinning is a word with several meanings. The one HUD describes is a wider footing that spreads the load across more soil, sized and reinforced by an engineer for the ground at hand. HUD calls it dangerous, an expert’s task, and possibly unworkable in silty or expansive ground.
Sloping floors, gaps above doors and windows, sticking doors and cracks that taper or step at corners are all worth a closer look. HUD ties tapered cracks to differential settlement, for example under a porch or bay with an inadequate foundation.
HUD describes settlement as slow rather than dramatic, which leaves time to work out the cause. A leaning wall or a slope in motion is the exception. A level on the floor and a dated pencil line at each end of a crack give the visit real numbers.
HUD names the site, the soil, earthquakes, water in or on the ground and weak design or materials as what causes foundation failure. Its poor soil covers peat and other organic ground, silt, and fill placed without compaction in layers.
The state Department of Natural Resources reports peat deposits in 28 of Washington’s 39 counties, most of them in the Puget Sound basin, and describes peat as subject to large settlement when loaded or dried. Whether a given Burien lot has peat or fill is for a geotechnical look to say.
Water plays a part as well: it can wash fines from beneath a footing and weaken the soil, as HUD notes.
For the cause of settlement, HUD’s guidance is to consult a structural or geotechnical engineer who does this work. It is federal advice and not a Burien rule. Separately, Burien’s building official can require a registered design professional when documents must be prepared by one.
A pier job beside the footing is a repair to a building, which Burien’s code says needs a permit, and permit exemptions do not apply on critical areas, steep slopes or landslide hazard areas. Ask the permit center whether piers or underpinning need one. Building in a mapped geologically hazardous area may involve more review, and Burien’s code says such building should be avoided when the risk cannot be reduced to a comparable level.
Piering is priced from the house and the ground. The factors:
Burien’s hazard chapter covers erosion, landslide and seismic areas, and exempts slopes with a vertical change of up to 10 feet that are not part of a larger steep-slope system from designation. A lot with a bigger slope may fall under the chapter, so the city’s mapping and the permit center settle it.
DNR’s portal shows liquefaction susceptibility as a general guide, and its notes say peat may deform in shaking and need site-specific analysis. City code can change, so confirm the current text.
Sloping floors, tapering cracks and door gaps are the signs. A level and dated pencil marks on a crack show whether it is moving. A visit finds the cause.
Neither wins everywhere. Push piers want firm bearing within reach; helical piers fall short where bearing capacity is limited. What sits below your footing decides, and a geotechnical look is how to learn it.
We do not promise that. HUD’s own list of drawbacks includes cracking if piers are used incorrectly, and any lifting depends on the framing, the soil and the engineer’s design.
Cracks are covered under foundation crack repair. A floor that slopes over a crawlspace can be a post problem and not a footing problem, so the crawlspace post and beam repair page is worth a look too. The remaining services are on the Burien Foundation Repair home page.
When did you first notice it, and what did you see: a sloping floor, a gap at a door, a crack? We'll get back to you soon with an estimate or any questions we have. Estimates are free and there's no obligation.
Call (253) 352-3724