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9/15/2018

House Leveling in Lake Charles, LA - LA Foundation Repair

House Leveling Contractor - Lake Charles, LA

The first part of every house leveling project is to find the highest point in the home using our laser leveling system. We measure off the bottom of the finished floor in an attempt to get all the tops of the floor joists at the same height leveling the finished floor at each pier.

House Leveling in Lake Charles was about an hour and thirty minute drive for us from our home office in Lafayette, LA, but we were happy to get the work done. The homeowner has hired a general contractor to remodel the entire home, add two bedrooms and a bathroom to the second floor. The contractor wanted to get a flat surface to work on and called LA Foundation Repairs - House Lifting and Leveling a BBB accredited and state licensed house leveling contractor to get the foundation repairs done and house leveled.

The home was not that off, but did need our services. After setting up the laser and checking the bottom of the finished floor next to each pier, we realized a 2" difference from one side of the house to the next. Some blocks were out over 3/4" from one pier to the next. We used a methodical approach in raised and shimmed each pier of the foundation system until all of the the structure was leveled within 3/8 of an inch. At LA Foundation Repairs we aim for perfection, but the structure would not allow every pier to bring the finished floor to the same height. We had to call some audibles as we noticed windows start to bow as we strived to reach the proper height. Some areas would not allow the blocks to be adjusted any lower due to the way the structure was built.

After completing the house leveling project, we went inside to inspect the floors and noticed some trouble areas that still needed to be repaired. Once realizing that the low spots at some openings in the middle of the home, we correlated their positions to the underside of the home and a pier was not in the vicinity. To address the issues, piers needed to be added with beams pushing up on the subfloor to support the point load of the opening. We explained what type of foundation repair needed to be done and walked the contractor through the solution to the problem. The contractor decided to take on the foundation repair project himself.

When LA Foundation Repairs completes a house leveling project, we then assess the finished floor and find or suggest foundation repair solutions. A price is attached to the solution and the homeowner or contractor has a decision to make. We can fix it or the repairs can be saved for another day. If you are in need of house leveling or foundation repairs, be sure and give us a call at 337-451-1900.

House Leveling Company - Lake Charles, LA

Two house leveling contractors work together to lift a heavy spot in the home to get the sag out of the floor in an attempt to make the kitchen flooring flat and ready to lay down new flooring.

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8/1/2018

House Lifting and Leveling in Rayne, LA - LA Foundation Repairs

House Lifting and Leveling project in Rayne, LA where a 19 jack unified hydraulic jacking machine was used to uniformly lift the entire structure.

House Lifting and Leveling toe jacks are used to lift the home when the homes are very low to the ground.

Hydraulic Toe Jacks are used to lift and level a home in Rayne, LA. The toe jacks were custom built for LA Foundation Repairs - House Lifting and Leveling.

House Lifting and Leveling Project followed by Foundation Repair and beam replacement in Rayne, LA

Once the home lifting and leveling project was completed, LA Foundation Repairs started a foundation repair project replacing beams that were rotten and substandard.

Foundation Repair Contractor doing beam and sill replacement in Rayne, LA

LA Foundation Repairs methodically replaces beams 12 ft at a time at price discussed in the contractor before the house lift and level project started.

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In the initial foundation repair inspection, I drove from our office in Lafayette, LA to meet with the family and take a look at the home in Rayne, LA. The home was very low to the ground and suffered some severe foundation failure. The bathroom addition was literally touching the ground and the sills of the pier and beam home were beginning to decay.

We measured up the home and realized that we needed to add two support beams along with 10 blocks to support the beams. These beams were added because there was a noticeable bounce when walking in the center of both the living room and the bedrooms. After visual inspection we noticed that there was only one main beam down the center of the home. The home was a small one, but was almost 22 feet wide, meaning that the 2 by 6 floor joists were spanning nearly 11 feet before being supported by the center beam.

In addition to adding two rows of piers and beams to the home, we agreed to changing 60 lineal feet of exterior sills that had been chewed up by termites and water damaged over the years.

We took the house off the ground and lifted and leveled the home to be placed on new 3"- 16" by 16" pads with 20" concrete house piers. Check out some of the pics of our finished product, and call us if you need your home to be lifted and leveled. 337-451-1900

We are your go to foundation repair contractor in Acadiana! We do what we say we are gonna do.

The raised home came out nice in the end, but their was some interior damage to the paneling, crown molding, etc. Some of the doors needed to be adjusted, and the floors weren't totally flat. Some of the blocks weren't touching because the floor joists were that warped. The plumbing pipes that were cut and broken out to perform the lift were being taken care of by the homeowner as we left the job. With the new height, steps and handrails were being ordered, new inspections for the front porch railings were in order, etc. Some of the ground wires needed to be extended, and a few phone lines got trashed because of the positions they were in when performing the sill replacement. These incidents are typical when dealing with a lift and level. Be sure to have some money in the budget for the repairs and the retrofit! Give us a call if you want to get your home lifted and leveled! 337-451-1900

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