Foundation raising in Saint Charles MO - a house that sits level again
Sloping floors, sticking doors or a basement that keeps taking on flood water? We lift your house back to level or above the flood.
- Licensed and insured.
- Free on-site estimates.
- We respond within 1 business day.
Does my house in Saint Charles need leveling or raising?
Foundation raising in Saint Charles means one of two jobs. One is lifting a settled house on piers fixed to its foundation, which one pier maker says stops further settling or brings it back to near original condition. The other is raising the whole home so its lowest floor sits above flood water.
Maybe your floors slope toward one corner and the cracks keep opening, or maybe your basement took on water again and you're tired of mopping it out. At K&L Saint Charles Concrete, the price moves with which of those jobs you have, how big the house is, how many piers it takes and where we can dig. The schedule mostly turns on paperwork, because a flood-zone lift can need surveys, drawings and permits before anyone picks up a shovel. Before we start, we check with the city or county office that covers your address, and the written estimate lists each part of the job separately so you can see your own figure.
How we handle foundation raising
First I figure out which job you have, because leveling a house that settled and lifting one above flood water are very different jobs. Leveling usually means steel piers set against the foundation and the house brought up a little at a time, while a flood lift raises the whole house and builds a taller foundation under it. Either way, I show you where the crew will dig and what paperwork your address needs before you commit. Then our crew digs, sets the supports, lifts slowly while checking level and backfills in packed layers, because loose dirt thrown back in a hole settles all over again. If something has to give in the budget, I'd rather it not be the digging and the fill, since that's the part I spent years repairing for other people.
Some jobs reach past the foundation. When piers go in from inside, sections of the basement floor have to come out, and we do that with concrete cutting so the openings are clean. A house that ends up higher can also leave the garage sitting above the old slab, and we can pour a new concrete driveway to meet it.
Leveling a settled house
This suits a house with sloping floors, sticking doors or a corner that's dropped because the ground under it gave way. We lift it back toward level on piers fixed to the foundation, so it rests on firmer support instead of the soil that let it down.
Lifting a home above flood water
This suits a house that floods or sits in a mapped flood area, where the lowest floor needs to end up above the flood level. It's a bigger job with more paperwork, because a surveyor or engineer has to pin down the floor height before the lift is planned.
Foundation raising in Saint Charles starts with the flood map
More than 40% of St. Charles County is flood-prone land, so on a raising job here the paperwork and the floor height often matter as much as the lift itself. St. Charles County issues residential building permits, and its list names structure elevation and foundation repairs. If your lot sits where the flood insurance maps mark floodway, density floodway or floodway fringe, the county also requires a floodplain development permit for almost any building or earthmoving, even work that wouldn't need a building permit. Inside the City of St. Charles, the city's floodplain permit asks you to provide a certified height for your finished lowest floor, basement included, from an engineer, architect or land surveyor registered with the State of Missouri. Before we start, we check with whichever office covers your address, handle the filing when a permit is needed and let you know if another office has to sign off too. Tell us whether you're in the city or the county, or just give us the address and we'll find out.
On the settling side, what I usually find under a sunken corner is fill that was never packed or water running toward the house instead of away from it. We're based in Saint Charles and work in cities across St. Charles County and nearby St. Louis County, and we see the same ground on jobs in St. Peters and O'Fallon.
Why Saint Charles homeowners call K&L Saint Charles Concrete to raise a house
I walk every estimate myself
I come out to every estimate myself, and our crew lead runs the work on site. You hear the plan from me before the job, and it's the same plan the crew works from during it.
In business since 2013
Before I went out on my own in 2013, I spent years fixing cracked walks, sunken steps and broken driveways for a property management company. That's where I learned what fails underneath, and it's why I explain each step before we start.
We're licensed and insured
We're licensed and insured. Lifting a house puts a lot of weight on temporary supports, so you want a crew that carries coverage while it's up.
Flood paperwork sorted out first
With so much of the county flood-prone, I ask at the first visit whether you have an elevation certificate and which office covers your address. Settling that early keeps the plans from being drawn to the wrong floor height.
Every job we do is backed by our satisfaction guarantee. If you're not sure yet which job your house needs, send us a few details and I'll come take a look.
Request a quoteGet a free on-site estimate for leveling or raising your house
We respond within 1 business day to set up a visit, the estimate is free and there's no pressure to book. After you send the form, I come out and look at the house with you before anything gets written up.
What happens after you call about foundation raising in Saint Charles?
Call or send a message
Call (636) 277-0973 or use the form, and we'll set up a time to come out. If you already know whether it's settling or flood water, say so, because that changes what I bring to the visit.
I walk the house with you
I look at the house with you, ask what you've noticed and explain your options before I write anything up. Then you get a written estimate with each part of the job listed separately.
We check permits for your address
Once you say yes, we check what your address needs from the city or county and handle any filing. The county says plan review for its residential building permit typically takes about 10 working days, so plan for that wait before the crew shows up.
Crew lifts, then we walk it
Our crew lead runs the job from the first hole to the last packed layer of backfill. At the end I walk it with you and go over how to care for it.
Frequently asked questions
What does raising a house cost near Saint Charles?
Raising a house in the St. Louis area usually costs about $10,000 to $50,000 per project, and that's the going rate around here, not a quote from us. A small leveling job sits nearer the bottom, and a full lift above flood water with surveys and drawings pushes toward the top. The written estimate I send breaks out each part, so you can see where your money goes.
Do I need a permit to raise my house in Saint Charles?
Usually yes, through whichever office covers your address, as described above. For a county elevation, sealed building plans showing how the house will be raised go to the county's building code office, and an elevation certificate, a record of your floor height, goes to its planning and zoning office with an engineer's or land surveyor's seal. If wiring, plumbing or heating and cooling work is part of the job, the county requires those trades to hold a county license before doing permitted work.
How high does my lowest floor need to be after raising my house in St. Charles County?
St. Charles County requires a substantially improved house to have its lowest floor at least 1 foot above the base flood elevation, the water level the flood maps plan for, and it recommends going higher. The City of St. Charles asks for the lowest floor, basement included, at or above the base or 100-year flood elevation. That number sets how far the house comes up, so we pin it down with your surveyor or engineer first.
How do I know if St. Charles County flood rules apply to my house?
They usually apply when the work costs 50% or more of the building's market value before construction, which the county calls a substantial improvement, with some listed exceptions. The same term covers a house that has already had substantial damage. That's why it pays to hold your estimate up against your home's value early, before you plan the rest of the project around it.
What is the best way to protect a house in Saint Charles from flooding?
A 2009 FEMA homeowner guide calls raising a home above the flood level the most common way to protect it from flood damage. When you go that route, the whole plan is built around how high your lowest floor will sit, which is why I ask about it at the first visit.
Will the crew dig inside my basement to put in foundation piers?
Sometimes. One pier maker's install guide has crews dig outside, as a trench along the wall or a pit at each pier, or work inside by cutting out sections of basement floor. Inside work means concrete comes out of your basement, so you'll know which way we're going before you sign anything.
Other work that can come with raising a house
Concrete cutting
If piers go in from inside, sections of basement floor have to come out, and a clean saw cut leaves less patching to do than breaking the concrete out by hand.
Concrete driveway building
A house that ends up sitting higher can leave the old driveway meeting the garage at a bad angle, and a new one poured on a packed base fixes the slope.
St Charles, MO
Tell us what your house is doing
Call (636) 277-0973 or use the form with your address, the settling you've noticed and any elevation certificate you have, so I can check which office covers you before I come out.