What’s the best way to fix a foundation problem in an older home?

The best way to fix a foundation problem in an older home is to match the repair to the actual failure. A bowing wall gets carbon-fiber straps or a power brace. A settling corner gets helical or push piers. A leaking crack gets injected. Most older-home foundation repairs run $1,000 to $3,000 for crack work, $850 each for carbon-fiber straps, $1,300 per brace for a power brace, and $2,700 per pier for the first three, then $2,200 per pier after that for helical piers. The first step is a free inspection so the fix is sized to the problem, not guessed.

Older homes move for plain reasons. The soil right against the foundation is disturbed backfill, the looser dirt that got put back when the house was built. It drains slow and holds water. Add NH frost heave that pushes walls inward every winter, and over a few decades you get cracks, bows, and settling.

So you start by reading the symptom.

Bowing or leaning walls

A wall pushing in is the most common older-home call we get. If the bow is small and caught early, carbon-fiber straps lock it in place. Straps run $850 each and carry a 25-year wall-stabilization warranty. If the wall has moved more, a power brace gives you adjustable steel support that can pull it back over time. A power brace runs $1,300 per brace. You do not need to tear the wall out to stop it from moving.

Settling and sinking

When a corner drops, a slab cracks at an angle, or doors stop closing, the footing has lost its grip on stable soil. Helical piers screw down past the disturbed fill to load-bearing ground and hold the structure. Helical piers run $2,700 per pier for the first three, then $2,200 per pier after that and carry a 25-year engineered warranty. We self-perform that install in-house, so the crew on your job is our crew. For sagging floors inside, lally columns and floor support carry the load from below; that runs $1,300 to $2,500 with a 10-year warranty.

Cracks that leak

A vertical or diagonal crack that weeps water is usually a poured-wall shrinkage crack, not a structural failure. We inject it with epoxy or polyurethane, which seals it and bonds the wall back together. Crack injection runs $1,000 to $3,000 and carries a 10-year warranty. If the wall is also bowing, we stabilize first, then seal.

Rotted sills and beams

Older homes near the coast and in damp basements lose the wood at the base. A soft sill or a sagging main beam gets replaced section by section. Sill and beam replacement runs $7,000 to $40,000. For a longer span that needs a second wall behind a failing one, an auxiliary (sister) wall runs about $1,350 per linear foot.

Here is the part most homeowners do not hear. Not every crack needs a pier, and not every damp wall is a foundation problem. A hairline crack that is dry and not moving often just needs watching. We will tell you when you do not need work yet. That is cheaper for you, and it keeps the trust.

A few jobs we price only after we see them, because guessing would be wrong: a full foundation-wall rebuild, wall anchors, and steel I-beams. If your older home needs one of those, we will price that after we look at it. And if someone told you the house needs a whole new foundation, ask about repair first. We repair foundations; we do not pour new ones, and most older-home foundations can be saved.

One more thing on water. If your foundation problem is really a wet-basement problem, the durable fix is interior drainage, not digging out the outside. In our field experience, exterior excavation waterproofing tends to fail in about two to three years. Interior drainage lasts. See our basement waterproofing page if water is the real story.

Every repair we do is covered, and the structural warranties transfer to the next owner (transfer is conditional, and it voids if another contractor touches the work). Read the details on the 603 guarantee.

We are licensed and insured, BBB A+ accredited, and trusted by 5,000+ homeowners across New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts, with a 4.9 Google rating across 250 reviews.

Want to know what your older home actually needs? Call us at 603-610-1770 or book your free inspection. We give you a free estimate and a quote within 24 hours. Start with the structural and foundation repair page to see the full menu, or jump to helical piers, supplemental support, or sill replacement.

Related questions

Can an old foundation crack be repaired, or does the whole wall need replacing? Most cracks can be repaired without replacing the wall. We inject leaking cracks, strap or brace bowing walls, and pier settling sections. A full wall rebuild is rare, and we price that after we see it.

How do I know if my foundation problem is structural or just cosmetic? A dry hairline crack that is not growing is usually cosmetic and can be watched. Stair-step cracks, a bowing wall, doors that stick, or a dropping corner point to a structural cause. A free inspection tells you which one you have.

Do you repair foundations or build new ones? We repair. We do crack injection, carbon-fiber straps, power braces, helical piers, lally columns, and sill and beam replacement. We do not pour new foundations, and most older-home foundations can be saved with the right repair.

Why does water keep pooling against my older foundation? The soil against the wall is disturbed backfill that drains slowly and holds water. NH frost heave then pushes against the wall. The durable fix for the water is interior drainage, covered on our basement waterproofing page.