Structural
Foundations, Excavation & Seismic Retrofit in Anchorage
Foundation repair, new foundations, site excavation, drainage correction, and seismic retrofit of older Anchorage homes.
Foundation work is the part of a house nobody wants to spend money on and the part where deferring costs the most. Cracks that leak, walls that bow, posts sitting on dirt, and a house that was built before anyone was thinking seriously about seismic connections.
We do foundation repair, new foundations for additions and new builds, excavation and site work, and drainage correction. We also do seismic retrofit: bolting a sill plate to the foundation and bracing cripple walls on homes built before that was standard.
The first thing we do on any foundation call is figure out whether what you are looking at is structural or cosmetic, because in a lot of cases it is the second one.
Scope
What the Job Covers
Foundation repair
Crack injection, wall repair, footing repair, and underpinning where settlement has occurred.
New foundations
Footings and stem walls for additions, garages, and new construction, poured below frost depth.
Excavation and site work
Digging, backfill, compaction, and grading. Also trenching for utilities and drainage.
Drainage correction
Regrading, perimeter drain, and daylighting discharge. Usually the actual fix for a wet basement.
Seismic retrofit
Anchor bolts through the sill plate into the foundation, cripple wall bracing, and connectors on older homes that were built without them.
Helical piers
For settlement repair and for deck and addition footings where excavation is difficult or the soil is poor.
Alaska specific
Frost Depth, Breakup, and the 2018 Earthquake
Three Anchorage-specific realities drive foundation work here. First, frost depth: footings have to go below it or they will heave, and that depth is deeper in the bowl than most people expect.
Second, breakup. The spring thaw sends a lot of water through the top few feet of soil at once. Most of the basement water calls we get in April are a drainage problem, not a foundation crack, and the fix is outside the house.
Third, seismic. The November 2018 earthquake exposed a lot of older Anchorage homes that were never bolted to their foundations. A seismic retrofit is a straightforward, relatively cheap job on a house with an accessible crawlspace, and it is the single best structural money most owners of pre-1980s homes can spend.
How it runs
From Estimate to Punch List
- 01
Diagnosis
We look at the crack pattern, check whether it is moving, and look at what is happening outside at the grade and downspouts.
- 02
Engineering where needed
Structural repairs and retrofits get an engineer's design. We coordinate it and build to it.
- 03
Excavation and repair
Digging, shoring where required, the repair itself, then backfill and compaction in lifts.
- 04
Restore the site
Grade set to slope away from the house, and the surface restored.
Questions
Foundations & Excavation FAQs
Is a crack in my foundation serious?
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Often not. Vertical hairline shrinkage cracks are normal in poured walls. Horizontal cracks, stair-step cracks in block, cracks that are wider at one end, and anything actively moving are the ones that matter. We can tell you which you have, and we will tell you when the answer is that you do not need us.
My basement gets water every spring. Is that a foundation problem?
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Usually a drainage problem. Downspouts discharging next to the wall and grade sloping toward the house cause most of what we see during breakup. Fixing the outside is far cheaper than an interior system and it solves it more often than not.
What is a seismic retrofit and does my house need one?
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It means physically connecting the wood structure to the concrete foundation with anchor bolts and bracing the short cripple walls in the crawlspace. Homes in Anchorage built before roughly 1980 frequently have neither. If you can get into your crawlspace and see the sill plate sitting on concrete with no bolts, that is the answer.
When can excavation be done in Anchorage?
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Roughly late April through October, once the ground has thawed. Winter excavation is possible with ground thawing equipment but it costs significantly more and slows the schedule.
We handle foundations & excavation throughout Anchorage, Eagle River, Chugiak, Girdwood, Palmer, Wasilla.
Related
Often Done Together
Home Additions
Room additions, second stories, garage conversions, and bump-outs built onto the house you already have.
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Framing & Carpentry
Structural framing, wall removal with proper headers, stairs, and finish carpentry, engineered for Anchorage snow and seismic load.
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Basement Finishing
Turn an unfinished basement into real living space, with the egress, insulation, and moisture detailing an Alaska basement needs.
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New Home Construction
Custom homes built from the footing up, designed for a Southcentral build season and an Alaska heating season.
Learn moreReady to Talk About foundations & excavation?
Free estimates throughout Anchorage, Eagle River, and the Mat-Su.