Give your foundation deeper ground to stand on.
Underpinning does not patch a settling foundation, it reaches underneath and hands the load to soil that stopped moving long before your house was built.
Let's take the first step toward solid ground.
A local specialist will evaluate your foundation, walk you through the findings, and send a clear estimate. No cost, no pressure.
What to know about foundation underpinning, and when it's the right call.
All underpinning does one job: it moves the bearing point of your foundation from shallow, unstable soil to deep, competent ground. Crews expose the footing at each planned location, connect a steel bracket, and install a pier beneath it, driven hydraulically in the case of push piers or screwed in under logged torque in the case of helical piers. Either way, each pier proves its capacity during installation, by driving resistance or by torque reading, before it is allowed to hold anything. Once every pier is verified, hydraulic jacks transfer the home's weight off the failed soil and onto the steel. The footing now bears on strata far below the moisture swings that caused the trouble, so the seasonal shrink and swell of the surface clay simply no longer reaches the house. Where the structure allows, we lift toward level during the transfer, often closing cracks that settlement opened.
The symptoms that usually lead to foundation underpinning are on the foundation repair problem signs page, alongside the other signs that point to the same underlying cause.
How we install foundation underpinning.
Free evaluation with elevation measurements
We measure floor elevations, map the settlement pattern, and confirm underpinning is actually needed. If the data says monitor instead of repair, that is what we tell you.
Engineering the pier plan
Pier type, count, and spacing are matched to the structure's weight, the soil, and the access. Heavier homes usually point to push piers, lighter structures to helical piers.
Expose the footing
Small excavations at each pier location reach the footing while protecting landscape where possible.
Install and verify each pier
Every pier is driven or screwed to verified capacity, proven by hydraulic pressure or torque readings, before any weight is transferred.
Transfer the load and confirm
The home's weight moves onto the piers, with lift toward level where safe. Excavations are backfilled and final elevations are compared against the starting survey.
New ground for an old footing.
When the soil under a footing cannot carry the house anymore, underpinning gives the footing something better to stand on: steel piers that reach down to soil that does not move.
Foundation Underpinning on our job sites.
Photos from our own crews and projects. Swipe or use the arrows to see more.
Foundation Underpinning on a real project.
Underpinning does not patch a settling foundation, it reaches underneath and hands the load to soil that stopped moving long before your house was built.
Care and expertise from a team that's been doing this since 2011.
When the fix is foundation underpinning, the installer matters as much as the method. Dalinghaus crews handle foundation, concrete, and crawl space work across California, Arizona, and Nevada, and nothing else.
Foundation repair, concrete leveling, and crawl space repair are our entire focus. Not a sideline.
More than 2,000 projects on the clay and desert soils of California, Arizona, and Nevada since 2011.
CSLB License #983851 in California, ROC #330307 in Arizona, and License #0089738 in Nevada. Look us up with the state before we ever set foot on your property.
Warranty terms come in writing with every proposal, and the terms that apply to your job are stated in that job's paperwork. Ask your project specialist during the free evaluation.
Answers to common questions about Foundation Underpinning.
Don't see your question here? Our team is happy to help. Reach out anytime.
It means giving the foundation new, deeper support instead of repairing the old one in place. Steel piers installed beneath or beside the footing carry the home's weight down past the unstable surface soil to strata that can hold it, so the foundation stops depending on ground that has already proven it will move.
Other foundation repair solutions we install.
Every solution is engineered for a specific soil profile and failure mode. Browse the full toolkit.
Carbon Fiber Reinforcement
Carbon fiber straps bond to a stressed foundation wall and refuse to stretch, so the wall that was slowly losing to soil pressure simply stops moving.
Learn more
Deep Foundation Systems
Deep foundation systems skip the surface soil entirely and stand your structure on strata that stopped moving long ago, with each element proving its capacity as it goes in.
Learn more
Epoxy & Polyurethane Crack Injection
Epoxy welds a structural crack back into one piece; polyurethane chases water through a wet one and seals it shut. Choosing correctly between them is most of the repair.
Learn more
Grout Injection (Chemical Grouting)
Chemical grouting injects grout directly into weak, loose ground, bonding the particles into a soil that can finally carry what sits on it, no excavation required.
Learn more
Helical Deck Piers
Helical deck piers screw galvanized steel down past the surface clay that heaves and shrinks with the seasons, so your deck stands on ground that has stopped arguing with the weather.
Learn more
Helical Piers
Helical piers carry your home past the unstable clay to load bearing strata, and the torque reading on every pier proves it before we transfer a pound of weight.
Learn moreFrom free evaluation to installed foundation underpinning.
How a foundation underpinning project moves from diagnosis to completed installation.
Schedule your free evaluation.
A local specialist visits your home, evaluates the foundation, and answers your questions on site. No cost, no obligation.
Receive an estimate based on your needs.
We provide a clear, written estimate with a scope of work tailored to your home's specific issues.
Get your repairs.
Our crews complete the work on schedule, with the findings and scope in writing from the first visit.
Get the Free Foundation Repair Guide
Most foundation problems show early signs. This guide shows you what to look for, what can cause it, and how a lasting repair works, before you call anyone.
- A room by room checklist to walk your home with
- Why soil moves homes in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada
- How piers, foam injection and lifts actually work
- What a clear written proposal should include
More than 1,000 Google reviews across our offices, averaging 4.9 stars.
Before you choose who installs your foundation underpinning, read how homeowners across California and Arizona rate our work.
Start with a free evaluation.
Share a few details and a local specialist will follow up as soon as possible to set your evaluation.
- A local foundation specialist on site
- A complete walk-through of the findings
- A clear written estimate at no cost
- No obligation, no pressure
Not sure which service you need?
A free evaluation covers all of it: one visit, clear findings, written estimate.