---
type: Brand Voice
title: "Dalinghaus Foundation Repair: Frequently Asked Questions"
description: "Common customer questions and how Dalinghaus Foundation Repair answers them, drawn from the FAQ blocks on its site and its own reference files."
resource: https://www.dalinghausconstruction.com/
tags: [client:dci, bundle:public]
timestamp: 2026-09-26T00:00:00Z
brain_checked: sm-clients 3cdce8c9
---

# Dalinghaus Foundation Repair: Frequently Asked Questions

Every answer below is drawn from the FAQ blocks published on https://www.dalinghausconstruction.com and from facts recorded in the company's own reference files. Questions that the company's records cannot answer are left out rather than guessed at. No warranty duration, coverage, or price appears here; see services.md for why.

## Getting started

**How do I know if my home has a foundation problem?**
The common early signs are doors and windows that stick, cracks in drywall or stucco, sloping or bouncy floors, and stair step cracks in brick or block. Any one of them can have an innocent cause, which is why Dalinghaus measures instead of guessing. A free evaluation includes floor elevation readings that show exactly how the home is sitting.

**What does a free evaluation include?**
A trained specialist walks the property, documents the symptoms, and takes floor elevation measurements that map how the foundation is sitting. The homeowner gets the findings and a written estimate at no cost, with no obligation. If the honest answer is that no repair is needed, that is what the specialist says.

**Is the evaluation really free, and is there any obligation?**
Yes, for the homeowner, and there is no obligation to proceed. If you own the home, the evaluation is free, even when it is listed or in escrow. The one exception is a real estate transaction: when the home is on the market or in escrow and the request comes from someone else, such as a buyer or an agent, the visit is a real estate inspection and a fee applies. Ask for the current fee when booking. Dalinghaus calls the homeowner's visit a free evaluation because it produces findings and a written repair estimate rather than a stamped engineering report.

**How do I book one?**
Call 877-360-9227 (office hours Monday to Friday, 7:00 AM to 6:30 PM; phones are answered 24/7), fill in the estimate form at https://www.dalinghausconstruction.com/contact-us/, use the "Schedule Your Free Evaluation" form that opens from any page, or start a Podium web chat from the chat bubble on the site. There is no online booking tool. A member of the team reaches out as soon as possible to schedule it.

**Do you offer inspections as a service, separate from the free evaluation?**
Yes. There are dedicated inspection pages for foundations, crawl spaces, concrete, seawalls, and retaining walls, plus real estate inspections and commercial property inspections. See services.md for the links. A real estate inspection requested by someone other than the homeowner carries a fee; ask for the current fee when booking.

## Causes and repairs

**What causes foundation problems in California, Arizona, and Nevada?**
Mostly the soil. Clay soil swells when it gets wet and shrinks when it dries, and that cycle moves foundations a little more every year. Poor drainage, undercompacted fill, and dry desert soils that settle unevenly do the rest. The fix depends on which of these is happening under the home, so diagnosis comes first.

**Why is my concrete sinking?**
Concrete sinks because the soil beneath it stopped holding it up: clay soil that swells and shrinks, water washing soil out from under the slab, fill dirt that was never compacted properly, and tree roots that lift a slab and then leave a gap when they die back. The slab drops into whatever space the soil leaves behind.

**Can sunken concrete be lifted instead of replaced?**
Yes, in most cases. Polyurethane foam injection lifts a sunken slab back to level through holes about the size of a coin, without demolition, and the surface is usually ready to use the same day. Replacement only makes sense when the concrete itself has broken apart too badly to lift as a unit.

**How do I know if my crawl space needs repair?**
The signs show up in the living space first: floors that sag, slope, or bounce, doors that stick or will not latch, gaps at baseboards, and musty odors coming up through the floor. Under the house the telltales are leaning or shimmed posts, rotted wood, standing water, and piers that have cracked or sunk.

**Can sagging floors be lifted back to level?**
Usually, yes. Steel jacks and new posts and pads lift sagging girders in small, controlled increments and hold them at the corrected height permanently. How close to perfectly level a floor returns depends on how long it has sagged and how the framing adjusted, and the specialist explains what to expect before work begins.

**Is framing repair the same as foundation repair?**
No, but they are neighbors. Foundation repair addresses the concrete and soil the house sits on; framing repair addresses the wood structure sitting on top of it. The symptoms overlap, which is why the evaluation measures first.

**How is house lifting different from foundation repair?**
Foundation repair stabilizes a home so settlement stops. House lifting goes further and recovers elevation the home already lost. Not every settled home needs a lift. The elevation survey is what turns that judgment into numbers.

**Can a leaning retaining wall be fixed without rebuilding it?**
Often, yes. If the wall structure is still sound, helical tiebacks or wall anchors can pull it back toward plumb and hold it against future soil pressure, usually without demolition. Rebuilding becomes necessary only when the wall material itself has broken down.

**What causes a seawall to fail?**
Most seawalls fail from behind. Rain and groundwater build pressure in the soil the wall retains, and water escaping through joints or cracks carries soil with it, leaving voids that let the wall lean or settle. Wave action, salt exposure, and aging anchor rods do the rest.

## Coverage and company

**Where does Dalinghaus work?**
Southern California, Arizona, and Nevada, from eight offices: Lake Elsinore, Irvine, Westlake Village, La Mesa, and Carlsbad in California, and Phoenix, Flagstaff, and Prescott in Arizona. Cities with their own pages are listed in locations.md.

**Where is seawall repair available?**
In the coastal San Diego area: San Diego, Chula Vista, Carlsbad, and the coastal cities between them. Seawall repair is not offered in Arizona or Nevada, although foundation, concrete, and crawl space services cover all three states.

**Do you handle commercial work?**
Yes. Commercial and industrial work is part of the business across all three states, much of it through general contractors, and includes helical piers for solar and battery installations, solar carports, polyurethane injection for roadways and municipal work, and foundation repair on tilt up buildings and warehouses.

**Who owns the company, and how long has it been in business?**
Brothers Brian and Brad Dalinghaus founded the company in Southern California in 2011 and still own it. The motto is "Never Settle". The company has completed more than 2,000 foundation projects across California, Arizona, and Nevada.

**Is the company licensed?**
Yes, in all three states it works in. California: CSLB 983851, carrying classifications A General Engineering Contractor, B General Building Contractor, C-8 Concrete, and C-61/D30 Pile Driving and Pressure Foundation Jacking. Arizona: Registrar of Contractors license ROC 330307, class KB-1 Dual Building Contractor, active as of the 2026-09-16 lookup. Nevada: license 0089738.

**What do the reviews say?**
The company averages 4.9 stars across more than 1,000 Google reviews on the offices this site lists. That figure is a dated floor taken from the Google Business Profile counts pulled on 2026-09-25, not a live count. Current reviews are at https://www.dalinghausconstruction.com/reviews/

**What warranty comes with the work?**
Warranty terms are provided in writing with every proposal, and the terms that apply to a job are stated in that job's paperwork. See https://www.dalinghausconstruction.com/warranty/ and ask the project specialist during the free evaluation.

**What does it cost, and is financing available?**
No prices are published. Every price comes from the written estimate that follows the free evaluation. Financing is available: https://www.dalinghausconstruction.com/financing/