Foundation repair in Torrance CA - a house back on firm soil, with the cause fixed
Cracked walls or a sloping floor? We check if the house is still moving, then support it and fix what let it sink.
- Licensed and insured.
- Free estimates at your property.
- We reply within 1 business day.
Does my Torrance house need foundation repair, or is the settling already over?
Foundation repair in Torrance usually means underpinning. We set piers under the settled part of your house so they carry its weight down to firm soil, and we fix the water problem that let it sink in the first place.
It usually starts with a crack over a doorway that keeps getting wider, a door that won't latch anymore, or a floor you can feel tilting toward one corner. The price turns mostly on how many piers the house needs and whether a drainage or plumbing fix goes in with them. The schedule turns on whether the house is still moving, because sometimes the smart first step is watching your cracks for a while instead of digging. When I come out, you get a written estimate with the scope spelled out, so you know what's being done before you decide anything.
How we handle foundation repair
Before we talk about piers, I want to know if the house is still moving. One cost guide notes that most measurable settling happens in a house's first two to three years, and piers under a house that stopped moving years ago fix a problem that's already over. If that isn't clear yet, we show you how to keep track of your cracks, and we look for the leak or drainage problem that took the support away. When piers are the answer, our crew digs at the settled section, drives or screws the piers down to load-bearing soil, sets the house's weight on them and backfills. Then we fix the cause. Piers hold the house up but do nothing about the water, and a leak left alone just makes the unpiered side of the house your next project.
Settling rarely stops at the foundation. A chimney that settled differently from the house can crack where it meets the wall, and that's work for our chimney repair crew. Brick walls above a settled corner usually end up with cracked, loose joints that need tuckpointing, where we cut out the bad mortar and pack in new. We match the new mortar to the old brick, because mortar harder than the brick around it sends the next crack straight through the brick. Somebody's last repair usually proves that point for us.
Push piers for heavy masonry houses
Push piers are driven down using the weight of your own house, and they can reach load-bearing soil at real depth. They suit brick and block houses and multi-story homes, where there's plenty of weight to push against.
Helical piers for lighter structures
Helical piers screw into the ground like a giant auger, so they don't need a heavy house on top to set them. They suit lighter structures and room additions, where a push pier wouldn't have the weight to drive it down.
Tracking the cracks before any piers
If the cracks might be old news, we start by watching them before anybody digs. It takes some patience, but paying for piers under a house that stopped moving years ago is money spent on history.
What foundation repair in Torrance runs into
If your foundation repair needs a permit in Torrance, it goes through the City of Torrance Permit Center, which you reach through Building and Safety at 310-618-5910 or CDDBuilding@TorranceCA.gov. Whether a given repair needs one is the city's call, so we don't guess. If yours does, we handle the application with the office that covers your address and tell you what we learn before any work starts. We're based in Torrance and work in many of the cities around it, and on foundation jobs in Redondo Beach and Carson we follow the same routine with whichever office covers the address.
The city says Torrance sits in an area prone to high seismic activity because of nearby faults. That matters if your house sits on cripple walls, the short wood walls between the foundation and the floor. In an earthquake, poorly anchored cripple walls can let a house slide off its foundation, and poorly braced ones can collapse. Plenty of the raised-floor houses we see around here have them, so if we're already working at your foundation, it's a good time to ask about anchoring and bracing.
Why Torrance homeowners call AJ Torrance Concrete and Masonry for foundation repair
I do the estimate visit myself
I come out, look at the cracks and the floors, and tell you what I see. Our own crew does the work, with a lead mason running the site and me stopping by to check on it.
Working in Torrance since 2013
I started this business in Torrance in 2013, after years at a masonry supply yard hearing how jobs went once the trucks left. That's 13 years of planning foundation work in earthquake country, and of seeing what a rushed fix looks like a few seasons later.
Licensed and insured on every job
We're licensed and insured. Anybody digging next to your footing should be able to say that plainly, and we do.
Repairs sized to the problem
We don't add piers a house doesn't need, and the mortar we put in cracked brick matches the wall instead of outmuscling it. Satisfaction guaranteed, and I'd like the next mason who sees our work to have nothing to complain about.
If you're seeing new cracks or a floor that's started to tilt, the first useful thing is a look at the house. Send us a request or call (424) 318-3093 and I'll come out.
Request a quoteGet a written foundation repair estimate for your house
Send the form and we'll reply within one business day to set a time for me to come out. The estimate is free, done at your property, and comes with no obligation. You get it in writing with the scope spelled out, so you can decide on your own time.
What happens after you call about foundation repair in Torrance?
Call or send a request
Tell us what you're seeing, and send dated crack photos if you've been keeping them. We get back to you to set a time for me to come out.
I look at the house
I check the cracks, the floors and the drainage around the house, then tell you whether it looks like it's still moving and what can wait. You get a written estimate with the scope spelled out, so you know what the price covers before you commit.
We handle permits, then build
If your job needs a permit, we take care of those steps with the office that covers your address. Then our crew does the work, with a lead mason running the site.
I check it before we're done
I look the job over myself before we call it finished. You're left with the piers and the drainage fix the estimate described, and a cleaned-up yard.
Frequently asked questions
How much do foundation piers cost in Torrance?
Installed foundation piers across the US usually cost about $1,300 to $3,000 per pier. That's the market's price for one pier, not a quote for your house. The total depends mostly on how many piers the job needs, and a settled corner takes four to six. Our written estimate spells out the scope for your house, so you're not guessing.
How do I know if my house is still settling?
Track it, because a crack on its own doesn't tell you whether it's growing. Mark both ends of each crack with a line and the date, photograph a level sitting on the sloped floor, and check again across a full wet-and-dry season. If nothing has moved, piers may not be what you need.
What causes a house foundation to crack and settle?
Usually it's water, from a leak or a drainage problem that changes the soil under the footing and takes away its support. Clay soils can swell as they soak up water from irrigation, rain or other sources, with enough force to lift buildings and crack concrete, a California soils guide explains. That's why patching the crack and walking away rarely holds.
How long does foundation repair take?
Most of the waiting comes before the digging, not during it. If it isn't clear the house is still moving, the first step can be a season of tracking, and if your job needs a permit, that comes before the crew starts. Once work begins, the time on site depends on how many piers go in and whether drainage or plumbing work goes with them.
Do Torrance homes qualify for earthquake retrofit grants?
The city says all Torrance ZIP codes are eligible for the Earthquake Brace + Bolt Program, with grants up to $3,000, and the Earthquake Soft-Story Program, with grants up to $13,000. Whether your house qualifies is up to the program, so check the details on the city's seismic retrofit program page. If you're already planning foundation work, look before the crew starts so any retrofit can be planned alongside it.
How do I find out if my Torrance address is in an earthquake hazard zone?
Look it up on the state's EQ Zapp map, which shows whether an address sits in a mapped hazard zone such as liquefaction, where shaking briefly turns soil to something like quicksand. It also tells you when an area hasn't been evaluated yet, so a blank result isn't the same as a clean one.
Other masonry work that often follows a foundation repair
Chimney repair
Old cracks in a chimney let rain into the brick and the flue, so it's worth having us look at it while we're already out for the foundation.
Tuckpointing
Settling leaves stair-step cracks through the mortar in brick walls, and once the foundation is steady, replacing those joints keeps rain from working into the wall.
Torrance, CA
Get your foundation cracks looked at
Have your dated crack photos and level photos ready when you call, since a few weeks of them can save you from paying for piers you don't need.