Shoreline Foundation Repair handles crawlspace posts, sill bolting, wall cracks, settling and footing drains for Lake Forest Park, which lies just east of Shoreline.
This is a small, older city of 13,335 people: 72 percent of homes predate 1980, about 17 percent predate 1950, 83.5 percent are one-unit homes and the median year built is 1968. Those numbers put the older-house services first.
1920s Craftsman bungalow in Lake Forest Park with a concrete stem wall
Original request
A front room whose floor slopes toward the porch side
Outside
A wide porch on tapered columns and a concrete wall at its base
Under the floor
Posts and pads in a crawlspace, three of them failing
Not included
Floor and porch finishes
Cost
$4,200
In this example, the owners of a 1920s Craftsman bungalow in Lake Forest Park feel the floor slope toward the porch side of the front room. The house stands on a concrete stem wall with a crawlspace beneath it.
Lake Forest Park’s housing stock includes 37 percent from 1960 to 1979. The crawlspace post and beam repair page covers leaning or soft supports in a house with a crawlspace.
Seismic retrofit and foundation bolting
Bolting a house to its foundation and bracing the short walls above it is the retrofit to ask about in an older house. The seismic retrofit and foundation bolting page explains what it is meant to do and what it is not.
Foundation crack repair
A crack in a stem wall or basement wall is read before it is sealed. On a hillside lot the crack and the slope are worth considering together, and the foundation crack repair page sets out which cracks are worth asking an engineer about.
Foundation settlement and piering
Dropped corners and floors that run downhill point to the soil under the footing, covered by the foundation settlement and piering page, limits included.
Foundation drainage
On a slope the water does not stop at the wall; it runs on downhill. Gutters, grading and footing drains are what steer it, and the foundation drainage page covers each.
Homes and foundations here
Lake Forest Park’s median owner-occupied home is valued at $953,200, higher than Shoreline’s, so a repair is weighed against a large investment. About 9 percent of homes date from 2000 or later, which leaves a small share of newer foundations.
On a sloping lot the ground itself becomes part of the foundation question, including where water goes when it leaves a downspout. A site visit is the only way to find out what a particular lot does.
Permits and rules to check
Lake Forest Park’s environmentally critical areas code sets a minimum 50-foot buffer from all edges of a landslide hazard area, and the buffer can be reduced to 25 feet when a qualified professional shows that the reduction gives adequate protection.
For slopes of 40 percent or greater it asks for a 50-foot buffer from the top, toe and along all sides, which can also be reduced to 25 feet. The seismic standards cover developments other than one-unit homes.
Whether a particular foundation repair needs a permit is a question for the City of Lake Forest Park. Ask before work starts, and say if the lot is steep.
Do I need an engineer on a hillside lot in Lake Forest Park?
It depends on the slope and the work. The city’s code asks for a qualified professional to justify reduced buffers, and HUD’s foundation guide says an engineer who specializes in this work should be consulted. The city is the place to ask what your lot needs.
Is a 1960s house here likely to need bolting?
Age is a reason to look under the floor, not a finding. Whether the house is bolted shows at the sill in the crawlspace.
Does a cracked foundation wall on a slope mean the hill is moving?
Not by itself. A crack can have several causes. Dated photos and pencil marks show whether it moves, and the ground is part of what gets read.
Send the Lake Forest Park address and how old the house is, then what you have seen: a crack, a floor that tilts, damp. We'll get back to you soon with an estimate or any questions we have. Estimates are free and there's no obligation.
