Typical cost in Bothell
A crawlspace floor stands on posts, pads, girders and a sill plate, and Bothell Foundation Repair works on all four. When a floor bounces or sags, we go under the house, where a rotted post or a cracked pad is replaced one piece at a time.
Mountlake Terrace and Lynnwood, the two Snohomish County cities we also cover, are close by. In Bothell itself, 1960s and 1970s houses make up about 22 percent of the stock.
A floor that falls away toward one room may be sitting on a post that has dropped, a girder that has bowed or joists that have slipped off their bearing. A look from below shows which. A sloping floor can also come from the footings, so we check those too.
A floor that bounces underfoot may be spanning too far between supports, or resting on a post that no longer carries load. The cure is traced to the cause, and a bounce alone does not tell us which.
Posts that stand on concrete pads or blocks can rot at the base, tilt, or sit on a cracked pad. Replacing a post without a sound pad under it moves the problem, so the pad is checked first.
A crawlspace floor is a chain: the floor above is carried by joists, joists rest on girders, girders sit on posts, posts stand on pads, and the outer edge rests on the sill plate bolted to the foundation wall. A weak link anywhere shows up in the room above.
Damp wood decays; the Forest Service decay manual says fungi take hold when wood stays wet for any length of time and sap its strength. A sill is judged in place, and an engineer joins in when it is unclear how the load travels.
Building America guidance has a plain rule for the ground: lay heavy polyethylene sealed to the walls and piers, vented crawlspace or not. It also names where the water in a vented space comes from, namely site grading, missing perimeter drains and faulty gutters and downspouts. Plastic on the ground covers the soil and leaves those sources untouched.
We deal with the moisture that damaged the wood; a full encapsulation system is not what this page sells. Water control is covered under foundation drainage.
Height under the floor sets the pace of the work. In a low space the girder is held on temporary supports while the old post comes out and a new post on a new pad goes in, a little at a time so the floor above is not forced. We do not promise to bring a settled floor back to level.
These factors move a price, and the written estimate comes after the foundation has been seen:
Inside Bothell the city is the permit office, and the MyBuildingPermit regional tip sheet says work it does not list needs a permit. Crawlspace framing is structural work. We do not assume a post or girder replacement is exempt, and we ask the city permit office before starting.
A house on a sloped lot or near a mapped critical area is a separate check, since the same tip sheet tells owners in critical, shoreline or sensitive areas to check with their jurisdiction.
It might be spans that are too long, a post that no longer carries its load or damaged joists. Looking from below shows which one.
A post can be replaced when the pad under it is sound and the cause of the rot is dealt with. Otherwise the new post meets the same fate.
No, that is a different business. Ground cover and moisture control may be part of repairing damage, but we do not sell encapsulation systems.
The Bothell Foundation Repair home page covers our other work. If the soil under the house stays wet, start with foundation drainage.
Describe what you have noticed in the floors above, such as slope, bounce or gaps. Say whether you have been under the house, how much clearance there is, and when the house was built. We'll get back to you soon with an estimate or any questions we have. Estimates are free and there's no obligation.
Call (425) 491-5234