Foundation installation in Kirkland WA - a house that sits level and sheds water
Planning a new house or addition in Kirkland? We work out your lot's slope and drainage before we dig, so the house starts on firm ground.
- Licensed and insured.
- Free on-site estimates.
- Expect a reply within 1 business day.
What goes into a new foundation in Kirkland?
Foundation installation in Kirkland is the digging, forming and pouring that gives your house something solid to stand on. It spreads the house's weight over enough ground that the soil can carry it, so the house settles and shifts as little as possible.
Most calls we get for this are new houses, additions or a foundation that needs replacing. The price moves with what your lot needs before any concrete shows up, mainly how steep it is, how much dirt comes out or goes in, how the walls will drain and whether an engineer has to be part of the plan. The schedule turns on the city's approval and any studies your lot needs, and then on the weather around the pour. If all you need is a floor under a garage or shop, slab foundation building is usually the simpler job, and the written estimate I send after seeing your lot spells out which one you're looking at.
How can you tell your foundation needs attention?
Water in the crawl space
Standing water or a musty smell under the house usually means water is collecting against the foundation instead of draining away. Left alone, it keeps pushing on the walls and soaking the wood that sits on them.
Cracks that keep getting wider
A wall crack you can watch grow, or doors and windows that start sticking, usually means part of the foundation is settling. The longer it moves, the more of it has to come out and be replaced.
A lot that slopes away
If you're planning a house or addition on a lot that drops off, the foundation plan has more to it than one on flat ground. Finding that out after the design is done usually means paying to redo it.
How we handle foundation installation
I start with your address and the city's hazard maps, because a lot on a slope can bring an engineer and extra site visits into the plan, and you should know that before you set a budget. Then we work out how water will drain away from the walls before anyone digs, since that decides the drain and the coating the walls get. After that our crew digs out and packs the subgrade, the soil the foundation sits on, so it holds up instead of settling with the dirt. We set the forms and tie in rebar, the steel that keeps the concrete together when the ground pushes on it, and I'm on site with the crew for the pour. We keep the new concrete protected while it cures, the slow hardening that gives it strength, before anything gets backfilled or built on top. If the budget gets tight, the dig, the base and the drainage are the last things I'd cut, because once they're buried you can't fix them without lifting a house.
Most foundations sit on concrete footings, the wide pad under the walls, and we pour those as part of the same job when the plan calls for them. Small property owners putting up a building sometimes need paving too, so we also do concrete parking lot building and set the grades so water off the lot runs away from the new walls.
Crawl space foundation
Short walls under a raised floor, with room underneath for plumbing and wiring and the floor kept up off damp ground. It suits most houses on flat or gently sloping lots.
Slab on grade
The floor and foundation go in as one pour, set right on the packed ground. It suits garages, shops and additions on level lots where you don't need space underneath.
Basement or daylight walls
Full-height walls that hold back soil, often open on the downhill side of a sloped lot. They take the most drainage and moisture work, because more of the wall sits against the ground.
Get a written estimate for your foundation
Send the form and we'll reply within one business day to set a time. I come out, walk the lot with you and send a written estimate, free and with no obligation.
- Based in
- Kirkland, WA 98033
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 6 AM–11 PM, Sat–Sun: 8 AM–9 PM
What happens after you call about a foundation in Kirkland?
Here's how a foundation job runs from your first call to the final walk-through, and who you'll be dealing with at each step.
Call or send the form
Tell us your address, whether this is a new foundation or a replacement, and anything the city's landslide map shows for your lot. That's enough for me to know what to look for when I come out.
Walk the lot with me
I come out, look at the site with you and check which city or county office covers your address. Then I send a written estimate that lays out the dig, the drainage and any engineering the lot needs, so you can see where the money goes.
Line up permits and prep
If your job needs a permit, we can file it for you or help you file it, and we plan the start around the approval and the inspections. We get the ground and forms ready before the concrete arrives.
Pour, finish and walk it
I'm on site with our crew when we pour and finish the concrete. At the end we walk the job with you, so you can look it over and ask anything before it's covered up.
Why Kirkland homeowners call Precision Kirkland Concrete for foundations
I write your estimate myself
The person who walks your lot and writes the price is me, and I'm on site with the crew when we pour. You won't get a number from someone who never saw the slope.
In business since 2020
I started the business in 2020 after learning on other people's crews, and I still tell people what concrete can and can't do before we start. On a foundation, that means you hear about drainage and engineering up front, not halfway through.
Licensed and insured, ask anytime
We're licensed and insured. Ask about it when I come out, because you should know that before anyone starts digging on your property.
Based in Kirkland, working nearby
We're based in Kirkland and take jobs in the cities around it, in King County and south Snohomish County. If your city isn't on our list, call and ask.
On a foundation, the work that matters most is the part that's buried by the end of the job. Ask for an estimate or call (425) 285-8195, and I'll come look at your lot. Your satisfaction, guaranteed.
Foundations and footings on Kirkland lots
Kirkland treats hillside and quake-prone lots differently, and that changes a foundation job here more than anything else. Work in a geologically hazardous area, which the city describes as land prone to landslides, severe erosion or soils that can liquefy and lose their strength in an earthquake, needs a critical area permit from the city. Before it approves building or reshaping the ground, the city requires a study of your specific site to show whether a hazard area is there and what can be done to reduce the risk. On those lots it may also require a foundation engineered for the site, a soil expert on site while it goes in and a final report before you move in, so we build that time and those visits into the plan from the first estimate.
On jobs in Bellevue and Redmond we see plenty of sloped lots and long rainy months too, so drainage gets planned the same way there. Rain that sits against a wall has to go somewhere, and we'd rather decide where before the walls go up.
Questions about foundation installation in Kirkland
What permits does a foundation job in Kirkland need?
A foundation is part of building or altering a house, and Kirkland requires a permit for that. The city's permit list also covers removing or bringing in more than 50 cubic yards of soil and changing drainage, both of which a foundation dig can do. If your lot sits in a hazard area, the critical area permit described above comes on top of that.
How do I find out if my lot in Kirkland is in a landslide area?
The city publishes a landslide map of areas inside city limits that are prone to deep or shallow landslides, and you can look up your lot on it. Note what it shows and mention it when you call, since it shapes the plan before anything else does.
Do I need dampproofing or waterproofing on a new foundation?
The general guidance is that dampproofing, a basic moisture coating, suits sites where water drains well through gravel backfill into a drain below the walls. Where a high water table or heavy clay builds water pressure against the walls, waterproofing is the one to look at, because it stretches to span small cracks. Which one your walls get goes into the estimate once I've seen the site.
What causes water pressure against foundation walls?
Wet weather or a rising water table can change how wet the soil around the walls is and sharply raise the pressure on them. Good drainage keeps that pressure in line with what the walls were designed for, which is why it's worth asking any contractor early how their plan drains the walls.
How much does foundation installation cost in Kirkland?
We price each foundation from a written estimate after I've walked the lot, because two houses the same size can need very different work underneath. The biggest swings come from how much the lot slopes, whether the city wants engineering and a soil expert involved, how much dirt has to move and how much moisture protection the walls need.
What is the most common type of house foundation in the Northwest?
Crawl spaces, a raised floor over a short open space, are common in the Northwest. They fit a lot of houses here, though a slab or basement walls can make more sense depending on how your lot sits, and we build all three.
Related concrete work for foundation jobs
Concrete footings
Footings come first when a new wall, deck post or addition needs a solid pad under it, and they're often poured as part of a full foundation job.
Concrete parking lot building
Useful when a small property owner is putting up a building and needs paved parking that drains away from the new walls instead of toward them.
Slab foundation building
Worth a look when you're building a garage, shop or addition on level ground and don't need any crawl space or basement under the floor.
Service areas for foundation installation near Kirkland
Precision Kirkland Concrete is based in Kirkland, WA, and takes foundation jobs in Bellevue, Redmond and the other cities below. These 12 cities have their own page on our site, and they aren't the only places we work.
Kirkland, WA
Get your foundation planned before you dig
The sooner we know your lot, the sooner any hazard study or engineer can be lined up, and those usually set the start date more than the pour does.