It’s usually safe, but it will be disruptive
Discovering that your home’s foundation is damaged and needs repair can be a stressful and expensive experience. You may not want to add the additional stress and costs of relocating during the repair, but it might be a good idea. In this guide, we’ll explain whether or not you can live in a house during foundation repair and what you need to consider if you decide not to relocate.
It is usually safe to live in a house during foundation repair, except when the damage is significant enough to make the home unsafe. If you’re dealing with major structural damage that could cause a full or partial structure collapse, you should relocate immediately and avoid moving back in until the repairs are completed. As a rule of thumb, if your home is safe to live in before the repairs, you can usually live there during the repairs.
With that being said, foundation repairs are disruptive, and it can be unsettling to hear the construction noises, so you might want to relocate temporarily while your contractors are on-site.
The extent and severity of the foundation damage will dictate whether or not you can live in your home during the repair. In cases of extreme structural damage involving differential settlement, sinking foundations, or collapsed foundation walls, a structural engineer will likely deem your house unfit for habitation and may require that you relocate until the repairs are done.
Yes, foundation repair will almost always be disruptive. Your entire home rests on your foundation, so you might feel slight vibrations. You should expect to hear loud noises, including drills and excavation equipment, as well as creaking in your structure as it adapts to any foundation movement underneath. These can be unsettling, but again, provided your home was safe to live in beforehand, the repairs won’t make staying there during the work dangerous.
In some cases, you’ll have foundation contractors in your home to access the slab or get into the basement or crawl space. If your professionals are jacking up your home and installing supportive piers underneath, you’ll also have contractors in your living space keeping an eye on the progress.
Foundation repair takes between one and three days in most cases, but the exact timeline will depend on the work you need done. If you do plan on relocating during the work, you can get a timeline from your local foundation repair company to make the necessary arrangements.
In most cases, smaller jobs like sealing foundation cracks, mudjacking, and replacing rotted beams and supports will take just a single day. More intensive projects like underpinning, installing tiebacks on foundation walls, and installing complete drainage systems like French drains will likely take two to three days.
In most cases, it’s safe to live in a home with minor foundation problems, like water intrusion or some minor differential settlement. However, major damages, like sinking foundations, large, uneven cracks, or issues that result in poor indoor air quality from moisture, mold growth, or pest infestation, might make your home unsafe. You should always call a foundation repair expert or structural engineer to help you decide if your home is safe to live in leading up to and during the repair.
Damaged foundations tend to get worse over time, so your problem will likely worsen, resulting in a more expensive repair if you don’t intervene. Minor issues with moisture or water intrusion can lead to old growth, pest infestation, reduced home efficiency, and poor indoor air quality. Issues with a small amount of soil movement can lead to structural damage and even total collapse if left long enough without a solution. You should hire a foundation repair company as soon as you identify any problems with your foundation.
Yes, a house can collapse from severe foundation problems if left unchecked, which is why it’s so important to carry out routine foundation inspections and call for repairs at the first sign of an issue. Foundation cracks often take years to get to the point where your home is at risk of collapsing. Implementing a solution quickly, even if your issue seems minor, is always worthwhile.
