Boston, Chelsea, Revere and Winthrop
Foundation repair in Boston, MA
Cracks in the brick, a basement wall that leans, floors that have begun to slope. One phone call reaches a foundation repair company that works in Boston, is independent of this website and will come out to inspect your home.
- You are connected with an independent local company
- After its visit the company tells you what it found and what it would charge
- Whether to hire it is your decision
Start with what you see
What have you noticed?
Seven signs that turn up in Boston houses. Each page says what the sign often means, what else causes it and what an inspection checks.
- Cracked brick, plaster and ceilingsZigzag lines through brick joints, splits slanting up from window heads, plaster that reopens a season after it was patched.Read on
- Doors that rub, windows that jamThe bedroom door now scrapes its frame, the bolt misses the strike plate, a sash will not lift.Read on
- Floors that slope, dip or springA dropped pencil rolls to the hallway, the parlor has a hollow, the boards give as you cross them.Read on
- Cracks in the basement wallFieldstone, granite, brick, block and poured concrete each crack in their own way. Which marks deserve a visit.Read on
- A basement wall that bows or leansA level line splitting the block wall, a belly in the stonework, the top course tipping toward the oil tank.Read on
- Chimney, porch or stoop coming adriftDaylight between chimney and clapboards, a three-decker porch stack out of line, a stoop tipping to the street.Read on
- Puddles along the foundationRain that sits against the wall for a day, a downspout ending at the sill, a yard pitched toward the cellar.Read on
Why Boston is different
Old houses on three kinds of ground
A Boston foundation might be fieldstone under a Dorchester triple-decker, granite blocks on wood piles under a South End row house, or concrete block under a two-family from the last century. The ground varies as much as the walls do: filled tidal flats, hills of glacial clay and stone, and bare ledge.
That is why a repair that suits one street is wrong for the next, and why the first step is always for someone to come and look. The guide to why foundations move in Boston explains the local ground in plain terms.
Describe the problem
Say what you have seen, in which part of the house, and whether it is changing.
Speak with a local company
The person you reach works for a foundation repair firm that covers your neighborhood and is independent of this website, which does no repair work.
Have the house inspected
The company sets up a visit, measures what is happening and tells you what it would do and what it would charge. Going ahead is up to you.
Read first if you like
Guides for Boston homeowners
- Piers, braces and other repairsSteel jacked or screwed down to firm ground, pile heads rebuilt by hand, uprights against a leaning cellar wall.
- What a repair price is made ofPier count, depth to clay or till, alley access, stone versus concrete, an engineer's stamp. Then how to set two bids side by side.
- Getting a foundation inspectedA contractor's visit versus an engineer's report, the readings taken, and the paper to request once it is over.
- Permits in BostonBoston's long form permit, stamped plans, the three-decker rule, and where Chelsea, Revere and Winthrop issue theirs.
- Buying or selling a Boston houseMassachusetts sellers and agents, the 2025 inspection rule, and the file of documents that calms a sale.
Where
Neighborhoods and nearby towns
The ground and the permit office differ from place to place. The full list is on the service area page.
Back Bay, South End and FenwayRow houses on wood piles in filled land. How to look your building up and what pile repair involves.
DorchesterTriple-deckers on ledge, glacial hills and low shoreline. What each means for a foundation.
East BostonOld island hills joined by fill, with part of the neighborhood inside the city's groundwater district.
ChelseaA steep glacial hill, low ground by the creek and a city building department of its own.
RevereGlacial hills at Beachmont and Fennos Hill, beach and marsh between, and permits by online portal only.
WinthropA peninsula town where close to half the land is in the mapped floodplain, with its own permit checklist.Common questions
Is Boston Foundation Repairs a contractor?
No. It refers callers and has no crews, engineers or inspectors of its own. The inspection, the price and the repair all come from the independent company you choose to hire.
What does the call cost me?
You pay nothing to this website. The company you hire charges for its work, and it will tell you beforehand whether it charges for an inspection visit.
What kinds of buildings is this for?
Homes: single-family houses, row houses, two-families, triple-deckers and condominium buildings. Owners, buyers, sellers and landlords of those are all welcome to call. It is not meant for commercial property.
My basement is wet. Is that a foundation problem?
Only sometimes. Water without cracks or movement is usually work for a basement waterproofer or a drainage contractor. The page on water beside the house helps you sort out which trade to call.
Foundation repair in Boston
Have a Boston foundation company take a look
Give the street, the kind of building and what has changed. The company settles a day to visit, and afterwards you receive its written account of the cause and what it would charge.
Ready to have it looked at?
Phone and say what you have seen. The firm on the other end is a Boston-area foundation repair company, independent of this website, and it can book a visit to your home.
Call (617) 555-0111You speak with an independent company, not with this website. See the referral disclosure.