When people hear that part of their house is going to be lifted, the picture that comes to mind can be dramatic. A crew, a row of jacks, the whole house rising in an afternoon. The real thing is slower, quieter and a lot more cautious than that, and for good reason.
This post explains the mechanics of a lift during foundation repair: what the house is lifted on, how the force is controlled, how movement is watched, how the house is locked in place, and what moves inside while it happens. It’s written for homeowners in La Jolla citywide. It isn’t a how-to. Lifting a house is engineered work with real collapse risk, and nothing here is a reason to put a jack under your own floor.
A few related questions live in other posts. Whether to lift at all, versus stabilizing in place, is covered in underpinning explained for homeowners. Which pier type gets used is in pier methods compared. And the full project sequence for a house on a raised foundation is in the raised foundation repair process. Here we stay on the lift itself.
Lifting starts with a plan, not a jack
Before anything moves, someone has to decide that lifting is safe for this structure and how far to go. Hubbell’s CHANCE underpinning instructions open with a warning in plain words: “Potential for structural collapse. Can cause property damage, personal injury or death. Do not raise the foundation unless the necessary structural considerations have been made.”
The same instructions add that “Structural integrity of the foundation must be determined by qualified personnel before lifting or stabilizing” and that “A plan of repair must be made and followed to prevent overloading of the foundation, helical pile or bracket.”
Code evaluation reports for pier systems put the responsibility on the engineer. ICC Evaluation Service report ESR-4471 says “Any lifting of the structure must be verified by qualified personnel (a registered design professional) to ensure that no part of the foundation, structure, or push pier is overstressed”. That design work sits inside the broader foundation underpinning scope.
The supports go in first
In a pier-based repair, a house isn’t lifted off the dirt. It’s lifted off the new supports. Piers or piles are installed at the locations on the engineer’s drawings, with brackets attached to the footing. Earth Contact Products’ installer guide states it simply: “Helical layout should follow Engineer or design drawings.”
Field conditions can surprise a crew. Supportworks’ technical manual says “Should field conditions present unanticipated obstacles that require relocating any of the proposed piers, consult the engineer of record for approval before proceeding.” Hubbell’s installation guidance has a similar rule for concrete: “Should steel reinforcement be encountered, notify the Engineer of Record prior to cutting.” The point for homeowners is that the crew doesn’t improvise where the house gets picked up.
For a house on a raised foundation, the mechanics can look different. Instead of brackets on a footing, the framing may be supported and adjusted above posts or piers. The ASCE Texas Section repair guideline notes that “Floor framing may be adjusted by addition of shims atop pier caps.” The principle is the same: controlled movement onto planned supports. See our raised foundation repair page for that system.
How the force is controlled
Lifting rams sit between each bracket and a lift assembly. ESR-4471 describes it this way: “Lifting of the structure can be done by activating the hydraulic rams associated with lifting assemblies.”
The key word is control. The CHANCE instructions say “Always use a jack with a pressure gauge in order to monitor the lifting force.” Rather than pumping jacks one at a time, crews tie them together: “A manifold system can allow control of the hydraulic pressure on multiple jacks/ cylinders simultaneously and greatly assist during a lifting procedure.”
Hubbell’s Atlas Resistance pier guidance describes a two-stage approach. The piers are driven first. Then “The second stage occurs when all or the majority of the piers are loaded simultaneously using a manifold or series of manifolds and hydraulic rams placed at each pier.” And “During the lifting stage the hydraulic pressure is monitored on each manifold system gauge.”
The guidance doesn’t spell out why, but the idea is easy to picture. A house is one connected structure, and sharing the load across multiple points lets it move more evenly than pushing on one spot.
Why lifting is gradual
The HUD Residential Rehabilitation Inspection Guide, describing a settled floor and wall, puts it in one sentence: “It may be possible to jack the floor and its adjacent wall into a level position, but this should be done slowly and carefully.”
None of our sources give a lift speed, and we won’t invent one. What they do show is a lift run by readings: gauges and reference points get checked between moves, and the house may not respond the way the drawing expects. The Supportworks manual describes a decision point during load transfer: “Discontinue if structure begins to lift prior to achieving the design working load.” It then gives the alternative: “Alternatively, load can be increased until the structure lifts and the desired elevation is met”. Which path applies is the engineer’s call, set in the design.
The ECP guide adds a practical sequencing rule: “Begin lifting at the lowest point”.
How movement is monitored
Before the lift, the starting shape gets recorded. Earth Contact Products’ installer guide says to “Evaluate and record Benchmarks for your job” and “Take before and after photos”. The CHANCE instructions say “Set up reference points on the foundation to monitor movement both inside and outside the structure.”
During the lift, crews compare those reference points against the target elevations in the design. The ASCE Texas guideline lists, among the items in a remediation plan, “Existing floor elevations or contours and elevation adjustment requirements, if appropriate”. Afterward, the same guideline calls for “The requirement for performing a floor elevation survey after completion of the remedial measures”. The installer guide says the same in its own checklist: “Take final elevation readings”.
Our crack monitoring with telltales and photos post covers the homeowner side of documenting cracks before work begins.
Locking off and removing the jacks
Once the house reaches its target, or the design says stop, the load transfers to the piers permanently. Supportworks: “Lock off and transfer load to piers by tightening nuts down to cap plate.” The installer guide has the matching rule: “Make sure nuts are tight before releasing oil”. Then: “Remove lifting hardware and hydraulics.” and “Complete field installation logs.”
Hubbell notes that the load at each pier is monitored at lock-off and “noted on the field installation logs.” Ask for those logs at the end of the project. They’re part of your house’s record.
What moves inside the house
A lift moves everything attached to the structure. Doors and windows that stuck can free up, and ones that worked fine can bind. Existing cracks in drywall or tile can open or close. That’s why the installer guide’s post-lift checklist includes “Check all doors and windows to make sure they are working correctly” and “Complete crack repair and waterproofing”.
Plumbing is the item homeowners forget. The ASCE Texas guideline says “Water supply and sanitary drain lines should be tested for leaks if jacking or lifting is included in the remedial measures.” It adds that “Gas service lines may require adjustment.”
And level isn’t guaranteed. The same guideline says “Elevation adjustments should be governed by field judgment to limit damage to the foundation and finishes.” Then, bluntly: “It is unlikely that elevation adjustments will result in a level foundation.” A good lift aims for an improved, stable shape the engineer has defined, not a perfect floor. Our structural repair page covers the framing and finish work that can follow.
Why this isn’t a DIY job
Jacks are regulated even on professional jobsites. California’s construction safety order for jacks says “In the absence of a firm foundation, the base of the jack shall be blocked.” It also says “Employees shall not be permitted to enter the zone beneath a jack supported load unless it has been effectively blocked or cribbed.” Federal OSHA adds: “After the load has been raised, it shall be cribbed, blocked, or otherwise secured at once.”
Those rules exist because a jack-supported load can shift or drop. Add the manufacturer’s collapse warning above, and the message is simple: leave lifting to an engineered plan and a trained crew. If something under your house looks like it’s moving now, keep people out of the area and get it looked at.
Cost factors, not prices
We don’t publish prices. What shapes the cost of a lift includes: the number of lift points in the design; pier type and depth; access under or around the house; whether framing needs temporary support or shimming; engineering, observation and special inspection; plumbing testing and adjustments after the lift; interior and exterior finish repair; and permits. For the wider picture, see our foundation repair page and our foundation settlement repair page.
Where we fit
We’re a foundation and structural repair company serving La Jolla citywide. We can visit, document what the house is doing, and explain how a lift would fit into a repair before any design is drawn. We aren’t engineers, and we don’t decide how far a house should be lifted. We work with verified contractors and coordinate with licensed engineers as needed. This post is general education, not an assessment of any property.
Next step
If you’ve been told your house may need to be lifted and want to understand what that would involve, request a Free Quote for an on-site visit anywhere in La Jolla, or call (650) 739-6537.
Sources (accessed October 29, 2026)
- Hubbell Power Systems, CHANCE Helical Underpinning installation instructions
- Hubbell Power Systems, Atlas Resistance technical manual, Section 6: Installation Methodology
- Earth Contact Products, helical pier installation guide
- Foundation Supportworks, Technical Manual, Chapter 2 (helical foundation systems)
- ICC Evaluation Service, ESR-4471 and ESR-5005 evaluation reports
- ASCE Texas Section, Guidelines for the Evaluation and Repair of Residential Foundations, Version 3 (2022)
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Residential Rehabilitation Inspection Guide (2000)
- California Code of Regulations, Title 8, §3562 (Jacks)
- OSHA, 29 CFR 1926.305 (Jacks)