Generally, resistance piers can lift the house back up in many cases, but as you described in your post, there is damage that is done that has to be repaired. You can also lift up the house with helical piers, but not to the same extent. Helical piers are generally used where the house doesn’t provide enough weight to the resistance pier jack, such as one story houses with vinyl siding.

In a lot of repairs that I consult on, I don’t recommend jacking the house back up into place, because the benefits of the leveling are outweighed by the damage that is caused as things are moved back up. Rather, my goal is often to stabilize the house.

For budget purposes, I figure on $1,100 per pier. Foundation piers have to be spaced between 5′ and 7′, the limiting factor is the foundation. Generally foundations can only span that far and support the house. Sometimes the house has such a bad foundation that a new grade beam has to be constructed under the existing foundation, and that adds to the cost. Generally on houses I consult on, repairs run between $5,000 and $10,000. Of course that can change area to area.

As a little bit of blatant self promotion, please check out my website at http://www.runkleconsulting.com for more information. Understand that soils vary across the country, which means foundation construction and repair can vary. So, what we do here in Atlanta, GA may not completely apply to what your needs are where you live. Hopefully my website will help somewhat wherever you live.

George W. Runkle, P.E.
President
Runkle Consulting, Inc.
Structural Engineers