Crawl space encapsulation
Standing water, a musty smell, floors that never feel warm. Usually a sealed vapor barrier, drainage, and humidity control.
$5,000 – $14,000
typical range, not a quote
Registration checked with the state
One crew, not three
Local crews only
No cost to homeowners
Most common
What people call us about
Every house down here sits on sand, near water, or both.
Crawl space structural repair
Soft or bouncy floors, sagging in the middle of a room. Joists, beams, girders, and posts that need sistering or replacing.
$3,000 – $15,000
typical range, not a quote
Underpinning with helical and push piers
Piers driven to stable soil to stop settlement and, where possible, lift the structure back. Helical is usually preferred in sandy coastal soil.
$10,000 – $50,000
typical range, not a quote
Foundation crack and seepage repair
Injection and sealing for cracks in poured walls and block that let water through during heavy rain.
$400 – $1,500
per crack, typical range, not a quote
What this work usually costs around here
Ranges for Southern Ocean County, NJ, not quotes. What your home needs can only be settled by a registered contractor who comes out and looks at it.
$1k$5k$15k$30k$50k
Coverage
Where we cover
The ground is different in each of these, so the work is too.
Inland mainland
Flat sandy tracts with a high water table. Crawl spaces and slab are the common foundation types here.
Bayfront and lagoon
Dredge-and-fill lagoon communities at low elevation with tidal influence on groundwater.
Long Beach Island
Salt air and a housing stock split sharply between pre- and post-Sandy. Crawl spaces and slab-on-grade under the older cottages, with settlement and moisture the common foundation problems.
We're not a contractor. We're the step before you find one.
1
Tell us what you're seeing
Photos help, but they aren't required. Takes about two minutes.
2
We match it to the right crews
Only contractors who do that work, in your town, whose registration we've checked.
3
They reach out directly
You decide who to talk to, and whether to hire anyone at all.
Agents and home inspectors
If a foundation issue turned up in an inspection and the deal is on a clock, send it over. We'll get it in front of contractors who can look at it quickly, and we'll tell you honestly if nobody can make the timeline.
Questions
Common questions
The things homeowners ask us before they fill anything in.
What does this cost me?
Nothing. We are paid by the contractor who sponsors this site, never by homeowners. There is no fee, no membership, and no obligation to hire anyone we introduce you to.
Are you the ones doing the work?
No. We are a referral service. We collect what you are seeing, pass it to contractors who work your town, and step out of the way. Any agreement you reach is between you and that contractor.
How do you check the contractors?
Before a contractor receives anything from us, we confirm their registration is active with the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, and we record the date we checked. Insurance is not part of that check, so always ask to see a current certificate of insurance yourself before work begins. We do not inspect work or guarantee outcomes.
Why do so many homes here have crawl space problems?
Much of the mainland sits on flat sandy ground with a high water table, and the bayfront and island communities sit lower still. Sand drains quickly but does not stop groundwater from rising into the space under a floor after heavy rain or a high tide.
How many contractors will contact me?
One. We pass your request to a single contractor who covers your town and does that type of work, so you are not fielding calls from four companies about the same problem. If that contractor cannot help, tell us and we will pass it to another.
My house is a rental or a second home and I am not local. Can you still help?
Yes. A lot of the island and lagoon properties are second homes. The form has a place to tell us you are not at the property and to give us a property manager or a neighbor to coordinate with.
What kind of work do you cover?
Foundation and crawl space work: crawl space encapsulation, drainage and sump systems, foundation crack and seepage repair, waterproofing, structural repair, underpinning, slab and settlement correction, and inspections. We focus on the work a single registered foundation and waterproofing contractor can carry, so whoever we connect you with can actually handle the job.
Can I just call instead of filling in the form?
Yes. Calling is usually faster, and it reaches a local crew that works your town rather than going through the form first. We take calls 7am to 7pm, seven days; if we are out on a job you will get voicemail, and leaving a message gets you a call back the same day. It is the same free service either way — the contractor pays us, you never do.
Do you record calls?
Yes, and we say so at the start of every call. Recordings let us confirm what you asked for, pass an accurate description to the contractor so you are not repeating yourself, and settle any question about what was agreed. We keep them for a limited period and do not sell them. See our privacy policy for the detail.
Southern Ocean Foundations and Waterproofing is a referral service, not a contractor. We do not perform work, supervise work, or hold any part of the money.
Any price shown on this site is a typical range for this area. It is not a quote, and it is not a judgment about your home.