Foundation installation in Quincy MA - a dry, solid start for your new home
Planning a new house or addition and need what's underneath done right? We build it to sit level and keep water out.
- Fully licensed and insured.
- Free in-person estimates.
- Expect a reply within 1 business day.
What goes into a new foundation in Quincy?
Foundation installation means building the concrete slab, walls or crawlspace your house sits on, then putting the soil back against the walls. In Quincy we give keeping water out as much care as the concrete itself.
Foundation calls usually come to us from small property owners and builders, along with homeowners putting on an addition. The price moves with the type and size of the foundation, where the house sits and how much digging and land prep the lot needs, and the schedule usually turns on the weather and any permit the job needs. I come out, measure and write it all down so your estimate spells out what's included, and we work in Quincy and across the cities around it.
How do you know it's time for a new foundation?
Plans for an addition
If you're building new or adding on, the foundation has to be right first, because every wall framed on top follows whatever it sits on. Getting it on the calendar early keeps your framers from standing around waiting on concrete.
Water pooling by the walls
Puddles that sit against the house after a rain usually mean the ground slopes toward it instead of away. Left alone, that water works into the basement or crawlspace and softens the soil the foundation stands on.
Wide cracks and sinking floors
Cracks you can fit a coin in, a floor that's dropped or a wall that leans usually point to a base that settled or water that's been at it for years. Waiting lets the damage spread, and the sooner I see it, the more choices you usually have.
How we handle foundation installation
I start by walking the lot to see where water runs, because a foundation sitting in the path of runoff fights it for as long as the house stands. We dig out to firm ground and pack the subgrade, the soil and stone the concrete sits on, so it doesn't settle later the way loose dirt does. Then we set forms and tie in rebar, the steel that holds the concrete together if it cracks. After the pour, the concrete has to cure, a slow stretch of hardening while we keep it protected. We don't put in the backfill, the soil that goes back against the walls, until the walls are tied in at the top and bottom or braced. We finish by grading the yard so it falls away from the house. If a budget gets tight, I'd rather you cut something you can change later than skimp on the base and drainage, because nobody can get at what's under a house once it's framed.
The concrete footings, the wide pads the walls stand on, usually go in first, so we plan and pour them as part of the same job. For property owners who need paving as well as a building, we also do concrete parking lot building, so one drainage plan can carry water away from the building and off the lot.
Full basement walls
This suits a lot where you want storage or living space below ground and the site allows digging that deep. It's the most digging and the most wall to keep dry, so it usually costs the most.
Crawlspace foundation
This works well on a sloped lot, or when you want to reach the plumbing and wiring underneath without paying for a full basement. The dirt floor still has to be kept from feeding damp air up into the house.
Slab on grade
A slab on grade is one slab poured on a packed base, a good fit for additions, garages and flat lots where you don't need space below. It's usually the least expensive choice, and it depends more than anything on how well that base was packed.
Get a written foundation estimate for your lot
We reply within one business day and set a time for me to come out, measure and look at your site. The estimate is free, it comes in writing and there's no obligation.
(617) 691-5008- Based in
- Quincy, MA 02169
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 8 AM–11 PM, Sat–Sun: 7 AM–11 PM
What happens after you call us about a foundation?
Here's how a foundation job runs with us, from your first call to the walk-through once the concrete is in.
Call or send the form
Tell us where the lot is and what you're building, and we'll get back to you to set a time for me to come out. Plans or a rough sketch help if you have them.
I measure and write it up
I look over the site, check how water moves across it and talk through what you want built. You get a written estimate that lists what's included, so you can compare it line by line with any other bid.
We set the date and pour
Once any permit is in hand, we pick a pour date with the forecast in mind. Then our crew does the prep, the pour, the backfill and the grading, in that order.
Walk through the care
When the work is done, I walk you through how to look after the new concrete while it finishes curing. It's a good time to ask about anything you noticed along the way.
Why Quincy owners and builders call Cornerstone Quincy Concrete for foundations
The owner writes every estimate
I'm the one who comes out to look at your job and write the estimate, and I run the work with my crew of finishers and laborers. The person who walked your lot is the same one on site when the concrete goes in.
Nine years running our crew
We've been in business since 2017, and I learned the trade on a finishing crew under people who'd done it their whole lives. That's where I picked up the habit of checking the base and the drainage before anything else.
Licensed, insured and easy to check
We're fully licensed and insured, and I'm glad to go over that before you sign anything. Massachusetts lets you check a construction supervisor's license yourself before the job starts, and I'd do that with any contractor you're comparing.
Ask every contractor you talk to what goes under the slab and when the dirt goes back against the walls. Then send us your plans and I'll come take a look.
Foundations, footings and site work in Quincy
If your lot is in Quincy's floodplain overlay district, proposed city text would require a special permit for any construction there, whether it's a new house or a change to an existing one. The same proposed text would put the lowest floor of new construction, basement included, at or above the Design Flood Elevation. It would also cover improvements that cost 50% or more of the building's market value, which can change how tall the foundation walls need to be. Because the text is still proposed, ask the city how your lot is mapped. Before we set a date, we check with the city ourselves, and when a permit is needed, we pull it so you don't have to.
A lot of what we see around here is older homes getting additions, where the new foundation has to meet the old one and the yard has to carry water past both. We plan the slope across the whole yard, not just the new part, and we do the same kind of work on jobs in Braintree and Weymouth.
Questions about foundation installation in Quincy
How much does a new foundation cost near Boston?
Building a foundation in the Boston area usually costs about $6,000 to $11,000 per job, and that's what the work runs across the market, not our quote. Where you land depends on the foundation type and size, where the house sits and how much land prep the lot needs. My written estimate spells out exactly what's in your number.
How do I keep a new foundation dry?
It starts under the concrete. Building-science guidance calls for a layer of gravel with waterproof plastic sheeting over it, so moisture drains away instead of soaking up into the slab, and in a crawlspace it adds sheeting over the dirt floor too. Outside, builder guidelines call for the ground to drop at least 6 inches in the first 10 feet from the house. Ask whether both layers are spelled out in any bid, ours included, and check the slope yourself once the job is done.
What causes cracks in a new concrete foundation?
Most cracks in new concrete come from a base that wasn't packed and later settles, concrete that dried too fast in the heat, or shrinkage with no planned place to go. Concrete shrinks as it cures, so no pour is crack-proof. Packing the base, pouring outside the hottest part of the day and cutting control joints, shallow grooves that give a crack a straight place to form, usually keep cracks small and where we chose.
Does my lot need a special permit to build a foundation in Quincy?
It can, if your lot is in the floodplain overlay district, where proposed city text would require the special permit described above. Some coastal parts of that district are marked Zone V because of fast water from tidal surges and hurricane wash, and there, new construction would sit landward of where the mean high tide reaches. The city can tell you how your lot is mapped, and I check before we set a date.
What license should a foundation contractor have in Massachusetts?
Contractors working on an existing, owner-occupied home with one to four units have to register with the state as a Home Improvement Contractor, and some construction projects also need a licensed construction supervisor overseeing the work. The two aren't the same, and one doesn't stand in for the other. Ask any contractor which one they hold and how it fits your job.
Can you pour a foundation in cold weather?
Usually, yes, as long as the fresh concrete is kept from freezing while it cures, because concrete that freezes early ends up weak. That means picking the day carefully and covering the pour, and sometimes the right call is waiting for a better stretch of weather.
Other concrete work that goes with a foundation
Concrete footings
If you're adding a porch, deck posts or a small addition, footings give each part a solid pad to stand on so it doesn't settle unevenly.
Concrete parking lot building
Small property owners with a gravel or crumbling lot can get a poured one with a packed base and drainage planned so water leaves instead of puddling.
Cities we work in around Quincy
Cornerstone Quincy Concrete is based in Quincy, MA, and we take on foundation work across the cities around it, including Milton and Randolph. The 12 cities below have their own pages, and we work in others nearby too.
Quincy, MA
Send your lot details for a foundation estimate
Call (617) 691-5008 or use the form with your address, your home type and whether the job is new or a replacement, so I come out already knowing what to look for.