Foundation repair for Mt. Lebanon's older brick and stucco homes
Mt. Lebanon grew up along the streetcar line in the 1920s and 1930s, and many of its Tudors and Colonials still sit on their original foundations. Those walls have earned some attention.
About 33,000 people live in Mt. Lebanon, and a big share of its houses are close to a century old. They were built well, with brick, stucco and slate, but their basements were built for coal furnaces and storage, not for finished family rooms. The foundation walls are often stone, early block or thin early poured concrete, and the original clay drain tile around the footing, where it exists at all, has long since silted up.
The typical Mt. Lebanon call is not a house falling down. It is a basement that has always been a little damp and now has a stain spreading from one corner, a crack that a previous owner patched and that has come back, or a front porch and steps that have pulled away from the house. On the steeper streets off Washington Road, the uphill wall is the one to watch for bowing.
Before anyone finishes an old Mt. Lebanon basement, we recommend getting the water handled first. An interior drain with a wall membrane lets you frame and insulate without trapping moisture behind the new walls.
What we see most in Mt. Lebanon
Damp original basements
Stone and early block walls passing water at the cove joint every spring.
Returning cracks
Old patches that keep reopening, a sign something is still moving or leaking.
Porches and steps pulling away
Masonry porches on fill soil that settled away from the house.
Finishing projects
Homeowners wanting the water solved before they build out the basement.
Parts of Mt. Lebanon we cover
- Mission Hills
- Virginia Manor
- Sunset Hills
- Washington Road corridor
- Cedar Boulevard area
- Bower Hill Road
- Castle Shannon Boulevard side
- Markham area
- Beverly Road area
Services for Mt. Lebanon homes
- Crack repair, bowing walls and settling, with piers where the footing needs firmer ground
- Basement waterproofing, interior drains and sump pumps
- Crawl space repair, slab leveling and a free foundation inspection
Mt. Lebanon questions
Are older Mt. Lebanon foundations worth repairing?
Almost always. Stone and block foundations of that age can be stabilized and kept dry for a fraction of the cost of rebuilding, and the houses above them are worth it.
Do I need a permit in Mt. Lebanon?
Mt. Lebanon issues its own building permits. Structural work such as piers or wall rebuilding generally needs one; interior drains and sump pumps often do not. We confirm with the municipality before work starts.
Can you work around a finished basement?
Yes. We remove only the drywall or paneling needed at the problem wall, and we can usually tell from outside or from the furnace room which walls need attention.
Nearby: Bethel Park · Upper St. Clair · Shaler · all areas