Skip to content
Basement GurusLANCASTER, PA
Call
Call Now

Foundation Repair in Drumore, PA

Drumore stone cellars built by a spring have been losing mortar ever since

Lime mortar dissolves a little every season that water passes through it. Next to a spring that is every season, and eventually the stones start to move.

(800) 834-6584
  • 4.9 · 195 Lancaster reviews
  • Lifetime warranty
  • No money down
  • 24/7 emergency
A stabilized foundation wall, seen face-onElevation of a concrete block foundation wall carrying the floor framing above it, with earth below the footing. A red stair-step crack climbs the mortar joints on the left and is closed by a line of green injection ports following it. Three green carbon fiber straps run the full height of the wall, anchored by green plates at the joist and at the footing. At the right the footing has settled: a gold wedge marks the void under it, a red diagonal crack runs up the wall above, and a green helical pier with two helix plates is driven deep below the footing, with a green arrow showing the corner lifted back.Settled corner, underpinnedStair-step crack, injectedCarbon fiber straps, joist to footing
Foundation Repair in ZIP 17518 · Drumore Twp · Lancaster County, PAOffice: 2348 Harrisburg Pike, Lancaster, PA 17601 · Mon–Sat 7AM–8PM

Foundation in Drumore

Southern schist uplands

Drumore farmhouses stand on fieldstone cellar walls laid in lime mortar, and many were built close to a spring on purpose. For a farm that was good planning. For a foundation it means water moving past the wall for most of the year, and moving water slowly works on stone and soil alike.

The first thing it takes is the mortar. Lime dissolves a little each season, joints hollow out, and grit gathers along the base of the wall. Once enough has gone the stones shift and the wall bellies inward, usually on the side where the spring water arrives. The second thing it takes is soil. Where a spring runs under or beside a footing it can carry fine material away over decades, leaving that corner sitting on less than it started with. In Drumore Township that shows up as one corner of the house lower than the rest, with cracked plaster in the rooms above it.

Our plan for a spring-fed stone cellar usually has three parts. We repoint and rebuild the stone where courses have moved, support a dropped corner with piers down to the schist, and collect the spring water at the footing so it stops passing through the wall and underneath it. The estimate is written, itemized and free, and we photograph each problem area so you can see why it made the list.

What we install in Drumore

Drainage on the uphill side first — interior drain plus exterior interception where the grade allows — and a discharge line routed far enough downslope that it does not simply return.

Most common call here

  • Water always enters on the same uphill wall
  • Springs or wet ground in the yard that never dries out
  • Seepage that continues for days after the rain stops
  • Rusty staining where iron-rich water has been running
Everything we do in Drumore →

The actual scope

What a Drumore job includes

Every foundation repair we install in Drumore, PA follows the same checklist, and you get it in writing before the crew arrives. Bowing walls, stair-step cracks and settling corners are the foundation telling you the soil around it has won an argument. We stabilize the structure first, then deal with the water that caused it.

  • Carbon fiber and steel wall reinforcement
  • Push and helical pier underpinning
  • Structural crack injection
  • Stone foundation repointing
  • Settlement and heave correction

More of what we do in Drumore

One crew, one warranty, all of it out of the Lancaster office.

How a Drumore foundation job runs

Start to warranty

  1. Structural assessment and measurement

  2. Engineered repair plan

  3. Stabilize, then correct the drainage

  4. Lifetime warranty on the repair

Questions from around Drumore

Straight answers

Our stone cellar wall is bulging on the side facing the spring. Can it be saved?

Most can. On Drumore farmhouses we rebuild the bulged section with properly set stone and a compatible lime-based mortar, then collect the spring water at the footing so it stops washing the joints. Full replacement is rarely necessary.

Why does sand keep piling up at the bottom of our cellar wall?

That's mortar leaving the wall. Lime mortar slowly dissolves when water passes through it, and in a spring-fed Drumore cellar that happens most of the year. The pile tells us the joints are hollowing out and the wall is due for repointing.

One corner of the farmhouse is lower than the rest. Could a spring cause that?

It can. Water flowing under a footing for decades carries fine soil away and leaves the corner with less support. In Drumore Township we probe that corner and, if bearing is gone, put in piers that reach the schist underneath.

Do you use modern cement to repoint old stone walls?

No. Hard cement mortar is stiffer than the stone and can crack or spall the old stones as the wall moves with the seasons. We use a mix that matches how the original wall behaves, so it flexes the way the builders intended.

Is it worth fixing the foundation on an old Drumore farmhouse?

Almost always. The stone walls under these farmhouses have stood a very long time and respond well to repointing and drainage. The repair usually costs far less than the problems a failing wall causes upstairs, and it lets the house keep going for generations.

Foundation Repair near Drumore

Same crew, same routes, same week.

Foundation Repair across Lancaster County →

Get a real price on foundation repair in Drumore.

Free estimate, no money down, and a lifetime warranty that transfers when you sell the house.

(800) 834-6584