Foundation Repair & House Raising in Central, LA

Central sits between two rivers: the Comite forms its western edge and the Amite its eastern, and they converge at the city's southern border. About three-quarters of the city's urban area lies in the 100-year floodplain. In August 2016, with more than 20 inches of rain in five days across the region, roughly 80 to 90 percent of Central's residences were affected, and only about one in five homeowners carried flood insurance. Most homes were gutted to the studs and rebuilt on the same slabs, at the same height, because that was what owners could afford.

That rebuild is still showing up in foundation calls. Floodwater rarely cracks a slab directly. What it does is saturate the fill pads and clay under houses for days, and when that ground dries out it consolidates unevenly. We measure a lot of Central slabs rebuilt after 2016 with one side an inch or more lower than the rest, new diagonal cracks at door corners in drywall that was hung in 2017, and doors that fit fine at move-in and now bind. On older rural properties along Greenwell Springs Road, Hooper Road and Sullivan Road, the same saturation accelerated sill rot and pier settlement in raised houses.

Central was only incorporated in 2005, largely so residents could form their own school system, and it has kept growing since — to 29,565 people in 2020 — with subdivisions like Magnolia Square, Wisteria Lakes and The Settlement on Shoe Creek. Newer homes built to current flood elevations are a different conversation from older homes that flooded. For those, we'll give you two honest numbers: what it costs to repair the foundation where it sits, and what it costs to raise the house above the flood elevation, along with what Increased Cost of Compliance or FEMA mitigation funds might cover.