Foundation repair equipment consists of specialized tools and materials that are used when renovating the foundation of a building. Some of these tools are the same as those used in other building trades, like carpentry, with hammers, pry bars, and spirit levels being good examples. Other equipment is more specialized to the trade of foundation repair and replacement.
The most important components of this specialized equipment are house jacks, heavy timber or steel I-beams, hammer-drills, jack-hammers, and levels.
House jacks can be manually or pneumatic. Manual house jacks are usually a heavy screw jack rated at 10 tons or more. Pneumatic house jacks can be linked together, allowing one operator to level the whole building from a central location.
Timbers and I-beams are used for supporting the floor framing, and the house jacks are then placed under these beams. Once the building is lifted and leveled, wooden cribs are built under the beams, so that the jacks can be removed. Then the new foundation can be installed or the old foundation repaired.