Guides
Foundation repair cost: what drives the price
You will not find figures on this page. A number from a website would be wrong for your house. What you can learn is what a quote is made of, so that two of them can be laid side by side.
What a quote is built from
How many piers
The largest single item. Supporting one corner is a different job from supporting a whole side or the full perimeter.
How deep they go
Deeper means more material and more hours. Some quotes include depth up to a limit and charge by the foot beyond it. Find that line.
Which kind of pier
Steel, pressed concrete and drilled concrete are priced differently per pier.
Getting to the spot
Piers under the middle of the house mean cutting through floors or tunnelling. Decks, patios, air conditioners and mature planting in the way all add labour.
Foundation type
Crawl space work is priced by the pier, the beam and the hour, and grows if rot is found along the way.
Engineering
An engineer's evaluation, a sealed plan and a final letter are sometimes included and sometimes billed apart.
Permits
City fees are modest next to the work, but the paperwork takes time, and some towns require engineered documents.
Plumbing
Tests before and after a lift, and repairs if a drain line under the slab is found broken.
What is usually left out
Foundation companies fix foundations. Most quotes stop there, which leaves a second round of work to budget for.
- Patching and repainting drywall, and rehanging doors.
- Repointing or relaying cracked brick and stone.
- Replacing tile or flooring that was cut for interior piers.
- Putting back plants, paving and sprinkler lines that were moved.
- Drainage improvements, unless listed.
Ask the company to mark each of these as included or excluded on the quote itself.
Comparing two quotes fairly
Match the scope
Count the piers on each drawing and see whether they support the same parts of the house.
Match the depth assumption
A quote that assumes shallow piers looks cheaper until the extra footage is billed.
Match the extras
Engineering, permit, plumbing tests and clean-up should appear on both or on neither.
Read the warranty
A longer warranty from a company that might not be around is worth less than a shorter one that is clearly backed.
Ask about payment stages
Payments tied to finished stages protect you better than a large sum up front.
Advice from the Texas Attorney General
The Attorney General's guidance on home improvement applies here as much as to a kitchen remodel. Get bids in writing from more than one business and look for detail about what will be done. Be wary of a bid far below the others. Do not sign a contract with blank spaces. Do not pay in full until the work is finished and you have looked it over.
Insurance, briefly
Many homeowner policies exclude settling and earth movement. Some respond when a sudden plumbing leak is the cause. The only way to know is to read your own policy or ask your agent. The companies reached through this site repair foundations. They do not handle insurance claims.
Questions about cost
Why won't anyone give a price over the phone?
Because the price follows the pier count and depth, and neither is known until someone has measured the house. A phone figure would be a guess.
Is it cheaper to wait?
Waiting costs nothing if the house is stable. If it is still moving, the list of doors, brick and plumbing to put right afterwards tends to grow. A second set of floor readings a few months after the first shows which case you are in.
Can the work be done in phases?
Sometimes a company will support the part that needs it most and leave the rest for later. Ask whether splitting the job affects the warranty.
Want it looked at?
Phone, say where the house is and what has changed, and you will be speaking with an independent local foundation repair company. It can book a visit to measure the floors and tell you what it finds.
Calls may be recorded. Austin Foundation Repair Help refers callers and repairs nothing itself, as the referral disclosure sets out. Call details are handled under the privacy policy.