How to Choose a Foundation Repair Contractor

Choosing a foundation repair contractor is harder than choosing most trades, because the person who tells you what is wrong is often the person who sells the fix. This guide is about the order to do things in, the questions that make bids comparable, and the paper that protects you. It is general information, not legal or engineering advice. Last reviewed October 27, 2026. Sources are listed at the bottom.

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Step one is not a contractor

Start with someone who has no repair to sell. In Texas, the state engineering board wrote in a 2018 advisory opinion that working out why a foundation has moved, and recommending what to do about it, is the practice of engineering. A home inspector doing a standard visual inspection is not doing that work and is not required to name a cause or a fix. Other states draw the line in their own way, but the logic travels: an inspector looks, an engineer explains, a contractor builds.

A good evaluation, as described in the Foundation Performance Association’s 2005 guide for homeowners, measures how level the floor is and plots it on a plan, maps the cracks and separations against the age of the house, and sometimes tests the soil. The report carries the engineer’s seal, date and signature. The same guide suggests choosing an engineer who has both designed and inspected houses, checking the license, and asking for references.

If the report says the house is performing adequately, you are done, and you have saved the cost of a repair you did not need.

Ask the engineer one more question: who are you working for?

In 2018 a Dallas engineer asked the Texas board to look into engineers who sign pier plans while working for, or being recommended by, foundation companies. The board declined to issue a new opinion and said it investigates substantiated complaints, so nothing was ruled. The question is still worth asking. An engineer paid by you, with no stake in the repair, is the cleanest arrangement.

Then get bids that can be compared

The Texas Attorney General’s guidance on home repair, which is sensible in any state, says to get written, itemized bids from more than one contractor and to be careful with one that comes in far below the others. For foundation work, an itemized bid means the parts that drive the price are written down, not folded into one number:

• How many piers, which type, and how deep they go.
• Who designed the layout, and whether the contractor will build from your engineer’s plan or from its own.
• Whether drainage work, plumbing leak testing and cosmetic repairs are included, or extra.
• Whether a permit is needed and who pulls it.
• What is guaranteed in writing, and by whom.

Three bids with those lines filled in can be compared. Three totals cannot. If a contractor will not break the price down, that is an answer too.

Read the warranty, not the slogan

There is no standard foundation warranty, and no statute we found sets one. Many companies advertise a lifetime transferable warranty, and the transfer terms are where the differences hide. Consumer complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau against Texas foundation companies describe transfers that had to be requested within 30 days of a sale, transfer fees, coverage that depended on proof the plumbing was intact, and warranties voided by undocumented plumbing problems.

Those are one-sided accounts, so we treat them as questions to ask rather than facts about any company:

• Does the warranty cover movement, cosmetic repair, or both?
• Who honors it if the company closes? Is any part of it insured?
• How and when must it be transferred when you sell, and what does that cost?
• What voids it, and what records do you need to keep?

The contract and the money

The Attorney General’s advice is specific.

• Do not sign a contract with blank spaces. The contract should state the scope, the start and end dates, the cost and the materials.
• Do not pay in full in advance.
• Inspect the work before the final payment, and do not sign a certificate of completion until the job is finished.
• If financing is offered, shop it separately.

The classic warning signs are a door-to-door offer, pressure to decide on the spot, no fixed business address, and a demand for full payment up front.

Most home insurance does not pay for this work. The Texas Department of Insurance’s consumer guide lists earth movement and continuous water leaks among the things most policies exclude. Wording differs by company, so read your own policy before you count on anything.

If you are in Texas

A few rules are specific to Texas, and they matter for foundation work:

Sources