How much does foundation repair cost in Texas?

Published averages range from about $2,850 in Dallas and $3,100 in Houston (This Old House, including many small jobs) to about $6,800 in Austin (Angi) and $7,400 in San Antonio (HomeAdvisor). Pier projects are priced per pier, commonly $1,000–$3,000 each.

How many piers does a house need?

It depends on how much of the slab has settled. A corner may need a few piers; a full side of a house can need many more. The layout comes from a floor-elevation survey and, ideally, an engineer.

Is foundation repair covered by homeowners insurance in Texas?

Standard policies usually exclude settling and soil movement. Damage from a covered event, such as a sudden plumbing leak, may be treated differently. Check your policy.

Do I need an engineer for foundation repair in Texas?

Many cities require engineered drawings or reports for foundation repair permits, and even where they do not, an independent engineer’s evaluation helps you compare offers.

Foundation Repair Cost in Texas (2026 Guide)

Why foundation repair is so common in Texas

Much of Central and North Texas sits on the Blackland Prairie, a band of dark, expansive clay that runs from north of Dallas down to San Antonio. The best-known soil there, Houston Black, covers about 1.5 million acres and contains roughly 46–60 percent clay, according to the Texas Water Development Board’s summary of NRCS data. It is a classic Vertisol: it swells markedly when wet and shrinks and cracks when dry. Greater Houston sits on similarly active Gulf Coast clays.

Texas weather swings between both extremes. A long, hot summer dries the soil and the edges of a slab lose support; a wet spring or a tropical storm swells the soil again. Over the years that cycle bends slabs and pier-and-beam floors. Nationally, the American Society of Civil Engineers has estimated that expansive soils cause more damage to homes each year than floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes combined, as the Virginia Department of Energy summarizes. Texas is one of the states where that matters most.

Published foundation repair costs by metro

The figures below come from the cost pages of This Old House, HomeAdvisor and Angi. They are averages across many types of jobs, from a single crack to a full pier project, so treat them as a starting point, not a quote.

Metro	Published figure	Source
Dallas	Average about $2,850; complex jobs with excavation or helical piers $6,800+	This Old House
Houston	Average about $3,100	This Old House
San Antonio	Average about $7,400; typical $4,400–$10,100; low–high $1,500–$16,800	HomeAdvisor
Austin	Average about $6,800; most jobs about $3,800–$9,800	Angi
Any metro: piers	$1,000–$3,000 per pier installed	National cost guides

Published figures for orientation only, not quotes. The contractor you are connected with sets the price after an inspection.

Why the big differences? The This Old House averages include many small jobs such as crack repair, which pull the average down. HomeAdvisor and Angi figures lean more toward full repairs. For a slab that has settled along one side, the number of piers is what drives the price, so the per-pier cost is often the most useful number to compare.

What a typical Texas slab repair includes

Inspection and floor-elevation survey. The contractor or an engineer measures how far each part of the slab is out of level. This shows whether the house is settling (edges down), heaving (middle up) or both.
Engineering. Many Texas cities require or strongly prefer an engineer’s report. McKinney, for example, requires an engineer’s letter and drawings before it issues a foundation repair permit, and a final engineer’s report to close it out.
Pier installation. Pressed concrete piers, steel push piers or drilled concrete piers are installed under the settling part of the slab, then the slab is lifted and shimmed. See our guide push piers vs. helical vs. concrete piers.
Plumbing tests. Lifting a slab can stress pipes underneath, so many contractors recommend a plumbing test before and after the work.
Permit and final inspection where the city requires it. Houston, San Antonio and many suburbs issue foundation repair permits.

What drives the price up or down

Number of piers. A settled corner may need a handful; a whole side of a house can need many more.
Pier type and depth. Pressed concrete piers are usually the lowest per-pier cost; steel piers that go deeper to stable soil cost more.
Access. Interior piers mean breaking and patching the slab and moving flooring.
Engineering, permits and plumbing tests, which some quotes include and others list separately.
Drainage work such as gutters, downspout extensions or regrading, which reduces future movement.
Warranty. Lifetime or transferable warranties are common, but what they cover varies a lot.

Slab vs. pier-and-beam homes

Most Texas homes built since the 1960s sit on concrete slabs, while many older homes in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio and Austin are pier-and-beam, with a crawl space under wood floors. The two are repaired differently, and priced differently.

On a slab, piers are installed under the settling edge or through the slab, and the concrete is lifted as one piece. Costs track the number of piers plus concrete breakout and patching. On a pier-and-beam house, much of the work happens in the crawl space: replacing crushed shims with steel shims, adding adjustable supports, installing new piers under beams and replacing rotted sills or joists. Minor re-leveling of a pier-and-beam house is often much cheaper than slab piering, but wood damage can raise the price quickly. Our pier & beam repair page covers that work in more detail.

When to schedule the repair

Clay soils move with the seasons, so a foundation measured at the end of a long dry summer can look worse than the same house after a wet spring. Experienced contractors take that into account when they decide how much to lift. If your house has only minor symptoms, it can make sense to measure twice, in a dry and a wet season, before committing to a large pier project. If doors no longer close, cracks keep growing or plumbing leaks appear, do not wait for the season to change.

Permits and engineers in Texas

Texas has no statewide license specifically for foundation repair companies, so local rules and the engineer carry more weight. The Houston Permitting Center has a dedicated foundation repair permit and requires engineered details in some situations, such as certain foundations in flood zones. San Antonio’s Development Services Department issues foundation repair permits over the counter. Suburbs such as McKinney require engineered drawings. Ask every contractor who pulls the permit and whether a Texas-licensed professional engineer signs off before and after.

Houston’s Foundation Performance Association publishes guidelines for evaluating residential foundation movement that many Texas engineers use. They are a good reminder that some movement is normal and that repair should be based on measurements, not just on a crack you can see.

How to compare foundation repair offers

Get the pier layout: how many piers, where, and what type.
Ask how deep piers will go and whether the depth of each pier is recorded.
Ask what lift is expected and what cosmetic cracks might open or close.
Check whether engineering, permits, plumbing tests and patching are included.
Read the warranty: what it covers, whether it transfers to a buyer and whether it requires you to maintain drainage or watering.
Compare price per pier, not just the total.

Can you reduce future repairs?

Consistent moisture around the slab is the main goal. Keep gutters clean and extend downspouts several feet from the house, slope soil away from the foundation, avoid planting thirsty trees close to the slab and fix leaks promptly. Many Texas contractors recommend a soaker hose set back from the foundation during long dry spells. In San Antonio, check SAWS watering rules first, because drought stages limit when soaker hoses may run.

Where we connect Texas homeowners

Partner contractors serve Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Waco, Killeen & Temple, Corpus Christi, the Rio Grande Valley and other Texas communities. See also slab foundation repair and the national cost guide.

Foundation Repair Cost in Texas: Dallas, Houston, San Antonio & Austin (2026)