Foundation repair in Austin
Cracked walls, sloping floors, sticking doors, a slab that's moved, beams that have dropped. Austin sits right on top of one of the sharpest soil divides in Texas. Tell us what you're seeing and we'll come out and measure the house, free, with no obligation.
- Free inspection with proper elevation readings
- Fixed written price before any work starts
- Strong warranty on every repair we do
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Austin and surrounding areas.
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One of our foundation specialists will call to arrange a time to come out and take a look. That's usually the same day, and always within one business day. In a hurry? Call (888) 622-7133.
Foundation work in Austin
Your foundation is everything holding the house up: the slab or the piers and beams beneath the floor, the soil they sit on, and the drainage keeping that soil stable. When any part of it moves, the damage shows up somewhere else. We work on all of it.
Why houses move here
Austin sits directly on the Balcones Fault Zone, and the zone runs roughly along MoPac and Loop 360 through the middle of the city. West of that line, in Westlake Hills, Rollingwood and the neighborhoods along Loop 360, many homes sit on shallow Edwards Plateau limestone, sometimes just a few feet down. East of it, the ground is often deep Blackland Prairie clay, the same expansive soil that runs through much of eastern Texas.
The two sides of Austin tend to show problems differently. On the limestone side, movement is often local: a utility trench, fill brought in around a pool deck, or a soft pocket in the rock. On the clay side, especially in older pier and beam neighborhoods like Hyde Park, Travis Heights, Zilker, Bouldin Creek and Clarksville, slab edges and crawl spaces are more likely to move with the season as the clay swells and shrinks.
The transition itself adds its own complexity. Neighborhoods like Barton Hills and South Lamar sit close enough to the fault that a single lot can have rock under one corner and clay under another, which we sometimes find behind sharp, one-sided cracking on inspections in that area.
That's why we measure every house before quoting. In Austin more than in most Texas cities, the number of piers and how deep they need to go can vary significantly within a few blocks.
Austin at a glance
- Dominant problem
- Significant geologic variation. Limestone and rock on one side, deep expansive clay on the other, sometimes within the same neighborhood.
- Typical foundation
- Pier and beam in many older central neighborhoods built before the 1960s. Slab-on-grade, often post-tension, in newer construction.
- What we usually reach
- Limestone in the west, clay strata further down in the east. Depth can vary more block to block here than in most Texas cities.
- Worst season
- Late summer on the clay side, after months of drought. The limestone side generally sees less seasonal movement, though local issues can still occur.
- Typical job
- Usually one to three days on site, though transition-zone lots sometimes need a more detailed survey first.
What we see in different neighborhoods
Westlake Hills, Rollingwood, the Loop 360 corridor
Shallow limestone bedrock. Foundations here are often stable, and when they move it's typically traced to a local issue, fill, drainage, or a soft pocket in the rock, rather than broad soil movement.
Hyde Park, Travis Heights, Zilker, Clarksville
Older pier and beam construction on Blackland clay. Sloping or bouncy floors and crawl space issues are common concerns here, alongside exterior wall cracking.
Barton Hills, South Lamar
Sits close to the fault transition. A single lot can sometimes have rock under one corner and clay under another, which is one pattern behind differential settlement we see in this part of Austin.
East Austin, toward Del Valle and Manor
Deep Blackland Prairie clay with less rock nearby. Newer slab construction here still needs engineering suited to expansive clay.
Not sure it's serious? Check first.
Pick where the problem is and what it looks like. We'll give you an honest read, including the times the answer is that it's nothing and you don't need us.
Pricing in Austin
Price depends on several things together, and in Austin, which side of the fault a lot sits on is one of the more significant factors. These are the ranges most jobs fall into.