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Foundation repair cost: published ranges, and what makes a quote high
A typical foundation repair runs $2,224–$8,134 (average $5,179); piers are $1,000–$3,000 each, and a whole-house pier plan reaches the $20,000 range. Source: This Old House — Foundation Repair Cost, updated 2026-03-06 The pier count decides your quote; the soil under your house and whoever wrote the scope decide the pier count.
Cost by repair method
| Repair | Published range | When it's the right tool | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crack repair (epoxy / polyurethane injection) | $250–$800 per crack | Hairline or non-moving cracks, moisture entry. Not a fix for movement. | Bob Vila — How Much Does Foundation Repair Cost?, updated 2024-05-29 |
| Mudjacking / slabjacking | $500–$1,300 per job | A sunken slab section (patio, garage, walkway) on stable soil. Lifts; does not stop shrink-swell. | Bob Vila — How Much Does Foundation Repair Cost?, updated 2024-05-29 |
| Piering / underpinning | $1,000–$3,000 per pier | Settlement or heave on expansive or weak soil. The pier COUNT is where quotes diverge most; an engineer's report specifies it. | This Old House — Foundation Repair Cost, updated 2026-03-06 |
| Wall stabilization / reinforcement (carbon fiber or steel, ~12 strips) | $4,000–$12,000 per job | Bowing basement walls from lateral soil pressure. | This Old House — Foundation Repair Cost, updated 2026-03-06 |
| Bowed wall repair (all methods) | $5,000–$15,000 per job | Bowing basement walls; method depends on deflection. | Bob Vila — How Much Does Foundation Repair Cost?, updated 2024-05-29 |
| Foundation sealing / waterproofing | $2,300–$7,300 per job | Water entry in a basement or crawl space. Usually paired with drainage, not piers. | This Old House — Foundation Repair Cost, updated 2026-03-06 |
| Drainage system | $2,800–$6,500 per job | Often the first, cheapest fix on wet or moderately expansive soil. | Bob Vila — How Much Does Foundation Repair Cost?, updated 2024-05-29 |
| Settling / sinking repair (all methods) | $4,500–$20,000 per job | The typical range a pier job lands in; the top end is a whole-house pier plan. | Bob Vila — How Much Does Foundation Repair Cost?, updated 2024-05-29 |
| Foundation lifting and leveling | $20,000–$23,000 per job | Whole-structure lift. Rare; get two engineer opinions. | This Old House — Foundation Repair Cost, updated 2026-03-06 |
Two independent published guides are quoted; where they differ the table shows the more recent. Neither is us: we don't sell repairs. Guides: This Old House — Foundation Repair Cost, updated 2026-03-06 · Bob Vila — How Much Does Foundation Repair Cost?, updated 2024-05-29.
Holding a quote? Read it against the table above and the soil under the house before you sign.
Foundation repair cost by symptom
Searches arrive by symptom, guides publish by method. This maps one to the other; every range is the cited guide's.
| What you see | Usual repair | Published range | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Settling or sinking on one side | Settling / sinking repair (all methods) | $4,500–$20,000 per job | Bob Vila — How Much Does Foundation Repair Cost?, updated 2024-05-29 |
| A crack that is not moving | Crack repair (epoxy / polyurethane injection) | $250–$800 per crack | Bob Vila — How Much Does Foundation Repair Cost?, updated 2024-05-29 |
| Leaking foundation, wet basement | Foundation sealing / waterproofing + drainage system | $2,300–$7,300 + $2,800–$6,500 | This Old House — Foundation Repair Cost, updated 2026-03-06 |
| Bowing basement wall | Bowed wall repair (all methods) | $5,000–$15,000 per job | Bob Vila — How Much Does Foundation Repair Cost?, updated 2024-05-29 |
| Sloping slab, doors that stopped closing | Piering / underpinning | $1,000–$3,000 per pier × count | This Old House — Foundation Repair Cost, updated 2026-03-06 |
| Wet crawl space, sagging floor over it | Water source first; framing and interior piers by the item | No published range we cite | — |
What makes a quote aggressive
- Pier count without an engineer. Bids on the same house commonly differ on how many piers, and by a lot. If nobody independent has specified the count, the count is a sales number.
- Piers on low-swell soil. If the soil under the house is low shrink-swell, expansive clay is not the likely cause; drainage, fill or a leak is. Check the address below before accepting a pier plan.
- No moisture plan. On expansive clay, piers alone are half a fix; a quote that ignores gutters, grading and watering is treating the symptom.
- Lifetime warranty as the closer. Read what it covers (usually the pier, not the house) and whether it transfers.
What a foundation repair quote should itemize
A quote you can compare has the scope on it, not just a total. Ask for each of these in writing; a contractor who will not itemize is asking you to compare a number against nothing.
- Pier type (pressed concrete, steel push, helical, drilled bell), the count, and a plan drawing showing where each one goes.
- Depth per pier, or the refusal criterion (the pressure or torque at which they stop driving). This is where the same house gets a very different price.
- What happens to the slab or the beams at each pier: shimming, tunneling, breaking through a floor, and who repairs the finishes afterwards.
- The moisture plan: drainage, grading, root barriers, watering guidance. On expansive clay a quote without one is half a repair.
- The warranty: what it covers (the pier staying put, or the house staying level), how long, whether it transfers to the next owner, and who honors it if the company changes hands.
- Permit and engineering: whether a stamped engineer's letter is included, and who pulls the permit where one is required.
Check the soil under an address
USDA soil survey, read for the top 60 inches under the address. Free, no account, nothing is sent to a contractor.
Usually 1–3 seconds. The USDA service occasionally takes longer.
Inspections and reports
An independent structural engineer's report costs $300–$1,000 Source: Bob Vila — How Much Does Foundation Repair Cost?, updated 2024-05-29 and is the cheapest line on this page relative to what it decides. What an inspection should cover →
Questions people ask
What is the average cost to repair a foundation in Texas?
There is no reliable published Texas average and we will not invent one. National guides put a typical repair at $2,224–$8,134, average $5,179. What is different about Texas is the ground, not the labor rate: across the Texas counties we cover, the share of mapped acreage in high or very high shrink-swell clay runs from 34% around Houston to 76% in Collin County (USDA SSURGO). On that soil a repair is more often a pier job at $1,000–$3,000 per pier, so a Texas quote reaches the top of the national range through pier count, which is the number an engineer's report ($300–$1,000) fixes before you compare bids.
Is foundation repair worth the cost?
When an independent engineer says movement is active and structural, yes: it protects the house and its sale. When the only evidence is a contractor's free inspection and cosmetic cracks, get the engineer's report first; on low or moderate shrink-swell soil the answer is often drainage, not piers.
Does homeowners insurance cover foundation repair?
Usually no. Standard homeowners policies exclude earth movement (settling, shrinking, expanding and cracking of the foundation), so damage from expansive soil is not covered. Damage that results from a covered sudden event, such as a burst pipe flooding under a slab, can be, and separate earthquake or flood policies cover those perils.
Can you live in a house while the foundation is being repaired?
Usually. Pier installation is done from outside or through small interior access points over days, not weeks; whole-house lifting is the exception.
What is the best time of year for foundation repair?
Demand is not flat: across the cities we track, searches for foundation repair run 1.2–1.4× the monthly average in August–October and about 0.7× in December (Google Ads 12-month series, pulled 2026-08-28). On expansive clay that is the drought season, when the soil has shrunk and the cracks are widest; contractors are busiest and an engineer may prefer to see the house across a wet/dry cycle before fixing a pier count. Moisture control (gutters, grading, consistent watering) is a shoulder-season job that costs little and often changes what the engineer recommends.
How much does it cost to repair foundation settling?
Published guides put settling and sinking repair at $4,500–$20,000 per job, with the low end being drainage and a few piers and the high end a whole-house pier plan. The pier count decides it; on low shrink-swell soil, check first whether the cause is fill, a leak or a tree rather than the soil.
What is the best price for foundation repair?
There is no best price, only a right scope. Published ranges: $2,224–$8,134 typical; $1,000–$3,000 per pier. The scope (pier count, depth, drainage) is what an engineer's report fixes, and it is what to compare bids against.
We are not engineers and this is not an engineering opinion. We report public soil-survey data and published price ranges. Nothing here states that a specific house is or is not structurally sound; a licensed structural engineer who has seen the house can.