Two foundation repair bids can look nearly identical on the cover page and mean completely different things underneath. This checklist pulls them apart: what to verify, what a complete written scope has to spell out, and the local clay-soil questions most homeowners don't know to ask.
First, verify the basics
- Ask for proof of insurance (general liability and workers' compensation) and confirm it's current. This protects a homeowner if someone's hurt on the property or the house is damaged during the work. Verify it regardless of anything else on this page.
- Ask whether an independent structural engineer is involved. On expansive clay, an engineer's report that states the cause and specifies pier locations gives one scope to compare bids against, instead of five different sales pitches. Ask whether the engineer is independent or works for the contractor. Both arrangements exist, and it's worth knowing which.
Make them put the scope in writing
A complete written scope should spell out, at minimum:
- How many piers, and exactly where, tied to the engineer's report, not decided once the crew shows up.
- Which pier method and why (push, helical, drilled bell-bottom, or pressed piling), with the soil-and-weight reasoning for the choice. See repair methods and piers for what each one is.
- The target depth. Piers should reach load-bearing strata below the active zone, not just "down a ways." On Alvin's clay, that's the difference between a fix and a redo.
- How much lift they're attempting, and the honest limit. A house isn't always safely returned to dead level, and a straightforward contractor says so up front.
- What happens to the concrete they break out (porch, patio, walk) and who repairs it.
- Drainage and moisture work, or a clear note that it's excluded so it can be priced separately. On this clay, leaving drainage out is leaving out the part that makes the repair last.
Pin down the warranty and its traps
- Get the warranty in writing and read what it covers. Steel push piers, helical piers, and pressed pilings commonly carry a "limited lifetime, transferable" warranty. In practice, "limited" usually means it covers re-driving the piers that were installed, not new cracks somewhere else and not the whole house.
- Ask what the warranty requires. Most are conditional on maintaining drainage and soil moisture. Neglect that and the coverage can be voided. On Alvin's clay, that condition matters more than any other line in the document.
- Confirm how the transfer works if the house is sold. Many warranties require the transfer within roughly 30 days of the title change.
- Don't confuse a warranty with a lifespan. A "lifetime" warranty is the window in which defective work will be re-serviced under those conditions, not a promise the house will never move again.
The local questions a cheap bid hopes nobody asks
- "How are you handling the moisture, not just the piers?" On Alvin's smectitic clay, the soil keeps swelling and shrinking after the piers go in. A piers-only scope with no drainage plan is the bid that gets paid for twice.
- "Is there a plumbing test before and after?" A slow under-slab leak keeps one patch of clay swollen and drives heave. That's worth catching before piering over it, and worth confirming the lift didn't crack a line.
- "Will you injection-fill the cracks before or after the lift?" The right answer is after the movement is stopped. A crack sealed while the house is still moving just reopens.
A fair bid isn't always the low bid
The cheapest number on the table is often cheap because it left something out: the drainage plan, the engineer's report, the concrete replacement, or piers set shallow in the active zone. Ask each contractor to price the same written scope, and the real comparison gets a lot clearer. On this soil, the repair that lasts is the one that fixes the movement and the moisture driving it.
Frequently asked
Do I need an engineer, or just a foundation company? For a clear-cut case either can start the process, but on expansive clay an independent engineer's report earns its cost. It states the cause and specifies the repair, so the comparison is against one written scope instead of trusting each company's own diagnosis of a job it wants to sell.
Area covered
Alvin, TX (ZIP 77511/77512) and Brazoria County.