Foundation repair prices published by Austin companies, scoped from a single crack to a full perimeter of piers, alongside the engineering standard the work is measured against. Every figure comes from somebody else's published page and none of it is a quote.
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Six boxes, about thirty seconds. You pick when to be called back, and that is when the phone rings.
Or call (512) 729-9323The Texas Section ASCE guidelines, Version 2 adopted May 1, 2009, state that the evaluation and repair design shall be performed by a professional engineer licensed in the State of Texas, and that the sealing engineer is the engineer of record with approval authority over changes.
Texas Section ASCE guidelines for the evaluation and repair of residential foundations
Those same guidelines borrow the residential code deflection limit of L over 360 as the analogous limit for a foundation profile, and note that a floor slope greater than 1 percent is usually noticeable. Cracks alone are not the test.
The USDA official series description puts clay at 35 to 55 percent in the particle-size control section of the Austin series, mapped in the Blackland Prairies of Texas. That fraction is the mechanism behind seasonal slab movement here.
Austin lists foundation repair among the residential minor repairs handled through a Residential Express Building Permit, so the paperwork is quick but it is still a permitted trade with an inspection attached.
Every range below is what companies working in Austin publish for that job, gathered from the numbered price pages under the table. It spans what several of them show, so the figures move with the specifics of the property and with who does the work. Nothing here is a quote, and no business has set a price on this page. A real number comes from whoever looks at the job.
| The job | Range seen | Billed as | What moves it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crack sealed and injected, no piers | $500–$2,500123 | flat per repair | Cosmetic sealing sits at the floor; structural cracks tied to active movement belong in a pier row. |
| One pier installed, concrete pressed or steel | $900–$4,000145 | per pier | Concrete pressed pilings anchor the low end, helical steel to load-bearing depth the high end. |
| Mid-size slab repair on one settled side | $3,500–$18,0001246 | flat, mid-size slab scope | Pier count, interior tunneling instead of exterior access, and plumbing under the slab set the total. |
| Full perimeter underpinned, 20 piers or more | $18,000–$40,000124 | flat, 20 or more piers | Landscaping, patio demolition, and interior floor cutting are separate lines on a job this size. |
| Pier and beam house releveled with new supports | $4,000–$28,00037 | flat per house | Shimming alone is cheap; rotten sills, failed cedar posts, and low crawl clearance are not. |
| Void filled or a slab section lifted by injection | $1,000–$5,000145 | flat per area treated | Priced by volume of material pumped, so an eroded void under a garage slab runs long. |
| Independent evaluation or an engineer's written report | $300–$90038 | flat per report | Contractor evaluations are often free; a sealed engineering report with elevation survey is not. |
Prices each of these companies publishes on its own site, read on the date shown in each listing. A published price can change without notice, so treat a number here as what was posted rather than what you will be told today.
Homeowners misread this market by anchoring on the per-pier number. Austin companies publish per-pier figures between roughly $900 for a pressed concrete piling and $4,000 for a helical steel pier driven to load-bearing capacity. Both are real, and neither answers the question, because the total is pier price times pier count, plus mobilization, access and whatever gets put back. Eight to twelve piers along one settled side is a different project from twenty-four around a full perimeter.
Pier count is not negotiable either. It comes out of an elevation survey and a load path, so a lower count at the same coverage is a weaker repair. Compare pier type, count, depth criteria and lift target first; the dollar figure only means something once those match.
Pressed concrete pilings are cylinders driven hydraulically in segments until refusal, and they suit a typical slab in stable material at the lower end of the band. Steel push piers go deeper and carry more. Helical piers are turned in to a measured torque where soil is inconsistent or a lift must be precise, and they top the per-pier band. Injection is a separate category: it fills voids and lifts flatwork rather than supporting the structure, so it is no substitute for underpinning.
Access decides the rest. Exterior piers along a clear side yard go quickly. Interior piers mean cutting the slab or tunneling from outside, and tunneling is priced by the foot. Add a patio to demolish or a plumbing line under the slab and the same pier count costs more.
The USDA official series description for the Austin soil series puts clay at 35 to 55 percent of the particle-size control section. That single fraction is the mechanism behind nearly every slab complaint here. High-clay material expands when wet and contracts when dry, and a slab on it rides that movement seasonally. What makes the metro unusual is how sharply the ground changes across it. West of the Balcones escarpment the material is thin over limestone, so failures tend to be localized. East and southeast the clay is deep, and movement is broad and cyclical.
So two houses ten minutes apart get different diagnoses and different prices, and a standard package quoted without an elevation survey has skipped the part that decides both.
The Texas Section ASCE guidelines for the evaluation and repair of residential foundations, Version 2, state that the evaluation and repair design shall be performed by a professional engineer licensed in the State of Texas. The engineer who seals the documents is the engineer of record, with approval authority over changes. The same guidelines adopt the residential code deflection limit of L over 360 as the analogous limit for judging a foundation profile, and note that a floor slope greater than 1 percent is usually noticeable.
Read that against how repairs get sold. Drywall cracks and a sticking door are symptoms, not measurements. The engineer's question is whether the measured profile exceeds the deflection limit. That is why the evaluation row earns its cost on any job past a few piers: a sealed report sets an independent lift target and a document to hold the work against. Austin handles foundation repair through its Residential Express Building Permit, so paperwork is light but an inspection still attaches.
It includes the elevation readings in a diagram with low points marked. It states pier type, count, and locations, plus the refusal or torque criteria used to stop driving. It states the intended lift in inches and admits what will crack during it. It names who runs a plumbing test before and after, which matters on clay where a leaking sewer line under a slab is often the cause rather than the consequence. It separates patching, landscaping, and cosmetic repair into their own lines, and puts warranty terms and transferability in writing.
The plumbing repair if a hydrostatic test fails. Drainage correction, root barriers, and grading, which are what keep a fix stable. Drywall, tile, and paint after a lift. Fence sections removed for access. Engineering fees bought independently. And the second phase some houses need after a season of watching.
Get the house measured before deciding on a repair method. A technician can assess the symptoms on site, explain what the evidence supports, and provide a written repair scope and price before any structural work begins.
Call (512) 729-9323Upfront pricing · No obligation · Local Hays County technician