Who turns up
A repair company or an engineer
Foundation repair company
Measures, then proposes a repair
A company representative takes readings, looks the house over and writes a proposal for the work the company would do. Phoning the number shown here books this sort of visit. Bear in mind the estimator earns a living from repairs, and request the raw measurements behind whatever is recommended.
Licensed professional engineer
Evaluates, sells no repair
An engineer charges a fee for an independent report on what has moved and why. It is worth considering before a large repair, in a house sale, or when two proposals disagree. Texas engineers answer to a state board whose public roster shows whether a named license is active.
The two are not rivals. In Corpus Christi a repair needs an engineer's sealed plan for its permit, so an engineer is involved either way. The difference is who hires the engineer and when.
What gets measured
- Floor height at dozens of spots, plotted room by room on a sketch.
- Each crack, inside and outside: where, how wide, running which way.
- Which doors and sashes bind, and toward which jamb they tilt.
- Brickwork and the slab rim seen from the yard, with any earlier patching noted.
- Yard slope, downspout outlets, and trees near the walls.
- For a raised house: every pier, beam and joist, viewed from below.
A single set of readings is a snapshot. If the picture is unclear, a second set some months later shows whether anything is still moving.
How to prepare
Jot a dated list of symptoms, however rough the dates. Photograph the cracks today beside a coin or ruler. Find any paperwork from earlier foundation or plumbing work, including warranties, and a survey or floor plan if you have one.
Come the appointment, pull furniture back from the walls in the affected rooms, leave side gates unlocked, and keep the garage and any under-floor hatch reachable. Tell the inspector about past leaks, removed trees, additions and anything a previous owner disclosed.
Papers to leave the visit with
- The readings
- A floor plan marked with the elevation at each point. This is your baseline for the future, whoever does the work.
- The finding
- Where the structure shifted, up or down, and the suspected reason.
- The plan
- A count of supports, their kind and positions, the intended lift, and the rule for stopping depth.
- Engineer and permit
- The name of the engineer who will seal the plan, and confirmation that the company applies for the city permit.
- What is left out
- Plumbing tests and repairs, cosmetic work, landscaping. If it is not written down, assume it is not included.
- The warranty
- Scope, term, transfer to a later owner, and the party answerable for it.
Questions about inspections
Should I get more than one opinion?
For anything beyond a small repair, yes. A pair of bids resting on separate measurements reveals where the firms agree. If they differ sharply, an independent engineer's report is a reasonable tie-breaker.
I'm buying a house. Whose inspection do I rely on?
Your general home inspection will comment on the foundation. If it raises a concern, most buyers bring in an engineer or a foundation company during the option period. Paperwork for a sale is laid out in the home sale guide.
Ready for someone to measure the house?
Dial the number and say what you have noticed. A foundation repair firm covering your part of the Coastal Bend answers, books a visit, and afterward sends its report and price under its own name. That firm is a separate business from this website.
Wall, ceiling or floor shifting while you watch? Gas in the air? Get everybody outdoors, then phone 911 or the gas utility.
House foundations only
Call (361) 217-1905Corpus Christi Foundation Repairs refers callers and repairs nothing itself. Calls may be recorded. Details: referral disclosure.