What a Foundation Repair Bid Should Actually Say

Everything a written bid should specify

• Pier count and a drawing showing where each one goes. 'Perimeter piers as needed' is not a scope.
• Pier type - pressed concrete, steel, or drilled - and the depth or the criteria for reaching refusal.
• How much lift is being attempted, and where the contractor intends to stop. Chasing perfectly level can crack finishes and plumbing.
• Whether interior piers are included, and what happens to your flooring if they are.
• Whether a pre- and post-repair hydrostatic plumbing test is included.
• What cosmetic repair is included - drywall, paint, brick, tile - and what is explicitly excluded.
• Cleanup and landscape restoration. Excavation around a house is messy work.
• Warranty terms in full: length, whether it transfers to a buyer, what voids it, and who honors it if the company is sold.

Signals worth slowing down for

• A price that expires today, or a discount for signing on the spot.
• A diagnosis given before anything was measured. Elevation readings are the basis of a real scope.
• Reluctance to put the full scope in writing, or a one-line bid with a number and nothing else.
• Pressure to skip an independent engineer on a large repair.
• A large deposit requested up front.
• No local track record. Texas does not license this trade, so years actually operating in Williamson County is one of the few real signals you have.

← All guides