Curious about the cost of foundation repairs in San Antonio? You have come to the right place! At Regional Foundation Repair, we are at your service 24/7. In this guide, we answer all questions regarding the cost of foundation repairs in San Antonio, including:
- How Much Do The Various Foundation Repair Methods Cost In San Antonio?
- Which Factors Determine The Cost Of Foundation Repair In San Antonio?
- What Are The Signs Of Foundation Damage In San Antonio?
- How Can You Save Money On Foundation Repairs In San Antonio?
- Why Should You Hire Regional Foundation Repair In San Antonio?
Table of Contents
- How Much Do The Various Foundation Repair Methods Cost In San Antonio?
- What Factors Determine The Cost Of Foundation Repair In San Antonio?
- How To Tell When Your Foundation Is In Need Of Repair In San Antonio?
- How to Save Money On Foundation Repair In San Antonio?
- Why Hire Regional Foundational Foundation Repair in San Antonio?
How Much Do The Various Foundation Repair Methods Cost In San Antonio?
Foundation issues are something that most homeowners would rather not deal with, owing to the high costs of repair and the hectic nature of the process. As a result, most people ignore obvious signs of foundation damage, hoping the problem will go away by itself. Unfortunately, that is not how buildings work.
Once they start, foundation issues will spread, becoming even more expensive and difficult to fix. If you are a resident of Texas, where buildings are prone to these issues, you should prepare for the worst. The first step towards repairing a damaged foundation is knowing the scope of the problem, the suitable repair methods, and the costs involved. If you’re worried about your foundation’s health, do not hesitate to reach out to our foundation repair experts in San Antonio to have it assessed professionally.
Professional foundation costs can quickly mount up. Luckily for San Antonio residents, the government does not gamble with home safety. There are home remediation programs to assist homeowners repair damages to their houses, ensuring that even on a tight budget, you can still live in a safe and comfortable home.
If you are experiencing foundation issues, below are some fixes that our contractors can apply and their estimated costs:
The Cost Of Slabjacking
When the soil under concrete slabs settles, it could cause the slab to shift. This shifting will manifest in various ways, including cracks on the surface of floors, uneven or slanted floors, misaligned sidewalk slabs, and damaged driveways, to mention a few.
Not only are they eyesores that will lower the aesthetic appeal of your home, but sunken slabs also create tripping hazards that could result in serious accidents. Luckily, if your foundation problem involves a concrete slab that has shifted but is still intact, slab jacking will get the job done.
Slabjacking involves pumping slurry underneath a sunken concrete foundation to lift it back to its original elevation. It is a low-intensity house leveling method that takes just a few hours to complete and is also a relatively cheap solution.
Repairing a foundation through slabjacking will cost between $3 and $25 per square foot. Therefore, for a 500-square foot slab, the cost of slabjacking will be an average of $1500 and $12500. Mudjacking lies on the lower spectrum of the price range, whereas poly jacking is more expensive due to the cost of polyurethane foam.
The Cost Of Piering
Also known as underpinning, piering involves driving steel piles beneath the foundation to provide the support required to hold it in place. Piering is applicable when repairing sinking foundations caused by changes in the underlying soil.
The steel piles penetrate past the upper, unstable soil into the more steady load-bearing layers. As a result, changes in the underlying soils will not cause any foundation movement, preventing the house from sinking.
There are various types of piers, including:
Helical Piers
Helical piers are steel piles with helical plates along their sides, especially towards the lower end. A hydraulic torque drive rotates the piers into the ground like giant screws, with the helixes helping to cut the soil.
When in place, the helical plates offer additional support to prevent any lateral movement. The top of the helical piles is then attached to the foot of the home’s foundation, where hydraulic jacks lift the sunken foundation back to its original position.
On average, installing helical piers will cost about $48 to $143 per foot. Therefore, for standard installations that utilize 21-foot long piles, the cost will be approximately $1,000 to $3,000 per pier. Since most repairs require about four piles to stabilize, the total cost of repairing your home using helical piers will be from $4,000 to $12,000.
Steel Piers
Steel piers are also large piles driven into the ground but without torque drives or helixes to help them rotate down. Instead, steel piers utilize the structure’s weight to push them down into the steady soil layers. In the process, the resistance lifts the previously sunken house foundation to its original position.
Steel piers are not recommended for light fixtures like sheds since the force of pushing the pile into the ground could cause further damages to the structures.
The average cost of installing steel piers is $45 to $100 per foot, meaning a standard installation of 21 feet will cost about $950 to $2100 per foot to install. For a stabilization requiring four piles, the cost will range between $3,800 and $8,400.
Concrete Piers
Like the helical and steel piers, concrete piers underpin and stabilize foundations to prevent them from moving. However, unlike the other two, concrete piers are constructed on-site. A hole is dug under the foundation needing repair to the desired depth, then concrete is poured and left to cure.
As they are made on-site, their sizes, and ultimately the amount of material used, will determine their cost. On average, concrete piers cost between $3.5 and $15 per linear foot, i.e., only the length without the width. For a concrete pier that is 150 feet long, 12 inches wide, and 12 inches thick, the cost is between $225 and $3,600, averaging at $750.
What Factors Determine The Cost Of Foundation Repair In San Antonio?
Besides the repair method used, various factors will determine how much you end up paying for your foundation repairs. Knowing them will give you a rough estimate of the cost of the process to keep you prepared, preventing nasty surprises or unscrupulous contractors from taking advantage of your ignorance.
Some of the factors that determine the cost of foundation repair include:
The Accessibility Of The Repair Area
Regardless of the method used, the accessibility of the repair area will determine how much the process will cost you. For accessible areas, the machines will have an easy time maneuvering, requiring less manual labor. The speed and efficiency of equipment also mean that the contractors will spend less time on the job site, lowering the overall costs.
Restricted areas or where the demolition of existing fixtures is necessary will require more manual work, and the contractors will also take more time on the site, jerking up the costs. In this way, the price of lifting an easily accessible foundation wall could be lower than fixing a support beam located in a restricted crawl space.
The Type Of Foundation
Different foundation types are prone to different issues and will each require different repairs. For slab foundations, settling is the main problem, and slabjacking is often the most suitable solution. Since slabjacking requires less work and material than piering, a slab foundation will be cheaper to repair than one requiring the installation of helical piers.
The type of foundation will also determine the accessibility of the area. For instance, basement foundations are usually more accessible, and contractors have an easy time getting to the damaged areas. While some crawl spaces are spacious and allow maneuverability, most are low and will require the technicians to improvise.
Extent Of The Damage
The extent of the damage will determine how much repair is required, which inevitably affects the overall costs. For instance, a foundation that has undergone just a small amount of sinking will require less work and material to restore to its original position.
On the other hand, with an extensively damaged foundation, the issues will have most likely spread to other parts of the home. Besides fixing the foundation, you will have to repair cracks on floors and walls, replace damaged plumbing and other fixtures, get rid of mold and musty odors, and solve other problems born out of a faulty foundation.
Cost of Material and Labor
When determining how much to charge you, the cost of material and labor are usually top considerations. Most contractors will quote the price of material separately, giving you the freedom to choose between various alternatives. For instance, if your floor requires slabjacking, you may have the option between mud and polyurethane for the repair job.
In terms of labor, the more time the contractors spend on your project, the more they will charge you. The amount of manual work involved will also determine their price per hour. For instance, installing helical piers in an open space, allowing the use of machines and, therefore, requiring less manual work, will be cheaper than one in a restricted area that requires manual excavation.
Type Of Contractor
The type of contractor will also play a crucial role in determining the cost of foundation repair. On one spectrum, there are those contractors who will charge little but end up doing shoddy work, and there are those that charge too much for no apparent reason.
At Regional Foundation Repairs, we provide quality services guaranteed to last a lifetime without breaking your back in the process. Our pricing is transparent, and you will know exactly what you are paying for every step of the way. To find out how much your repairs will cost, fill the provided form, and we will promptly send you a free, no-obligation price quote.
How To Tell When Your Foundation Is In Need Of Repair In San Antonio?
When it comes to foundation problems, prevention is always cheaper and less hectic than repair. To prevent the damage from spreading, you should try to catch the problem early. Below are some of the signs that should alert you that it is time to call a foundation repair expert:
Cracks On Floors, Walls, and Other Structures
All houses are built without cracks. Within the first 2-3 years, small cracks may appear in various places as the house settles into the soil. These foundation settlement cracks do not increase in size over time and are usually not a sign of any serious issues.
On the other hand, cracks that appear after the home has settled and increase with time are an indication of underlying problems. The worst are the horizontal and stair-shaped cracks, as they indicate that part of your foundation has shifted significantly. Also watch out for vertical V-shaped cracks, cracks on the corners of windows and doors, and those running along the corner of the walls.
Do not rush to patch these cracks before ascertaining that the problem has nothing to do with your foundation. When you fill foundation cracks, they will not only recur in the future but will also make it difficult to lift your foundation back to its original position.
Moisture in the Crawl Space and Basement
Moisture in your crawl space and basement is always a bad sign. It means that either your foundation has problems that facilitated the entry of water, or it will soon be developing them.
The hydrostatic force applied by moisture-laden soil on the outside wall of your foundation is one explanation for the moisture. In such a situation, water molecules force themselves through the pores in the cement, gradually expanding them until they become end-to-end cracks. The cracks will also grow with time, weakening your wall further.
If the water is from internal sources such as faulty plumbing, then problems are to follow soon. Moisture in your basement will spread to various parts of your foundation, including the wooded areas where it will wreak havoc. It will trigger extensive rotting that will weaken your structure significantly.
Water will also encourage the growth of mold and mildew, which will not only contribute to the rotting of your foundation but will significantly lower your home’s indoor air quality. At the very least, you will start experiencing uncomfortable musty odors. At worst, mold spores are a health hazard that could trigger adverse reactions, especially for people with respiratory issues like asthma.
Slanting, Sagging, or Bulging Floors
When the foundation of a house sinks, it does so unevenly, where some areas will move a lot while others will move only slightly or remain intact. As a result, some parts of your home will be higher than others. The result is a slanted floor where objects will roll to one side when they drop to the ground.
A sagging floor could be the result of damages to the floor joists, support beams, or other parts of the foundation. When a support beam or part of the floor joist fails, the uneven weight distribution will cause that part to sag, giving the area a bouncy feel.
Bulging floors are a result of the expansion and contraction of the soil underneath the floor. Most parts of San Antonio have expansive clay soils (those that expand when wet and shrink when dry), which exert significant pressure on slab foundations during the rainy seasons, causing them to bulge upwards.
Sticking Doors and Windows
If you notice that the doors and windows in your home have started becoming difficult to close or open, the problem could be deeper than you think. When your foundation sinks, the movement of the walls will lead to the doors and window frames losing their rectangular and square shapes. As a result, the windows and doors which once fit snugly will stick when you try to close or open them.
However, not all sticking doors and windows are a sign of foundation problems. Especially if yours is an old home, check to see if the issues lie within the structure of the window or door. In other cases, environmental factors such as changes in temperature and humidity levels could be the culprit.
How to Save Money On Foundation Repair In San Antonio?
As you have probably noticed from the discussion above, foundation repair is no cheap business. Fortunately, some of the power is in the hands of you as the homeowner. Below are some things you can do to get the best deal when fixing your foundation.
Get It Fixed ASAP!
The longer you take to react to foundation damage, the worse it will get and the more it will spread to other parts of your house. As soon as you start to notice signs of trouble, have an expert look at it and nip any issue in the bud before it becomes a hectic and costly nuisance.
Do Your Research
Since you are here, you probably understand the importance of being in the loop when getting your home repaired. Preliminary research like this article will give you an idea of what the issue will involve and help you approximate how much you will pay. Such knowledge will come in handy when negotiating, preventing contractors from taking advantage of your ignorance.
Pick the Right Contractor
As discussed earlier, your choice of contractor will also influence how much you end up paying. Most importantly, the most expensive repair is an ineffective one that you will have to redo again. Therefore, never compromise on quality services just because there are other cheaper offers available. Research various contractors until you find one with a lot of experience and good client reviews.
On the other hand, huge costs do not automatically translate to good services. Beware of contractors who suggest the most expensive solutions just to get more money out of you. A good contractor will consider all the aspects of the project and offer a fair price based on the amount of labor and the cost of material and equipment.
Why Hire Regional Foundational Foundation Repair in San Antonio?
If you are looking for a foundation repair contractor you can trust in San Antonio, Regional Foundation Repair is here for you. We take the time to understand the problems of our clients, then carefully consider all factors before offering the best solution at the fairest prices.
Our specialists have been helping homeowners restore their buildings to their former glory for decades and have attained all the qualifications and experience needed to provide top-of-the-class services. Schedule a free inspection with us, and you will be on your way to enjoying the peace of mind that comes with a stable, secure, and comfortable home.