Garland, Texas · Free inspection
Foundation Inspection in Garland, TX
Free, measured, and written down. No obligation to do any work.
If you've noticed a crack or a sticking door and you're not sure whether to worry, an inspection is the calm first step. A foundation inspection answers one question: is your house really moving, and by how much? Someone measures floor heights through the house, looks at the outside, and gives you the findings in writing. It costs nothing.
Published Dallas Fort Worth range for foundation repair: $3,338-$7,118. What drives the price
- Free inspectionIt costs nothing
- Written findingsMeasured, then put in writing
- Engineer-sealed plansThe engineer's plan goes to the city
- No obligationStopping after the inspection is fine
Tell us what you're seeing
Plenty of Garland homeowners book one, learn that the movement is within a normal range for this soil, and do nothing at all. That's a good result. Knowing where you stand beats wondering about a crack every time you walk past it.
What Happens During the Inspection
Floor height readings. Measurements are taken across the whole floor, room by room, using a level instrument rather than a spirit level. This produces a map of the house showing high and low points in inches. It's the most useful part of the report, because it turns "the floor feels off" into a number.
A walk around the outside. Someone looks at the brick for stair-step cracks, checks where the brick meets the slab, looks at door and window frames, and sees how the ground slopes around the house.
Drainage check. Where the downspouts empty, whether water pools beside the foundation, and whether the ground runs toward the house or away from it.
Trees and plants. Large trees close to the house pull a lot of moisture out of clay. Anything within about 20 feet of the foundation goes into the report.
Inside the house. Sticking doors, cracks above frames, separating trim, and floor slopes you can feel.
Signs of a plumbing leak. This isn't a plumbing test, but it looks for the signs that point to one: damp you can't explain, a warm patch on a slab floor, or a water bill that climbed for no reason.
What You Get
A written summary of what was measured and seen, including the floor height readings. If repair is recommended, the report says what and why. If it isn't, the report says that too.
It's worth keeping either way. Even a clean report is a measured baseline, and comparing against it in two years tells you whether anything has really changed.
A Free Inspection Is Not an Engineer's Report
It helps to be clear about this, because the two get mixed up and they aren't the same thing.
A free inspection is an assessment by a foundation repair professional. It measures, records and recommends.
An engineer's report is a separate document produced by a Texas licensed professional engineer. It carries a seal, and the City of Garland requires it to issue a foundation repair permit, along with a stamped pier diagram and an elevation assessment plan. Engineers charge for that work.
The usual order is inspection first, then the engineer, and only if repair is really needed. If someone presents a free inspection as an engineer's report, it's fair to ask for the real thing.
Why Inspections Matter More in Garland
The USDA soil survey finds Houston Black clay under roughly 32% of Garland and Ferris clay under another 16%. Both measure 17 on linear extensibility, the scale for how much a soil swells and shrinks with moisture. Anything above 9 counts as very high.
On ground that active, some seasonal movement is normal. Doors that stick in August and free up in November are doing what clay does.
That's exactly why measuring beats guessing. The useful question isn't "is there a crack?" It's "how far out of level is this house, and is that number growing?" Only measuring can answer it.
When to Book One
- You've noticed more than one sign: a sticking door plus cracked brick, say
- A crack has visibly grown since last season
- You're buying a house in Garland and want to know before closing
- You're selling and want to answer questions before buyers ask them
- Your last inspection was several years and one hot summer ago
Buying is the strongest case on that list. A floor height survey before closing on a 1978 Garland house costs nothing, and it can change the negotiation entirely.
Questions About Foundation Inspections
Is the inspection really free?
Yes. There's no charge and no obligation to have work done. An engineer's report, if you need one for a permit, is a separate paid service.
How long does it take?
It depends on the size and layout of the house. You can ask for a time estimate when you book.
Do I need to be home?
Someone needs to let the inspector in, since the floor readings are taken inside. Access to the garage helps, and on a pier and beam house, so does access to the crawl space.
Will you tell me I need piers?
Only if the measurements say so. Plenty of inspections end with no repair recommended. If the house is within a normal range for this soil, that's what the report will say.
What if I just bought the house?
Even better. A baseline set of readings early on gives you something to compare against for as long as you own it.
Related Services
- Slab foundation repair if the readings show a slab has settled.
- Pier and beam repair for older homes with a crawl space.
- Foundation drainage when the readings are fine but the water around the house isn't.
Book a Free Foundation Inspection in Garland
Tell us what you're seeing, and we'll set up a time. You get measurements and written findings, whether or not any work is needed.
We inspect across Garland, Rowlett, Sachse, Wylie, Murphy and nearby cities.
Tell us what you're seeing