Garland, Texas · Slab foundations
Slab Foundation Repair in Garland, TX
Free inspections. Written findings. No obligation.
If your house sits on a concrete slab and you're seeing new cracks, you're in good company in Garland. Most homes here sit on a slab poured straight onto the ground. When the clay under that slab dries out and shrinks, the slab loses its support at the edge, and the house settles unevenly. Slab foundation repair lifts the settled sections back up and holds them there on piers driven down to stable ground.
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
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That work is common here for a simple reason. Census figures put 63.3% of Garland's 84,954 homes in the 1960 to 1989 build window, and the USDA soil survey finds Houston Black and Ferris clay under about half the city. Both of those clays rate "very high" for shrink and swell. So there are a lot of slabs here, sitting on ground that moves a lot.
What Slab Foundation Repair Involves
The work runs in a set order, and the order matters.
Elevation survey. Someone measures floor heights across the whole house to find where it has dropped and by how much. Without those numbers, everything after is guesswork.
Engineer's plan. A Texas licensed engineer reviews the readings and specifies where the piers go, how many, and how deep. In Garland this isn't optional once the job is worth $2,000 or more, because the city requires the engineer's letter and a stamped pier diagram with the permit.
Pier installation. The crew digs access holes around the affected part of the perimeter, then drives pier sections down until they reach ground that will carry the load. Depth varies by lot. Two houses on the same street can need very different pier depths.
The lift. Hydraulic jacks raise the slab back toward its original height, a little at a time. This part is slow on purpose, because lifting fast cracks plumbing, drywall and brick.
Checking and closing out. The engineer confirms the work matches the plan. Garland requires that final engineer's report before the permit closes.
When a Slab Needs Piers
Not every crack means you need piers. These are the signs that usually do:
- A door that has gone out of square, sticking at one corner rather than swelling all round
- Stair-step cracks in outside brick that widen toward the top
- A gap opening where the brick meets the slab edge
- Floors that are measurably out of level, not just a feeling underfoot
- Cracks coming back after they've been patched
That last one matters most. A crack that comes back is telling you the house is still moving, and patching a moving slab means paying for the same repair twice.
Why Garland Slabs Settle at the Edges
A slab rarely drops in the middle. It drops around the outside.
The soil at the edge of the house gets the sun, the wind and the tree roots, so it dries first and dries hardest. The soil under the center stays shaded and holds its moisture much longer. Through a hot North Texas August, the edge shrinks away while the middle stays put, and the slab is left spanning a gap it was never designed to span.
That's why pier work focuses on the perimeter, and why drainage work often belongs in the same job. Piers hold the house up. Drainage deals with what moved it in the first place.
Slab and pier and beam foundations, in cross-section
Two simplified cross-sections. A slab foundation is poured straight onto the ground; the soil at its edge dries first and shrinks, while the soil under the middle stays damp longer, and repair piers go down through the clay to stable ground. A pier and beam house sits above the ground: wooden beams carry the floor, the beams rest on piers, and a crawl space sits underneath.
Slab foundation
- Concrete slab poured on the ground
- Edge soil dries first
- Soil under the middle stays damp longer
- Repair piers reach stable ground
Pier and beam foundation
- Floor
- Wooden beams carry the floor
- Beams rest on piers
- Crawl space
Post-Tension Slabs Need a Different Approach
If your house was built from the mid-1970s onward, the slab may be post-tension. Instead of rebar, it holds steel cables pulled tight inside the concrete. The Post-Tensioning Institute has published approved methods since 1976, and the method spread widely through Texas after that.
Those cables are under heavy load. They should never be cut or drilled blind. Anyone coring into a post-tension slab needs to know where the cables run first.
About a quarter of Garland homes were built in 1990 or later, so this applies to a real share of the city. Your builder paperwork may say, or look for a stamped warning plate near the edge of the garage slab. If you can't find either, an inspection will confirm it before anyone drills.
What Slab Repair Costs in Garland
The price follows a short list of things:
- How many piers the engineer specifies
- How deep they have to go to reach ground that will hold
- Whether the crew can work from outside, or has to come through the house
- Whether the slab is post-tension
- Whether drainage or a plumbing test belongs in the job
Interior piers cost more than exterior ones, because reaching them means opening the floor. And a house that needs eight piers along one wall is a very different job from one that needs thirty around the whole perimeter.
That's why a fair quote comes after someone measures your floors, not before. More on foundation repair costs in Garland.
Questions About Slab Foundation Repair
Do I need a permit in Garland?
Yes, once the work is worth $2,000 or more. The city wants an engineer's letter, a stamped pier diagram and a foundation and elevation assessment plan. The fee is $45. Most real pier jobs pass that threshold easily.
How long does it take?
Most home pier jobs take one to three days on site. Getting to that point takes longer, because the engineer has to assess the house and the city has to issue the permit.
Will the cracks close up?
Some do, partly. A lift brings the house back toward level, which closes many cracks. But the goal is a stable house rather than an invisible repair, so it's wise to plan on some cosmetic patching afterward.
Can I just patch the crack instead?
You can, but it'll come back if the slab is still moving. Patching treats the symptom. It's worth finding out whether the house is moving first.
Related Services
- Foundation inspection measures what's really happening before anyone quotes pier work.
- Foundation drainage deals with the water that dried or soaked the clay in the first place.
- House leveling applies when the whole house has gone out of level, not just one section.
Get a Free Slab Inspection in Garland
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We work across Garland, Rowlett, Sachse, Mesquite, Richardson and nearby cities.
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