Serving McKinney & Collin County
Foundation Repair in McKinney, TX
Cracked brick, sticking doors, sloping floors? McKinney sits on Blackland Prairie clay that swells and shrinks with every wet-dry cycle. We map the movement with a digital elevation survey, tell you what is actually causing it, and put the scope in writing before anyone digs.
Free on-site evaluation · Written scope before any work · Same-week appointments
Diagnosis
Signs your McKinney home needs foundation repair
Most foundation problems announce themselves upstairs long before anyone looks at the slab. If you recognize two or more of these, get an elevation survey before the movement gets expensive.
- Stair-step cracks in exterior brick or mortar joints
- Doors and windows that stick, drag, or won’t latch
- Diagonal cracks running from door and window corners
- Gaps between crown molding, baseboards, and the wall
- Sloping or bouncy floors, or a ball that rolls on its own
- Separation where the fireplace or chimney meets the house
- Cracked tile, popped grout lines, or buckled hardwood
- Visible gaps under the slab edge or exposed beam
What we do
Foundation repair services in McKinney
Slab foundation repair
Pressed concrete pilings or steel piers driven to load-bearing strata, then a controlled lift to bring the slab back to tolerance.
Pier & beam leveling
Common in older homes near historic downtown McKinney. Shimming, beam and joist replacement, and new interior pad support.
Foundation inspection
Free elevation survey with a digital level, room-by-room readings, and a written report you can hand to a buyer or lender.
Drainage & grading
Surface drains, French drains, downspout extensions, and regrading. Water management is what keeps a repair from repeating.
Root barrier installation
Mature live oaks and red oaks pull enormous moisture out of clay. A vertical barrier keeps roots from drying the soil under your slab.
Concrete leveling
Polyurethane foam lifting for sunken driveways, patios, walkways, and garage slabs — plus void filling beneath the foundation.
Local conditions
Why foundations move in McKinney
McKinney sits on the Blackland Prairie, a belt of dark, highly expansive clay soil that runs north to south through Collin County. Expansive clay behaves less like dirt and more like a sponge: it takes on water and swells during spring storms, then gives that water up and shrinks during a Texas summer. Movement of two to four inches across a single lot over one season is ordinary here.
That cycle is not uniform across a house. The shaded north side stays damp while the sun-baked south side dries out. A flower bed watered daily holds moisture that the sidewalk twenty feet away does not. A live oak within fifteen feet of the slab can pull hundreds of gallons a day out of the soil at the root line. The result is differential movement — one corner rises or falls relative to another — and that differential is what cracks brick, racks door frames, and separates tile.
Newer subdivisions are not immune. Fill soil in rapidly developed areas around Trinity Falls and the SH-121 corridor can consolidate for years after a home is finished. Older neighborhoods off Louisiana Street deal with the opposite problem: decades of soil cycling under pier-and-beam construction that was never designed for today’s irrigation patterns.
This is why we start every job with an elevation survey rather than a quote. Knowing where the house has moved, and by how much, is the only way to know whether you need eight piers, twenty-two piers, or nothing more than a drainage correction and a watering schedule.
Step by step
How a repair actually goes
1. Elevation survey
We map the floor with a digital level and mark every high and low point. Takes about an hour. No charge, no obligation.
2. Written scope
You get pier count, pier locations, depth, price, and timeline in writing. If the case warrants a structural engineer, we say so.
3. Installation
Piers are driven to refusal and the structure is lifted in measured increments. Most McKinney homes finish in two to four days.
4. Verify & warranty
We re-survey the floor, document the final elevations, and restore the work area. You get the survey, the photos, and the warranty paperwork for your records.
Pricing
What foundation repair costs in McKinney
Foundation repair is priced per pier, so the honest answer is that it depends entirely on how much of the house has moved. These are typical ranges for the McKinney and Collin County market — your written scope will have the real number.
| Work | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Pressed concrete piling, per pier | $350 – $600 |
| Steel pier, per pier | $600 – $1,200 |
| Small corner or partial repair (6–10 piers) | $3,000 – $7,000 |
| Typical single-family repair (12–20 piers) | $7,000 – $15,000 |
| Full perimeter | $18,000 – $35,000+ |
| Drainage correction / French drain | $2,000 – $6,000 |
| Root barrier | $1,500 – $4,000 |
| Elevation survey & written estimate | Free |
Ranges are estimates for planning purposes only and vary with access, pier depth, soil conditions, and engineering requirements.
Coverage
McKinney neighborhoods we serve
We work throughout McKinney and the surrounding Collin County communities, including:
Stonebridge Ranch · Craig Ranch · Adriatica Village · Historic Downtown McKinney · Trinity Falls · Eldorado · Tucker Hill · Provence · Auburn Hills · Westridge · Wilmeth Ridge · Virginia Hills · Hardin Lake · Bridgewater · Erwin Farms
We also work the surrounding Collin County communities: Allen, Frisco, Prosper, Melissa, Princeton, Anna, Fairview, and Lucas.
Foundation repair FAQs
How do I know if my foundation is actually a problem or just settling?
Every house settles in its first few years. The distinction is whether movement is still active and whether it is differential. Cracks wider than a quarter inch, cracks that grow month over month, doors that got worse after a dry summer, and elevation differences above one inch across a room all point to active movement. An elevation survey answers it in an hour.
How long does foundation repair take?
Most McKinney single-family repairs run two to four working days from first pier to final elevation check. Larger perimeter jobs or homes with limited access can run a week. Interior piers add time because flooring has to be opened and restored.
Do I need a structural engineer?
Not always, but it is worth the money in three situations: you are buying or selling the home, the damage is severe enough that you want an independent design, or you want a third party verifying the contractor’s pier plan. In Texas, an engineer’s report typically runs $400 to $900 and is issued independently of whoever does the work.
Will homeowners insurance cover it?
Almost never. Standard Texas policies exclude earth movement and soil-related settling. Insurance may cover foundation damage caused by a covered event such as a plumbing leak under the slab, which is why a hydrostatic plumbing test is worth running before you assume the cause.
Can I prevent foundation problems?
You can meaningfully reduce the risk. Keep soil moisture consistent year-round with a soaker hose eighteen inches from the slab, run it more in July and August and less after storms, extend downspouts at least five feet from the house, keep grade sloping away, and install a root barrier if a large tree sits close to the foundation. Consistency matters more than volume.
What should I know about foundation repair warranties?
Read the actual document, not the brochure. The things that matter: whether it is transferable to a future owner, whether it covers only the piers installed or the adjacent unpiered areas too, whether it is backed by the contractor alone or by a third party, and what voids it. Warranties that die with the original owner are worth far less at resale, and buyers in McKinney routinely ask for the paperwork during the option period. Ask for a sample copy before you sign anything.
Find out what your house is doing
A free elevation survey takes about an hour and tells you whether you have a $0 problem, a drainage problem, or a piering problem. Same-week appointments across McKinney.