What happens during the inspection

We take a digital manometer through the house and record floor elevations at fixed intervals — typically every six to eight feet, in every room, including closets and the garage. Each reading gets logged against a reference point. The output is a map of your floor showing exactly where it is high, where it is low, and by how much.

That map matters more than any crack. Cracks tell you something moved at some point. Elevation tells you the current shape of the structure, which is what determines whether repair is warranted and where piers would go.

While that’s running, we walk the exterior: brick and mortar joints, the visible slab edge or beam, weep holes, grade, downspout discharge, irrigation heads near the foundation, and trees within striking distance of the perimeter. Inside, we look at door reveals, window operation, tile and grout lines, drywall corners, and the fireplace where it meets the wall.

Total time is usually 45 minutes to 90 minutes depending on square footage. You don’t need to move furniture or clear anything out.

What’s in the report

• The full elevation survey, room by room, with total differential across the structure
• Photos of every area of concern, dated
• Our read on whether movement appears active or historic
• Drainage and moisture observations, with what to correct first
• If repair is warranted: pier count, pier locations, method, price, and timeline
• If it isn’t: what to watch and when to re-check

You keep the report whether or not you hire anyone. It’s yours.

How much movement is too much?

There’s no single number that means “repair,” which is inconvenient but true. Context does most of the work.

Roughly speaking, under an inch of differential across a whole house is common and usually not actionable on its own. One to two inches is a gray zone where the rate of change matters more than the number — a house that got there over thirty years is a different situation than one that got there since last summer. Beyond two inches, especially with visible distress in brick or drywall, you’re generally looking at repair.

But a half inch concentrated in one corner is worse than an inch and a half spread evenly across sixty feet. Differential over a short distance is what breaks things. That’s why the map is more useful than a single figure.

Inspections during an option period

This is a large share of what we do in McKinney, and it moves fast. A general home inspector flags “possible foundation movement, recommend evaluation by a specialist,” and now you have five days to figure out what that means before your option period closes.

What helps: call as early in the option period as you can, ask the seller for any prior foundation work documentation and the transferable warranty if one exists, and get the elevation survey in writing so you have something concrete to negotiate against. A written scope with a real number is far more useful in a repair-amendment conversation than an inspector’s one-line note.

If you’re the seller, running the survey before you list is worth doing. Finding out about movement during someone else’s option period costs you leverage and often costs you the buyer.

When you want an engineer instead

Our inspection is free because we do repair work. That’s a real conflict of interest and you should treat it as one — get more than one opinion, and be skeptical of anyone whose free inspection always concludes that you need the maximum number of piers.

A licensed professional engineer has no such conflict. They charge for the report, they don’t do the work, and their pier plan is independent. In Texas that report typically runs $400 to $900. It’s worth paying for when:

• You’re buying or selling and want a neutral document
• The damage is significant enough that you want a designed solution, not a contractor’s estimate
• You’ve received wildly different quotes and want to know which one is right
• A lender or insurer is asking for one

We’ll say so when we think you need one, and we’ll work to an engineer’s plan without complaint.

Rule out a plumbing leak first

Before you spend money on piers, it’s worth knowing whether water under the slab caused the movement. A hydrostatic plumbing test isolates the drain lines and holds them under water to see if they leak. It runs a few hundred dollars.

Two reasons this matters. First, a leaking sewer line will keep saturating soil under your foundation no matter how many piers you install. Second, foundation damage caused by a plumbing leak is one of the few scenarios a Texas homeowners policy may actually cover — soil movement on its own is excluded almost universally. Skipping the test can cost you a claim.

Signs worth testing for: an unexplained jump in the water bill, a warm spot on the floor, damp soil at one corner that never dries, or movement concentrated near a bathroom or kitchen.

Next: slab repair, pier and beam, or back to foundation repair in McKinney.