Foundation underpinning: piers $1,000 to $3,000, leveling

Foundation underpinning cost

National figures. Per-pier prices exclude the engineer's report and permits; HomeGuide puts foundation permits at $600 to $3,600 in some places.

Piering or underpinning costs $1,000 to $3,000 per pier in Angi's August 2026 data and This Old House's October 2026 guide; HomeGuide prices helical piers at $2,000 to $4,000 each and steel piers at $1,000 to $1,600, and says a typical residential foundation needs 5 to 10 piers spaced every 5 to 8 feet, so $10,000 to $40,000 for a helical set. HomeGuide's whole-job figure for underpinning is $10,000 to $20,000 in its table and up to $30,000 or more in its text. Those are the numbers behind the $4,500 to $20,000 (HomeGuide) and $5,000 to $25,000 (Angi) ranges for settling.

Do this now: before anyone quotes piers

1. Find out whether it is the foundation or the floor. On a pier and beam or crawl space house, a sagging floor is often a joist, a beam or a post, not the foundation. HomeGuide prices sistering a joist at $150 to $325 and replacing one at $350 to $1,000, against $1,000 to $3,000 per pier.
2. Check for a plumbing leak under a slab. Washed-out soil under a slab settles. The ASCE Texas Section guideline recommends plumbing tests as part of a Level C evaluation and after any lift. A plumber's camera is cheaper than a pier; see slab leak repair.
3. Look at the water and the trees. ASCE's guideline says to keep soil moisture near-uniform around the house, extend downspouts well away and grade at least 5 percent for the first 5 feet, and notes that removing a tree can stop shrinkage but cause heave. Non-structural measures and monitoring "may be a prudent approach" before structural repair.
4. Get elevations, not opinions. ASCE's Level B evaluation adds a relative elevation survey with a drawing. A floor slope over 1 percent is usually noticeable; the guideline uses the building code's L/360 deflection limit as a reference point.
5. Ask what the piers will do and what they will not. The guideline says "underpinning will not improve the performance of the foundation in non-underpinned areas" and "it is unlikely that elevation adjustments will result in a level foundation."

Is it urgent? Settling that cannot wait

Settling is slow, and most of it can be measured for a season before anyone drives a pier. The signs that move faster: a corner that has dropped visibly since the last rain, a wall that has separated from the floor framing or leans, doors that suddenly will not latch across the house, or a slab that cracked with water coming up through it. A sloping floor that has been that way for years is a planning job. The foundation repair hub lists the signs that count as emergencies.

Push piers, helical piers, drilled and pressed concrete piers

Four pier types do the same job in different soils. The engineer's evaluation, not the brand, decides which one; Dalinghaus, a foundation company working in California, Arizona and Nevada, puts it plainly: pier count, depth and lift are specified by the evaluation.

• Steel push piers. A bracket is bolted to the footing and a hydraulic ram presses steel pipe sections into the ground until firm soil pushes back; the house's own weight is the reaction force, so, in Dalinghaus's words, "the pier can only be driven by pushing against the weight of your own home," which favors heavier houses. HomeGuide says push piers cannot be installed at an angle. HD Foundations, an Arlington contractor, installs steel piers to about 22 to 23 feet in North Texas.
• Helical piers. Screwed in with hydraulic torque, $2,000 to $4,000 each in HomeGuide's figures, typically 10 to 30 feet deep to load-bearing soil below the frost line. Because they do not need the house's weight, Dalinghaus says they suit lighter structures, additions and tight access.
• Pressed concrete pilings. Short precast cylinders, about 6 inches across, pressed one on top of another to about 8 to 10 feet in HD Foundations' description, common in Texas because they cost little; they are shallower than steel piers.
• Drilled concrete piers. A hole is drilled to depth and filled with reinforced concrete, sometimes widened at the base, which is where the name bell-bottom pier comes from. HD Foundations puts its concrete piers at about 9 feet in North Texas and says the shimming that levels the house takes about a day.

Whatever the pier, the ASCE Texas Section guideline is the reference for how the job should be run in Texas: a licensed engineer designs it, the engineer of record approves changes, plan stamping is prohibited, and the job ends with post-lift plumbing tests, new floor elevations and a letter of substantial completion.

House leveling: shims, piers and lifting

House leveling costs $1,000 to $10,000 in HomeGuide's foundation guide, with shimming a pier and beam house at $1,000 to $3,500 and underpinning-level work at $10,000 to $20,000; lifting and releveling a whole house is $20,000 to $23,000 in Angi's and This Old House's figures. On pier and beam, ASCE's guideline lists the repairs in order: shimming the floor framing on the pier caps, replacing or reinforcing damaged framing, adding supports where spans are too long, and restoring the void space. HD Foundations says leveling with steel shims takes about a day once the piers are in. The guideline's warning applies to every lift: "perfection is not attainable by remedial measures." The target is doors that close and floors that stop moving, not a laser-level slab.

Mudjacking vs polyurethane foam

Mudjacking costs $4 to $9 per square foot and polyurethane foam $8 to $25 per square foot in HomeGuide's November 2025 guide, with minimum fees of $300 to $700; Angi prices a typical mud- or slab-jacking job at $500 to $1,300. Mudjacking pumps a cement slurry under a sunken slab to lift it; ASCE's guideline describes it as raising the slab hydraulically with uniform support, and grouting as supporting the slab without much lifting. HomeGuide says mudjacking lasts 5 to 10 years or longer, often costs 30 to 50 percent less than replacement, is not suitable for crumbling concrete, and adds load to weak soil, which is where foam, at a fraction of the weight, is the alternative. Neither one supports a footing; a house that is settling because the soil under the footing moved is a pier job. ASCE's guideline adds one more caution: neither grouting nor mudjacking should go under an underpinned foundation where swelling soil could damage the structure.

Sagging and sloping floors

A sloping floor in a house on a slab points at the foundation; the same slope on a pier and beam or crawl space house points first at the framing underneath. HomeGuide's sagging floor guide prices surface repairs at $300 to $2,000, subfloor replacement at $2,000 to $7,000 and structural reinforcement at $4,500 to $20,000 or more, and lists the causes: foundation movement, water damage, joists or beams weakened by moisture, insects or age, poor construction and soil changes. A crawl space inspection ($100 to $250, HomeGuide) answers the question before a pier quote does. If the crawl space is wet, start with water in crawl space.

Engineering, warranties and licensing

A structural engineer's report costs $300 to $1,000 (Angi) or $500 to $1,000 (This Old House), and a geotechnical engineer $1,000 to $5,000 (HomeGuide). Texas's engineering guideline exists because about 30 percent of the state engineering board's caseload was once tied to residential foundation complaints. Ask for the warranty in writing and read what triggers it; ask whether the pier depth is to refusal or to a specified load; and ask who pulls the permit. Texas has no state license for foundation repair: a 2011 bill that would have created one (S.B. 1399) said at the time that "there is no state regulation in place to directly mitigate these risks," and the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation's list of 41 regulated industries still has no foundation repair program. Other states differ, so check your own state's contractor board, ask for the license number if your state issues one, and ask for proof of insurance either way. Foundation inspection cost explains what a paid report includes.

Insurance and the local pages

Standard homeowners policies exclude flood, earthquake, landslide and sinkhole damage and damage from lack of maintenance (Triple-I), and the Maryland Insurance Administration says water that seeps in through a foundation wall or floor is treated as a maintenance issue and generally not covered. A burst pipe is the usual exception. Does homeowners insurance cover home repairs covers the lines. City pages: San Antonio, Fort Worth, Dallas, Kansas City, Houston, Austin, Atlanta, Nashville, Charlotte, Oklahoma City. Calls go to an independent company that serves your area and takes this kind of job; hours vary. How calls work.