Guide
Foundation repair cost per pier: the Texas pier types compared
Updated
Texas foundation repair is sold by the pier, so the two numbers that matter are the price per pier and the number of piers. Companies compete hard on the first and quietly differ on the second.
Why the per-pier price alone tells you nothing
Two estimates on the same house can be 40% apart on price per pier and land at the same total, or match on price per pier and differ by twenty piers. The count comes from where the foundation has actually dropped, and reasonable people reading the same elevation survey can still land on different plans. That is exactly why an engineer's plan first makes bids comparable: same count, same type, same depth criterion.
The three pier types you will be offered in Texas
- Concrete pressed pilings
- Short precast concrete cylinders hydraulically pressed into the ground one on top of another, using the weight of the house as the reaction. This is the traditional Texas residential method and still the most commonly proposed on slab homes across the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston markets. Cheapest per pier, fast to install, and the least able to be driven precisely to a known bearing stratum, because it stops when it stops.
- Steel push piers (resistance piers)
- Steel pipe sections pushed hydraulically, again reacting against the structure, then load-tested and locked off with a bracket at the footing. They generally reach deeper than pressed pilings and give a measurable installation force per pier, which is a real advantage in deep clay where competent bearing is a long way down. More expensive per pier.
- Helical piers
- Steel shafts with helical plates screwed into the ground by torque, so installation torque correlates with capacity and the pier does not need the building's weight as reaction. That makes them the usual answer for light structures, additions, porches and new construction, and for jobs where you cannot rely on the house to push against.
What actually drives the per-pier number
- Depth to competent bearing. The same pier type costs more where the crew has to go twice as deep. Ask what happens to the price if depth exceeds the estimate.
- Interior versus perimeter. An interior pier reached by breaking the slab means demolition, dust and floor covering reinstatement. Reached by tunneling from outside it costs more per pier but keeps the house intact.
- Access. A pier under a patio, driveway, pool deck or mature tree is a different job from a pier in open turf.
- Load testing and lock-off. Systems that record an installation force or torque per pier give you data. Systems that do not are cheaper for a reason.
- Reinstatement. Backfill, re-sodding, replacing the section of driveway, patching interior slab and re-laying flooring are all real costs that some estimates exclude.
Questions that separate the estimates
- How many piers, and where? Ask for a marked plan, not a number in a sentence.
- What depth, and what is the refusal or capacity criterion? 'To refusal' and 'to a torque of X' are different promises.
- What is the extra cost per additional foot of depth? Get it now, not on the day.
- How much lift are you attempting, and what will crack? Honest crews warn you that lifting a settled slab opens cracks somewhere. The ones who promise no cosmetic damage are guessing.
- Is a hydrostatic plumbing test included before and after? Under-slab leaks both cause movement and get broken by it.
- What does the warranty cover, and does it transfer? Get the document, not the brochure line.
We do not publish a price per pier. The number varies by pier type, depth, access, metro and company, and a range quoted on a web page is the least reliable input you can carry into a negotiation. Get three quotes against one defined scope through our form and compare like with like.