What foundation repair costs, and why we will not print a number
We went looking for a foundation repair price range we could stand behind. We could not find one. Every national average in circulation traces back to a home-services marketplace that earns money routing you to a contractor. Those companies collect job data from their own paying members, do not publish their methodology, and have an obvious interest in the number they report.
No federal or academic source publishes foundation repair prices. The Census Bureau's construction surveys cover new construction, not repair. So rather than repeat someone else's marketing figure with an Atlanta label on it, here is what actually sets your price.
The six things that move the number
| Driver | Why it changes the price |
|---|---|
| Method | Drainage correction, slab lifting and pier underpinning are different orders of magnitude. See repair methods. |
| Pier count | Underpinning is priced per pier. Two piers under one settled corner is a different job from perimeter underpinning. |
| Depth to bearing | Piers are driven until they reach material that can carry the load. Ask what depth the quote assumes and what happens if it goes deeper. |
| Access | An interior slab pier through finished floor, or a crawl space you cannot stand up in, costs more than an open exterior footing. |
| Engineering | A stamped design from a structural engineer is a separate line item, and in some jurisdictions it is not optional. |
| Permit and inspection | Plan review time and inspection trips are real cost, and they vary by county. |
The permit is not optional
Foundation work is permitted work. The City of Marietta states plainly that a permit is required whenever an owner or contractor intends to: construct new, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish a building or structure. City of Marietta, Building Permits Unincorporated Cobb County runs its own residential permitting process. Cobb County Residential Permitting A quote that is cheap because it skips the permit is not cheap. It is a disclosure problem when you sell.
Ask what the piers are evaluated under
Helical pile systems have their own acceptance criteria, ICC-ES AC358, whose stated purpose is to establish requirements for helical pile systems and helical pile devices to be evaluated in ICC Evaluation Service, LLC (ICC-ES), evaluation reports under the International Building Code, with Appendix A covering the International Residential Code. ICC-ES AC358 (April 2025), section 1.1 Asking a contractor which evaluation report covers the product they are installing is a fast way to tell a serious outfit from a truck with a trailer.
How to compare two quotes
- Get both in writing, itemized by pier count and unit price, not one lump sum.
- Ask what happens if the piers do not reach bearing at the estimated depth. Who pays for the extra footage?
- Ask whether an engineer stamps the design and whether that is included.
- Ask who pulls the permit and who is present for inspection.
- Get the warranty in writing, and check whether it transfers to the next owner.
- Ask what drainage work they recommend and whether it is in the quote. If drainage is not mentioned at all, be careful.