Foundation repair for Longview, Texas homes

How it works

1. Call or send a request

   Tell us your town and what you're seeing in and around the house.

2. We connect you

   We connect you with an independent foundation repair contractor that serves Longview and Gregg County.

3. They call you back

   They take floor readings, explain what's moving and why, and give you a repair plan and price directly.

Who is this site for?

Homeowners in Longview, Kilgore, White Oak, Hallsville and nearby East Texas towns who think their foundation may be moving. That includes brick ranch houses on concrete slabs, older frame houses on piers and beams over a crawl space, and anyone whose buyer's inspector just wrote "recommend evaluation by a foundation specialist" in a report. If you're not sure what kind of foundation you have, that's fine; the contractor will look.

Why do foundations move in Longview?

Mostly because of what's under the topsoil and how much rain falls on it. The soil maps Longview uses in its own city GIS, drawn from USDA soil survey data, show the city sitting largely on soils such as Kirvin, Sacul, Bowie, Cuthbert and Lilbert. Many of these have a sandy or loamy surface layer over a much heavier subsoil. USDA's descriptions put the subsoil of Kirvin and Cuthbert at 35 to 60 percent clay, and describe Sacul's subsoil as firm, plastic clay with slow permeability and a seasonal high water table 2 to 4 feet down in late winter and spring.

That layering matters. Rain soaks quickly through the sandy top and then slows down when it hits the clay, so water can sit right where many footings and piers bear. Longview averages about 48 inches of precipitation a year, and July highs average in the low 90s, so the ground goes through long wet stretches and hot dry ones. Clay that changes moisture changes volume, and when one side of a house gets wetter or drier than the other, the house moves unevenly.

Hills add to it. The Texas State Historical Association describes Gregg County's terrain as gently sloping to hilly, and plenty of Longview lots are cut into a slope. Runoff from uphill, fill soil on the downhill side, and big pines or oaks close to the house all push one part of a foundation to behave differently from the rest.

Which signs are worth a call?

• Stair-step cracks in brick veneer, especially near corners, windows and the garage
• Diagonal sheetrock cracks running from the corners of doors and windows
• Doors that drag, swing on their own, or won't latch the way they used to
• Floors that slope, dip toward the middle of a room, or feel soft and bouncy
• Gaps opening between baseboards and the floor, or at crown molding
• Standing water, damp soil or a musty smell in the crawl space
• Cracks that come back after they've been patched or caulked

One hairline crack in a garage slab is normal concrete shrinkage. A cluster of signs, or signs that are getting worse, is the reason to have the house measured. Our foundation evaluation page covers what a good visit includes.

What are the usual repairs?

• Slab foundations that have dropped at a corner or edge are usually supported with piers installed under the perimeter beam, then lifted as far as is safe. More on slab repair.
• Pier-and-beam houses are often leveled from the crawl space by re-shimming, adding or resetting interior piers, and fixing rotted sills or beams. More on pier-and-beam leveling.
• Pier choice (pressed concrete, steel push piers, helical piers, drilled piers) is where bids differ most. Compare pier types.
• Water control through gutters, grading and drains often decides whether a repair stays put. More on drainage.

Does every moving foundation need piers?

No. Some movement is seasonal: a slab edge drops a little in a dry August and recovers after a wet winter. Some is heave rather than settlement, often from a plumbing leak or water collecting under the house, and piering the edges won't fix that. Sometimes the problem is mostly a crawl space that stays wet. A careful contractor looks at the pattern of floor readings, the drainage, nearby trees and the plumbing before recommending piers. If the plan is a long list of piers and the reasoning isn't clear, a second opinion or an independent engineer's evaluation is reasonable.

What can I do before the visit?

• Make a short list of which doors and windows stick, and when it started
• Photograph cracks with a tape measure or coin for scale, and keep the dates
• Walk the outside during a hard rain and watch where gutters and downspouts send water
• Peek into the crawl space vent, if you have one, for standing water
• Check recent water bills for a jump you can't explain
• Find any old repair paperwork, pier logs or warranties from a previous owner

Are you a foundation repair company?

No. Longview Foundation Repair is a referral service. We pass your call or request to an independent contractor that serves your address, and that contractor evaluates, prices, performs and warranties the work. Before you sign anything, read our tips for checking a foundation contractor and the Longview foundation repair guide.

Areas we cover

• Longview
• Kilgore
• White Oak
• Hallsville

Planning ahead? Read our Longview foundation repair guide.