No matter what you buy, be sure you know you need to water the ground around your foundation year round to avoid more foundation problems. You can still have issues with proper watering, but it helps.

A built in sprinkler system is HUGE in Texas rather than having drip line hoses.

I agree with PPs that this is a question that is very specific to Texas. Soil there is way different than in the DC area and foundation repair is not rare there. Is it slab foundation or pier and beam? Pier and beam is much easier to fix - though if I recall correctly it also moves more with the expansion/contraction of the soil. We lived in San Antonio for a few years and many homes there have issues as well. It’s pretty freaky coming from another part of the country where this foundation stuff doesn’t happen as much.

I would buy a house with repairs as long as the warranty transferred. But if it's going to freak you out you might not want to. If you live in a place where repairs are more common then I’d expect to see cracks along seams, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a very location specific question. I am from Dallas.there are 2 types of foundations - one that has been repaired and one that will be repaired in the future. That's an exaggeration, but about 40% of homes - even well built ones, will need foundation repairs at some point.

People from other areas of the country don't understand. It freaked me OUT when I first moved to TX. I would have run screaming. Now I wouldn't care as long as it was done by a reputable company and had a lifetime transferable warranty. I would get an independent structural engineer to inspect it but wouldn't kill the deal at all.

Do not take advice from non-texans on this. Post on city data forums in the particular city you're looking in for better local opinions.

New poster here who grew up in Texas. This is the truth. The houses in North Texas are built on slabs on top of soil that expands and contracts quite a bit. I don't think this specific type of soil is found anywhere else in the U.S. (or at least that's what I was told when I was a kid). Add in the Texas climate (alternating floods and drought), and almost all foundations crack at some point. There is a standard process for repairing foundations there. Agree that you should get a structural engineer to look at it, but if you rule out all houses that have been repaired or have foundation cracks, you won't have many to choose from. And you'll probably end up buying a house that just hasn't cracked YET.

Here's a description of the soil:

Blackland Prairie Soils

Vertical profile of Blackland Prairie Soil
Vertical profile of Houston black clay, which occurs in the Blackland Prairie. USDA photo.
The Blackland Prairies consist of about 12.6 million acres of east-central Texas extending southwesterly from the Red River to Bexar County. There are smaller areas to the southeast. The landscape is undulating with few scattered wooded areas that are mostly in the bottomlands. Surface drainage is moderate to rapid.

Both upland and bottomland soils are deep, dark-gray to black alkaline clays. Some soils in the western part are shallow to moderately deep over chalk. Some soils on the eastern edge are neutral to slightly acid, grayish clays and loams over mottled clay subsoils (sometimes called graylands). Blackland soils are known as “cracking clays” because of the large, deep cracks that form in dry weather. This high shrink-swell property can cause serious damage to foundations, highways, and other structures and is a safety hazard in pits and trenches

Anonymous wrote:This is a very location specific question. I am from Dallas.there are 2 types of foundations - one that has been repaired and one that will be repaired in the future. That's an exaggeration, but about 40% of homes - even well built ones, will need foundation repairs at some point.

People from other areas of the country don't understand. It freaked me OUT when I first moved to TX. I would have run screaming. Now I wouldn't care as long as it was done by a reputable company and had a lifetime transferable warranty. I would get an independent structural engineer to inspect it but wouldn't kill the deal at all.

Do not take advice from non-texans on this. Post on city data forums in the particular city you're looking in for better local opinions.

New poster here who grew up in Texas. This is the truth. The houses in North Texas are built on slabs on top of soil that expands and contracts quite a bit. I don't think this specific type of soil is found anywhere else in the U.S. (or at least that's what I was told when I was a kid). Add in the Texas climate (alternating floods and drought), and almost all foundations crack at some point. There is a standard process for repairing foundations there. Agree that you should get a structural engineer to look at it, but if you rule out all houses that have been repaired or have foundation cracks, you won't have many to choose from. And you'll probably end up buying a house that just hasn't cracked YET.

Absolutely not! Run, don't walk away!

This is a very location specific question. I am from Dallas.there are 2 types of foundations - one that has been repaired and one that will be repaired in the future. That's an exaggeration, but about 40% of homes - even well built ones, will need foundation repairs at some point.

People from other areas of the country don't understand. It freaked me OUT when I first moved to TX. I would have run screaming. Now I wouldn't care as long as it was done by a reputable company and had a lifetime transferable warranty. I would get an independent structural engineer to inspect it but wouldn't kill the deal at all.

Do not take advice from non-texans on this. Post on city data forums in the particular city you're looking in for better local opinions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apparently foundation problems are common in parts of Texas including the DFW area, because of clay soil that expands and contracts. So this house could be ok in the context of local conditions. You need local advice.

Isn't the DC area mostly clay soil too?

There's a lot of loam soil around here.

How long ago were the repairs done? Five years is a pretty short time horizon.

I'd want to see the specs and the invoice (and check any associated permits) for the work. Possibly reach out to that company and ask for an extended warranty. And definitely get at least one other structural engineer out to check it out.

It's not a dealbreaker (it shows that someone recognized and corrected the problem, which is better than a hidden issue), but you want to make sure you know the extent of the issue.

Anonymous wrote:Apparently foundation problems are common in parts of Texas including the DFW area, because of clay soil that expands and contracts. So this house could be ok in the context of local conditions. You need local advice.

Isn't the DC area mostly clay soil too?

Apparently foundation problems are common in parts of Texas including the DFW area, because of clay soil that expands and contracts. So this house could be ok in the context of local conditions. You need local advice.

I would have 2 different structural engineers assess it before making that decision.

I'm extremely risk averse, so that'd be a no from me. I'd always be worrying about a major repair around the corner

Anonymous wrote:Buying a house in Texas. There were repairs to the foundation, warrantied for five years. The repairs are described as:


Interior pressed piling piers

"These piers will keep the slab from sinking further into the soil"

14 new posts
12 inches in diameter.

So that could mean it's the best foundation ever due to so much reinforcement or,
it's a lemon.

Thoughts?

the repairs may have addressed the problem but over time you might need to sink more money into it. our close friends bought in alexandria and had to sink ~$30K into foundation repairs... and now, roughly 8 years leater, more issues have arisen so they are looking at sinking more into it. foundation issues can be fixed but I would certainly pause and give some seriously thought to whether or not you are ok with the risk of potentially spending over $25K down the road if problems arise again

No

Buying a house in Texas. There were repairs to the foundation, warrantied for five years. The repairs are described as:


Interior pressed piling piers

"These piers will keep the slab from sinking further into the soil"

14 new posts
12 inches in diameter.

So that could mean it's the best foundation ever due to so much reinforcement or,
it's a lemon.

Thoughts?