Foundation repair in Kingwood

Foundation repair in Kingwood follows the same methods as the rest of Houston, but the history of the ground under your house is unusual. Kingwood sits between the West Fork and East Fork of the San Jacinto River at the top of Lake Houston, and Hurricane Harvey pushed both to record levels. Much of the western half was built before 1985, under older Harris County drainage rules. Most slab repairs here use piers, and the Harris County part needs a City of Houston permit. For the other neighborhoods we cover, see the Houston areas page.

How high did the water get around Kingwood during Harvey?

Higher than anyone had recorded. The Harris County Flood Control District reported massive flooding through Humble, Kingwood, Huffman and Crosby. Along the West Fork of the San Jacinto, water rose 3 to 4 feet above the October 1994 record, and as much as 5 feet above it on the East Fork. Lake Houston reached a record 53.1 feet at its spillway, beating the 1994 mark of 52.3 feet.

Backwater from the West Fork also pushed up lower Spring Creek, which is why foundation repair in Spring shares part of this story. The district noted 4 to 8 feet of sediment left along parts of the West Fork.

Should a Kingwood house that flooded have its foundation checked?

Yes, if you have seen new cracks, sticking doors or sloping floors since the water went down. Floodwater soaking into and then drying out of the clay under a slab can move it unevenly, and the signs often show up months later. A foundation inspection measures the slab's elevations and separates real movement from cosmetic cracks,.

Kingwood had more than one test. The flood district's Kingwood study lists Hurricanes Ike and Harvey, Tropical Storm Imelda, and the Memorial Day and Tax Day floods among the events that flooded structures well outside the mapped creek floodplains. If your house took water more than once, tell the inspector when and how deep.

Does it matter when your part of Kingwood was built?

It can. The flood district's study found the western half of Kingwood was mostly developed before 1985, when detention rules for new development came in, and before Harris County required planned paths for extreme overland flow in 2000. Homes built before December 1996 were permitted by the Harris County Permits Office. Homes built after that date followed City of Houston drainage criteria.

For a foundation, the practical point is water around the slab. Older streets were not designed to carry heavy sheet flow, so yards in those sections can pond against the beam. A contractor quoting for an older Kingwood village will often pair lifting with foundation drainage work such as regrading or gutters, so the clay under the slab stays at a steadier moisture.

Who issues the permit for foundation work in Kingwood?

For homes in the Harris County part of Kingwood, the City of Houston. The city annexed Kingwood in December 1996, and its own planning history calls that its most controversial annexation, one that helped change Texas annexation law in 1999. Foundation repair inside the city needs a building permit: the city's weekly permit reports list residential foundation repair permits every week.

Part of Kingwood lies in Montgomery County; if your home is there, confirm which office handles your permit. Permit fees usually add about $75 to $150 to the job, and the contractor normally pulls the permit as part of the quote.

Will the Taylor Gully and Diversion Ditch projects change anything for your house?

They lower flood risk, not foundation risk, but they matter if you are deciding when to repair. The flood district's 2020 Kingwood plan aims to give open channels a 100-year level of service, which it defines as handling 13 to 18 inches of rain in 24 hours. It covers Bens Branch, Green Tree Ditch, the Kingwood Diversion Ditch and Taylor Gully, among others.

Taylor Gully, which runs from Bassingham to its confluence with White Oak Creek, was costed at $18.0 million for construction and $3.1 million for detention. The study estimated it would take 387 structures out of the 100-year inundation area and help 62 more that flooded in past storms. If your house backs onto one of these channels, ask whether the work changes the yard grading a slab foundation repair plan relies on.

What does foundation repair cost in Kingwood?

Most Houston-area jobs land between about $3,300 and $6,800, and Kingwood is no different on price per pier. Pressed concrete piers run about $300 to $600 each and steel piers from about $1,000. What pushes a Kingwood quote up is the extras: drainage work, a plumbing test after flooding, an engineer's report, and the permit.

An engineer's report, about $500 to $1,000, is worth having on a house that flooded. Mature trees close to the slab, common on Kingwood's wooded lots, can mean deeper or extra foundation piers. The full breakdown is on the foundation repair cost page, and we'll arrange a visit for a written quote.