Foundation repair in Spring

Spring sits on ground that has dropped about 4.2 feet through 2021, according to the USGS, and most of that drop came after 1987. Add a creek that flooded homes in both May 2016 and Harvey, and a Spring house can be dealing with slow sinking and flood water at the same address. A local foundation contractor checks which one is moving your slab before pricing a fix. Spring is unincorporated Harris County, so the county, not the City of Houston, handles permits. For nearby communities, see the Houston areas page.

How much has the land under Spring sunk, and why does it matter for my slab?

The USGS puts land subsidence in Spring at about 4.2 feet through 2021, most of it since 1987. That is recent sinking compared with older parts of the region, where the worst of it ended decades ago. In its model, about 16% of Spring's subsidence comes from compaction of the deep Jasper aquifer, so pumping from deep wells still plays a part here.

Sinking spread across a whole area tends to lower houses together, so a 4.2 foot figure does not mean your slab tilted 4.2 feet. What matters for a single house is uneven movement: one corner settling faster than another, a patio pulling away, a door that starts to stick. Ground that is still moving is a reason to ask about deeper supports, such as foundation piers, rather than a shallow shim job.

The same USGS work covers The Woodlands and Conroe to the north, where the share of sinking from the Jasper aquifer is higher, about 33% and 57%.

Did the Spring Creek floods damage foundations in Spring?

They can have. The Harris County Flood Control District found Harvey water along Spring Creek ran slightly higher than the May 2016 flood, and many homes that flooded in 2016 flooded again a year later. Levels generally sat between the 100-year and 500-year marks. Standing water and fast currents both stress a foundation, so a house that took water twice deserves a proper look.

The district's report adds detail a Spring owner should know:

• At the end of Lee Road north of Bush Intercontinental, backwater from the West Fork of the San Jacinto River pushed lower Spring Creek 5 feet above the October 1994 flood.
• Water reached close to the rooftops of some homes south of The Woodlands and west of I-45, and fast water damaged fences, brick privacy walls and some outside walls of homes.
• The rain gauge at Spring Creek and I-45 recorded 29.4 inches over the four days.
• About 510 homes flooded in the Harris County part of the Spring Creek watershed.

After a flood, a slab can lose support where water scoured soil from under its edge, and a pier-and-beam floor can have wet beams and shifted blocks. A foundation inspection separates flood damage from older settling.

Do I need a Harris County permit to repair a foundation in Spring?

Probably, and it comes from the county. Spring is an unincorporated community in Harris County, outside Houston's city limits, so the City of Houston building permit does not apply. The Harris County Office of the County Engineer says development in the unincorporated county without a permit is prohibited, and it defines development broadly to include buildings and other structures. Ask the county which application your repair needs.

The floodplain is where it gets stricter. If your lot is in the 100-year floodplain or floodway, the county says you need a Texas-registered architect or engineer to prepare the foundation drawings its floodplain rules require, signed and stamped by a Texas-registered professional engineer. Homes near Spring Creek and its tributaries can sit in mapped flood zones, so check yours with the county before work is scheduled.

What should a Spring repair quote include?

A Spring quote should say whether the problem is soil movement, flood damage or both, how many supports go in and how deep, and who handles the county permit and any engineer's drawings. National guides price an engineer's report at about $500 to $1,000 and a permit at about $75 to $150, so those lines should be written out, not buried in one total.

Beyond that, the price follows the house. Most Houston-area jobs land between about $3,300 and $6,800, with pressed concrete piers around $300 to $600 each and steel piers from about $1,000. The full breakdown is on the foundation repair cost page. Spring lots that flood often also need grading or gutters fixed, because water pooling at the slab edge keeps the clay moving; foundation drainage covers those options.

We'll arrange a visit with a local foundation contractor who works in Spring, and you get a written quote before any work starts.