Foundation Repair Cost by Method
National price ranges for the main foundation and water-intrusion repairs. Costs vary widely by region, soil, and severity. For a real local number, choose your city below or run the calculator.
National cost ranges
| Method | National rate | When it's used |
|---|---|---|
| Push pier (steel underpinning) | $1,500–$3,000 / pier | Used for foundations that have settled due to unstable, expansive-clay, or poorly compacted soils, especially heavier single- and multi-story homes whose weight allows the piers to reach a firm stratum. The same underpinning applies whether the home sits on a basement, a slab, or a crawl space / pier-and-beam foundation: the piers are installed against the perimeter footing, and on a crawl space the work is usually reached from inside the crawl space rather than by cutting through the floor. Note that a bouncy or sagging floor over a crawl space is a different problem with a different fix, namely interior support posts under the beams, and is not underpinning. |
| Slab-jacking (mudjacking / polyurethane foam lifting) | $3–$25 / sq ft | Used to re-level settled concrete slabs such as basement or garage floors, driveways, walkways, and patios where the slab is intact but has dropped due to soil washout or compaction. |
| Carbon fiber straps (bowing wall reinforcement) | $85–$275 / linear ft | Used on poured-concrete or block basement walls showing early-to-moderate bowing or horizontal cracking (generally under about 2 inches of deflection), as a non-excavation alternative to steel I-beams or wall anchors. |
| Basement waterproofing (interior / exterior) | $2–$15 / sq ft | Used when a basement shows water intrusion, dampness, efflorescence, or flooding, interior systems for managing moisture at lower cost, exterior systems for preventing entry in high-water-table conditions. |
| French drain / drain tile (interior or exterior) | $10–$100 / linear ft | Used to relieve hydrostatic pressure and redirect water where a yard, foundation, or basement repeatedly collects water; interior perimeter drain tile costs more due to concrete cutting and sump-pump integration. |
| Crawl space encapsulation | $3–$10 / sq ft | Used when a vented crawl space suffers from excess moisture, mold, musty odors, pests, or high indoor humidity that threatens air quality and framing. |
| Crawl space support jacks | $500–$2,000 / jack | Used when floors over a crawl space sag or feel bouncy, when joists or a girder span too far between supports, or when existing posts have rotted, rusted, or settled. This is interior structural support, not perimeter underpinning: it carries the floor framing, where push piers address a foundation that has settled. A home can need one, the other, or both. |
National averages from published cost guides. Every city page below applies real local labor, soil, and permit data to these ranges.
Get local foundation repair costs
We publish reasoned local ranges for these DMV (Virginia) cities: