A foundation contractor at the door? Ask these questions before you hire.

Before anyone digs next to the footing, a few checks will tell you a lot about a company. We do not rank or rate foundation firms, so what follows is a way to judge any of them yourself, including any company that calls you if you ask through this site.

Do you need a company at all?

Not always. What to do when the house is cracking or settling starts with a dated mark on a hairline that is not growing. A company starts to make sense when the crack steps, widens, or moves a door or a floor, or when your city wants an engineered design.

A price you read online is not a bid. Ask for one in writing.

Who is allowed to do the work

Licensing is local. The Mississippi State Board of Contractors says a state license is required for new residential construction over $50,000, and for residential remodeling, additions, or roofing over $10,000. Foundation repair on a house can fall under that remodeler rule once the job crosses the dollar line.

The Oklahoma Construction Industries Board says general contractors are not currently required to hold a state license for general contracting, and that local jurisdictions should be contacted for local rules. Trade licenses still apply to work those trades cover.

Texas has no statewide foundation-repair license. The City of Waco registers contractors, and it says a foundation on expansive soil, or soil with a plasticity index of 15 or greater, shall be investigated and designed by a registered engineer.

In Colorado Springs, Pikes Peak Regional Building Department issues the building permit and licenses building contractors in Colorado Springs. Ask which code edition the permit will use.

Do I need an engineer before a contractor? is the short version of that split.

Questions to ask before they start

Ask these on the first call or at the door, and ask for the answers in writing.

• What license or city registration do you hold here, and what is the number?
• Who will be at the house, and will that person be an employee or a subcontractor?
• What do you think moved, and what soil are you designing for?
• Will a registered engineer write or stamp the plan?
• Which walls, how many piers or braces, and what is in the written scope?
• What is the total price, what does it include, and who pays if the insurer pays less?
• Will you pull the building permit this city requires?

Red flags

Each of these points back to a source, not to a review of a named company.

• They start digging before you have a written scope. A city permit page exists so the work is reviewed before it is buried. Starting without a plan skips that order. Tulsa plans review
• They say your insurer has already approved a number, but they will not show you the approval. Coverage is the insurer's decision. FEMA's flood policy excludes earth movement even when floodwater caused the soil to move. FEMA earth-movement note
• They treat expansive clay like a paint crack. The USGS swelling-clays map exists because clay movement is a soil problem, not a finish problem. USGS Map I-1940
• They will not give a business address or a license or registration number you can check with the city or the state.
• They ask you to pay the full job in cash before any pier is set, with no written receipt.

What a first visit should look like

A useful visit names the crack, the doors, and the soil. It ends with a written scope or a reason an engineer should see the lot first. It does not end with a promise that the house will stop moving on a date they cannot control.