Home
/
Services
/
Foundation Inspections
Foundation Inspections for DFW Homes
If your floors slope, your brick is cracking in a stair-step pattern, or a foundation company has handed you a repair quote, you need an engineer before you need a contractor. We measure the house, compare what we find against published criteria, and tell you plainly whether it has actually moved beyond accepted limits.
Signs
Signs you need a foundation inspection
Scope
What we actually do
Specifically, and in this order.
01
Full-house elevation survey
We shoot floor elevations across the whole slab on a grid — typically 40 to 70 readings — with a manometer or laser level, then plot the surface. That contour tells us where the slab is high, where it's low, and whether the deflection is a bowl, a dome, or a tilt. One measurement in the room you're worried about tells you nothing.
02
Comparison against published criteria
Deflection is judged against recognised standards — including the deflection and tilt limits used in Texas residential foundation performance guidance — not against how bad it looks. A 1.5 inch differential across 40 feet is a different conversation from 1.5 inch across 12 feet, and we show you which one you have.
03
Full-house elevation survey
We shoot floor elevations across the whole slab on a grid — typically 40 to 70 readings — with a manometer or laser level, then plot the surface. That contour tells us where the slab is high, where it's low, and whether the deflection is a bowl, a dome, or a tilt. One measurement in the room you're worried about tells you nothing.
04
A clear verdict, in writing
Whether the movement is within tolerance or beyond it, you get a sealed letter that says so and explains why. About a third of the time our answer is that nothing needs to be done, and that letter is worth having.
Deliverable
What you receive
We measure — we don't sell repairs
G. Lamb Engineering performs no foundation repairs and takes no referral fee from anyone who does. That is the whole point of hiring us: the party measuring your house has no financial interest in the answer being expensive.
Report
Sealed structural evaluation letter — findings, cause, and our opinion in plain English
Survey
Plotted elevation survey with the measured contour and differential noted
Photos
Annotated photographs of every distress point we cite
Next steps
Whether repair is warranted, and what scope it would involve
Use
Suitable for lenders, buyers' agents, warranty claims, and permit submittal
For homebuyers
Buying a house? Pre-purchase evaluations
A general inspector will write "recommend evaluation by a structural engineer" and stop there. We do that evaluation — usually within 48 hours during an option period — and give you a number, a cause, and a repair cost order of magnitude you can negotiate with. If the slab is fine, we say so in writing, and that letter is what gets the deal back on track.
He told us the slab was fine and we didn't need the $18,000 of piers the repair company quoted. Then he wrote it down and sealed it so the buyer's agent had to accept it.
Marissa T.
Colleyville · pre-purchase evaluation
Send photos, get a straight answer
Most homeowners find out in one phone call whether they need a site visit. Calls returned within one business day.
Fees & timeline
What it costs and how long it takes
Ranges, not quotes — the real number depends on the house. We'll give you a fixed fee before we schedule.
Fixed fee quoted up front
No charge for the phone call
Evaluation
$550 – $900 typical for a single-family home under 4,000 sq ft
Elevation survey
Included in the evaluation fee
Site visit
Usually within 3–5 business days · option-period rush available
Report
3–5 business days after the visit
Repair plan
Quoted separately if repair is warranted — see Foundation Repair
FAQ
Questions we get asked every week
No, and we never will. We evaluate, and if repair is warranted we design it. Because we don't sell piers, our answer is sometimes that you don't need any.
A free inspection is a sales call performed by the company that profits from the repair. It also isn't sealed by a licensed engineer, which means a lender, a buyer, or a permit desk generally won't accept it.
There is no single number, which is why the survey matters. We look at total differential, the rate of change across distance, and the shape of the deflection, then compare all three to published criteria for Texas residential slabs.
Frequently. A large share of the cracking we're called about is cosmetic or the result of normal seasonal movement in clay soil. When that's the case you get it in writing, sealed, which is worth having.
Yes. Tell us the option deadline when you call and we'll prioritise the visit. Rush turnaround on the report is available for option-period timelines.
We tell you what's causing it and what scope of repair it calls for. If you want us to design that repair, that's a separate engagement — see Foundation Repair.
Ready to get foundation inspections handled?
Tell us the address and what you're seeing. We'll quote a fixed fee and give you a date — usually within one business day.
