Foundation repair for Temple, Belton and Killeen homes

How it works

1. Call or send a request

   Tell us your town and what you've noticed around the house.

2. We connect you

   We pass your request to an independent foundation contractor that serves Bell County.

3. They call you back

   They take floor readings, explain what's moving and why, and quote you directly.

Who uses this site?

Homeowners in Temple, Belton, Killeen, Harker Heights and the smaller Bell County towns who think their foundation is moving. That might be a slab house in a newer Temple subdivision with a corner that has dropped, an older Belton house on piers and beams with floors that dip toward the middle, or a Killeen home where a buyer's inspector wrote "recommend evaluation by a foundation specialist." We cover privately owned houses. Family housing on Fort Hood is handled by the post, not by outside contractors through this site.

Why do Bell County foundations move?

Because of what's under them. The Balcones Escarpment runs through the middle of Bell County and splits it in two, according to the Texas State Historical Association. East of that line is the Blackland Prairie, where Houston Black clay is the most common soil. West of it, around Killeen and Harker Heights, is the rolling, rockier Grand Prairie, with clayey soils over limy subsoil and limestone.

The blackland clays are the main troublemaker. USDA describes Houston Black as a smectitic Vertisol: a clay that shrinks and cracks when it dries, with cracks up to 4 inches wide and a foot or more deep that stay open 90 to 150 days in most years. Branyon, a similar cracking clay, was mapped and named in Bell County's 1972 soil survey. When those soils dry in August they pull away from a slab's edge; when fall rains come, they swell and push back. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation puts it simply: wet expansive soil heaves and lifts a building, and dry soil shrinks and lets it settle.

The weather keeps that cycle going. Temple averages about 37 inches of precipitation a year, but it rarely arrives evenly, and July highs average about 95°F. A house that gets roof runoff on one side and afternoon sun on the other almost never moves evenly.

What signs mean it's time to have the house measured?

• Stair-step cracks in brick veneer, often near a corner, window or garage opening
• Diagonal drywall cracks rising from the corners of doors and windows
• Interior doors that rub, drift open, or won't latch
• Floors that slope, or tile that has cracked in a line
• Gaps opening above baseboards or between the brick and window trim
• A garage door that no longer meets the slab evenly
• Patched cracks that open back up after a dry summer

A single hairline crack in a garage slab is usually just concrete shrinkage. Several signs together, or signs that are getting worse, are the reason to call. Our foundation evaluation page explains what a good inspection includes.

What kinds of repair are there?

It depends on how the house is built and what's making it move:

• Slab-on-grade houses, the most common type in newer neighborhoods, are usually stabilized with piers placed under the settled part of the perimeter beam. Slab repair.
• Pier-and-beam houses with a crawl space are often leveled from underneath by adjusting shims, adding or resetting interior piers, and repairing wood framing. Pier-and-beam repair.
• The pier system itself varies: pressed concrete, steel push piers, helical piers or drilled piers. How they compare.
• Moisture control with gutters, grading and drains is part of nearly every lasting repair in clay. Drainage and moisture.

Does every moving house need piers?

No. In blackland clay, some movement is seasonal: a house drops a little during a dry summer and comes back after a wet fall. Other houses rise in the middle because a leaking pipe or poor drainage has soaked the clay under the slab. Piering the edges of a house that's heaving rather than settling doesn't fix it. A careful contractor looks at the pattern of floor readings, the drainage, nearby trees and the possibility of a plumbing leak before recommending piers. If a bid calls for many piers and the reasoning isn't clear, a second opinion or a licensed engineer's evaluation is reasonable.

What can I do before anyone comes out?

• List which doors and windows stick, and roughly when that started
• Photograph each crack with a tape measure beside it and keep the dates
• Walk the house during a rain and see where the downspouts and runoff go
• Look for soil pulling away from the slab edge in dry weather
• Watch for an unexplained jump in the water bill, which can point to a leak under the house
• Find any old repair paperwork, pier logs or warranties if you bought the house that way

Is Temple Foundation Repair a contractor?

No. We're a referral service. We connect you with an independent foundation repair contractor that serves your address, and that contractor evaluates the house, quotes the job, does the work and stands behind its own warranty. Texas doesn't license foundation repair companies, so read our tips for checking a contractor and the Bell County foundation repair guide before you sign anything.

Areas we cover

• Temple
• Belton
• Killeen
• Harker Heights

Planning ahead? Read our Bell County foundation repair guide.