Paying for work nobody budgets for

Paying on completion

Smaller work — crack injection, drainage, concrete leveling — is paid on completion by card, check or bank transfer, at the figure in the written scope. Larger projects are normally staged: a deposit on acceptance to cover mobilization and materials, then payments against agreed milestones, all set out in the scope before you commit. We do not ask for the full amount up front and we would be wary of anyone who does.

Financing

For larger projects we can connect you with third-party home-improvement financing offering fixed monthly payments. Approval, interest rates and terms are set entirely by the lender, not by us, and we receive the same amount regardless of how you choose to pay. Ask at the inspection and we will include the details alongside your scope so you can compare it against your own bank or a home equity line, which for homeowners with equity is frequently the cheaper route.

What insurance actually covers

This is where most people are disappointed, so it is worth being direct. Standard homeowner policies cover foundation damage caused by a covered peril: fire, windstorm, a fallen tree, vehicle impact, explosion, vandalism, or a sudden escape of water from plumbing or HVAC. They exclude natural settling, shrinking, expansion and cracking, along with general wear, earthquakes, flooding, sinkholes, tree root pressure and faulty construction. In central Oklahoma the overwhelming cause of foundation damage is soil movement, and soil movement sits squarely on the excluded list.

Two exceptions are worth pursuing. A sudden under-slab plumbing failure may be covered where a long-running slow leak will not, so if a burst line caused the damage, document it and talk to your adjuster. And earthquake damage requires separate earthquake coverage, which is not part of a standard policy — a live consideration in Oklahoma given induced seismicity from oil and gas activity. If you have that endorsement, check what it says. We provide dated photographs, elevation readings and itemized invoices for any claim you pursue, and we will tell you honestly when we think a claim has no realistic prospect rather than letting you spend weeks finding out.

Buying or selling a house

If you are buying, an elevation survey during the option period is a far better basis for negotiation than a general inspector's note about cracks — you get measurements, a cause and a budget band to take back to the seller. If you are selling, foundation condition is disclosable, and buyers' inspectors in this market look for it. A completed repair with a report, permit paperwork and a transferable warranty is a considerably easier conversation than visible cracking and no information. Occasionally the right call is to get the survey, price the work, and let the buyer decide with the facts in front of them.

Engineer's fees

Where an independent structural engineer is engaged, their fee is theirs and typically runs $350 to $900 for a residential report. You engage them directly, which is the point — the value of that document is that nobody selling you piers wrote it. We are happy to recommend engineers we have worked with, and equally happy for you to find your own.

Reports and letters

When a lender, a buyer, an insurer or an attorney wants a written opinion on a property's condition, we will produce one with elevation readings and photographs for a modest flat fee, credited against any work that follows.