Pre-Sale Foundation Inspection in Wichita Falls, TX: The Paperwork a Buyer, a Seller or an Agent Can Hand Over
Floor readings and a written quote that go straight into the file, whether you are the buyer, the seller or the agent.
- Free on-site inspection
- Readings and quote in writing
- Works for buyer, seller or agent
Wichita Falls Foundation Works runs pre-sale foundation visits for buyers, sellers and agents across Wichita Falls and Wichita County, with floor readings and a written quote that go straight into your file. The visit is free, and we name the documents someone else may ask you to buy, with their prices, so nobody walks into a closing guessing. Sometimes the readings come back flat, and that is worth knowing before anyone signs a contract. Call (940) 202-0406 and we'll bring you a set of numbers instead of an opinion.
What a pre-sale foundation visit includes
The visit works the same for a seller before listing, a buyer under option, or an agent who needs a number in writing, with the owner's permission. We hand you floor readings room by room on a drawn plan and a written itemized quote for any work, a scope the other side can take to anyone else. It is not a general home inspection, which is a separate trade at its own price, and it is not an engineer's report, which comes from a Texas professional engineer.
And the Texas Real Estate Commission's seller's disclosure notice asks about the foundation by name, and a claimed repair with no paperwork behind it is an unknown, disclosure form or not.
What you get in writing
Every visit we make is a free on-site inspection, and it ends in a written itemized quote. You get the warranty terms in writing, with the transfer terms spelled out, and we quote your scheduling window up front. All of it holds the same way across Wichita Falls and Wichita County.
Signs a buyer or an agent will raise on a Wichita Falls house
- doors that stick or will not latch
- cracked sheetrock at the corners of door and window openings
- stair-step cracks in the mortar of the brick veneer
- nail pops and tape seams showing
- baseboards separating, a gap between the wall and the floor
- sloping or bouncing floors, the hallway feeling higher in the middle
- gaps opening above the door frames and separation at the cornice
- cracked tile and opened grout lines
- a chimney pulling away from the wall
A buyer or an agent can raise any of these on a walk-through. Readings settle whether it is worth a line in the contract; that is what we come to take.
What Wichita Falls homeowners get from Wichita Falls Foundation Works
Fresh readings beat a seller's old paperwork whenever there is any doubt, and a new set from us compares directly against post-repair readings from years back.
Texas licenses no foundation repair trade at all (the state licensing agency, TDLR, lists none). The City of Wichita Falls licenses and registers contractors and requires a permit before repair or alteration work starts; ask to see both, along with proof of general liability insurance, a written warranty with the transfer terms spelled out, and whether an engineer's report is included or billed separately.
Our written quote, a home inspection and an engineer's report compared
A free visit and a written quote from us sit next to a general home inspection, a separate trade in Texas that covers the whole house, not just the foundation. A stand-alone elevation survey bought from a third-party home inspector is narrower still, readings without a repair quote attached.
An engineer's report from a Texas professional engineer buys a sealed opinion on cause and remedy, and some files want a certification letter after the work is done. So where the disclosure or the house itself raises a leak question, a hydrostatic plumbing test answers that separately from the readings.
How the visit runs, first call to the file at closing
- Call or send the form, and we quote your scheduling window up front; a buyer needs the owner's permission first.
- Our estimator walks the outside, then takes interior elevation readings room by room.
- We plot the readings on a drawn floor plan and mark any proposed work on it.
- Your quote follows, itemized and in writing, and it goes to whoever asked for it.
- Where the file needs more, we name each paid document with its price, so nothing gets bundled into a vague total.
- At closing, the file holds the quote, the warranty and the readings, plus any paid document that was ordered along the way.
Why North Texas clay, water and weather move foundations
The Texas seller's disclosure notice asks about the foundation and slab by name, about improper drainage and soil movement, and about previous structural repair, in a market where the Census Bureau's 2020-2024 housing tables say the median year built runs 1972 for both city and county. About one person in five moves house each year inside the city, by Census Bureau QuickFacts for Wichita Falls, so a set of floor readings can end up in a sale file rather than a repair file.
Inside the city limits, Wichita Falls requires a permit to repair or alter a structure, and its published exemption list does not exempt foundation work. The city does not require an engineer's seal on a one or two family dwelling permit, whatever the size of the house, though the building official can still ask for one.
How much does a pre-sale foundation inspection cost in Wichita Falls?
The visit, the readings and the written quote cost you nothing. A general home inspection in Texas runs $300 to $550 as a separate trade, a stand-alone elevation survey $99 to $500, and an engineer's report $300 to $1,000, with a certification letter after the work $200 to $500 more. Where a leak is in question, a hydrostatic plumbing test runs $250 to $600.
In practice, which of those your file actually needs depends on who is asking and why. Call (940) 202-0406 and we'll start with the free visit, before you buy any of them.
| Work | Typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Our pre-sale visit: elevation readings and a written itemized quote | Free | Free on-site inspection for a buyer, a seller or an agent |
| General home inspection in Texas | $300 to $550 per inspection | A separate trade; it is not a foundation report |
| Stand-alone foundation elevation survey | $99 to $500 per survey | Bought on its own from a third-party home inspector |
| Engineer's report from a Texas professional engineer | $300 to $1,000 per report | Site visit plus a written report with elevation readings and recommendations |
| Engineer's certification letter after the work | $200 to $500 per letter | A second visit to certify the finished work |
| Hydrostatic plumbing test | $250 to $600 per test | Where the house or the disclosure raises a leak question |
Swipe the table sideways to see the notes column.
Our visit is free. The paid rows are third-party work, quoted separately.
Pre-sale foundation visits across Wichita County
Visits run the same way across Wichita County and the towns beyond it, serving Wichita Falls and Wichita County alike. Iowa Park, Lakeside City and Henrietta all carry the same disclosure form and the same clay underneath, and we quote the scheduling window around the drive instead of folding it into your price.
What happens when you call
The inspection
A free on-site inspection comes first. We come to the property, look at the work in person, measure, and check the things that change the price before quoting anything.
A written, itemized quote
Every line item goes on paper before any work starts: prep, materials, labor, cleanup and the scheduling window. No verbal numbers.
Warranty terms in the contract
Workmanship and material warranty terms come in writing and go in your contract so you can read them before you sign.
Scheduling you can plan around
You get a start window and a working-day estimate up front, and the crew tells you before anything changes.
Who this is not for
Wichita Falls Foundation Works handles foundation repair and the related work listed on this site. It does not take on unrelated trades; if your job is outside that scope, a specialist in that trade is the right call.
Pre-sale inspection questions from Wichita Falls homeowners
Should I repair it before listing, or price it in and let the buyer deal with it?
What either choice does to a sale price cannot be verified one way or the other, and we will not pretend otherwise. What Texas does require is disclosure, and the seller discloses it regardless. The real choice is between handing a buyer a quote with every line itemized or handing them an unknown.
Which parts of the Texas seller's disclosure does foundation work touch?
The disclosure notice asks about known defects in Foundation and Slabs. It also asks about Improper Drainage, about Landfill, Settling, Soil Movement and Fault Lines, and about Previous Structural or Roof Repair. Separately it asks whether repairs were made without the necessary permits.
Will a lender or an appraiser want an engineer's letter?
Lender and appraisal requirements vary, so ask the lender or the loan officer directly. What the documents cost is fixed: a report from a Texas professional engineer runs $300 to $1,000, with a certification letter after the work at $200 to $500 more. Our written quote and floor diagram go in the file either way.
Can you inspect a house I do not own yet?
Yes, with the owner's permission. Our free on-site visit works the same for a buyer, a seller or an agent, and the written quote and elevation diagram go to whoever asked for them. Book the visit and tell us which one you are.
The seller says it was repaired years ago, so how do I check that?
Ask for three documents: the original contract and itemized quote, the warranty with its transfer terms, and the post-repair elevation readings. Then let us take a fresh set of readings and compare the two. A repair with no paperwork behind it is an unknown, disclosure form or not.
What should actually be in the file at closing?
The written itemized quote and contract, and the warranty document with its transfer terms. The before and after elevation readings, and any plumbing test result. Where an engineer was engaged, the letter of substantial completion belongs in there too.
What does a pre-sale inspection cost?
Our visit is free, including the elevation readings and the written quote. The documents someone else may ask you to buy run $300 to $550 for a general home inspection, $99 to $500 for a stand-alone elevation survey, and $300 to $1,000 for an engineer's report. Where a leak is in question, a hydrostatic test runs $250 to $600.
A sale file with real numbers in it beats one with a story in it. Buyers, sellers and agents all read a written itemized quote the same way, and none of them trust a verbal number at closing. Call (940) 202-0406 and we'll come take the readings that start the file. No rush, and no charge to ask.
Get a written quote
Call (940) 202-0406 or send the form. The next step is a free on-site inspection and a written quote with every line item before any work starts.
Call (940) 202-0406