Foundation repair methods: piers, wall stabilization and what each can't do

Piers move the load of a footing or slab down to deeper soil or rock, wall systems hold a bowing or leaning basement wall against soil pressure, and slab-lifting fills voids under concrete. None of them fixes the moisture or drainage condition that started the movement. A pier’s product evaluation covers the steel and bracket, not your soil or your footing. Those questions belong to the person designing the repair for your house.

This guide explains each family of methods in plain terms, what the official product evaluations say and leave out, and what to ask a contractor to put in writing. It is general buyer education, not a diagnosis or a repair design for any property.

Start with the cause, not the product

Every method on this page treats a symptom: a footing that sank, a wall that moved, a slab with a void under it. The cause is usually a change in the soil, such as clay that shrinks in drought and swells when wet, fill that was never compacted, water draining against the house, or erosion under a slab.

ASCE’s Geo-Institute guide for homeowners on shrink-swell soils makes the point directly: localized changes in moisture do more damage than uniform ones. Grading, downspouts and irrigation are part of the fix. Its maintenance guidance includes:

• at least 3 inches of fall in the first 5 feet away from the house;
• downspouts discharging at least 3 feet from the foundation;
• sprinkler heads kept at least 5 feet away;
• new trees planted farther from the house than their mature height.

A proposal that installs piers but says nothing about water is only half a plan. Ask each contractor what they think caused the movement and how the proposal addresses it.

Push piers (also called resistance or steel pipe piers)

What they are: steel pipe sections hydraulically driven down beside or under the footing, using the weight of the house as resistance, until they reach a target pressure or depth. A bracket then transfers the footing’s load onto the pier.

What the evaluation covers: ICC Evaluation Service (ICC-ES) evaluates push pier systems under acceptance criteria AC517, Push Pier Foundation Systems, first approved in 2020; the current edition was published November 2025. Evaluation reports (ESRs) issued under it describe what was tested and on what conditions. Three current reports are good examples: ESR-4317, ESR-4891 and ESR-5005, reissued between August and October 2026. Each:

• rates the bracket for vertical (compression) load only;
• requires that brackets attach to uncracked concrete;
• calls for special inspection of the installation;
• requires calculations and drawings by a registered design professional (ESR-4891 says so in those words);
• explicitly excludes settlement of the pier, soil–pier interaction and whether the existing footing is adequate to be supported this way.

What that means for you: “Our piers are ICC-ES evaluated” is a statement about the product. It doesn’t tell you whether the footing can span between piers, how many piers your house needs, or how much it may still move. Ask who determined the spacing and installation criteria for your house, and whether that person is an engineer.

Typical limits to ask about: where a crack or crumbling footing would prevent proper bracket attachment; what happens if the target pressure is reached at a shallow depth; and how the proposal documents the final depth and pressure for every pier.

Helical piers (helical piles)

What they are: steel shafts with one or more helix plates, screwed into the ground with a hydraulic torque motor. Capacity is estimated from the torque needed to install them.

What the evaluation covers: ICC-ES evaluates helical systems under AC358, Acceptance Criteria for Helical Foundation Systems and Devices. ESR-1854, for one major manufacturer’s system, illustrates the terms:

• Installation torque is one capacity check. The design must also meet the report’s structural and soil limits and applicable safety factors.
• Design must be by a registered design professional.
• Settlement “is outside the scope” of the report.
• Corrosive soils and mine-waste or landfill sites aren’t covered.
• The same report covers slab brackets and helical tiebacks for retaining walls.

Helical piers are also used where there isn’t enough structural weight to drive a push pier, such as porches, light additions and slabs. That isn’t a rule. The design decides.

Ask: the minimum torque each pier must reach, who set it, and that the final torque for every pier is recorded and given to you.

Slab piers and slab brackets

Interior slab floors can be supported with brackets attached to the slab and set on helical or push piers. ESR-1854 lists slab brackets as part of its evaluated system. Lifting a slab also changes stress in plumbing under the floor. ASCE Texas Section’s residential repair guidelines call for a plumbing leak test after lifting, and for a post-repair elevation survey to be given to the owner. The guidelines were written for Texas practice, but their checklist is a useful benchmark anywhere.

Basement wall stabilization

Many homes in this site’s metros have basements, and wall movement (bowing, leaning or sliding at the base) is a separate problem from footing settlement. Three families of products are common:

• Wall (plate or earth) anchors: a rod through the wall to a plate buried in undisturbed soil away from the house, tightened to resist inward pressure. Excavation space outside the wall matters.
• Steel beam braces: vertical steel members anchored at the floor and at the floor framing above, installed inside the basement.
• Carbon-fiber straps or fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP): bonded to the inside face of the wall. ICC-ES has acceptance criteria for externally bonded FRP systems on concrete and masonry (AC125). Ask for the specific evaluation report for the product proposed.

We didn’t find an independent technical source that ranks these against one another for houses, and we won’t invent one. Their usefulness depends on how much the wall has moved, what it is made of, the conditions outside it, and whether the goal is to stop movement or attempt to straighten it. That decision belongs to whoever designs the repair. A contractor’s choice of system can follow which product network it belongs to. You can see a company’s network listings on its record page.

Ask: how much movement was measured and how; whether the plan stops movement or tries to recover it; what drainage or soil-pressure change is included; and what wall movement the warranty treats as failure.

Epoxy and polyurethane crack injection

Injection fills a crack to stop water or bond the concrete. It doesn’t stop the movement that caused the crack. If a crack is still moving, ask why injection alone is proposed.

Slab lifting: mudjacking and polyjacking

Pumping cement grout or expanding polyurethane under a sunken slab is covered in our separate guide: Mudjacking vs. polyjacking vs. structural piers. In short, highway agencies have documented lifted slabs settling again where the cause wasn’t addressed.

Expect improvement, not perfection

ASCE Texas Section’s guidelines put it plainly:

• elevation adjustments are unlikely to produce a level foundation;
• underpinning doesn’t improve areas that weren’t underpinned;
• “perfection is not attainable by remedial measures.”

Use the proposal to agree on what “success” means: target elevations or tolerances, which areas are supported, and what will be measured afterward.

When an engineer’s evaluation helps

ASCE Texas Section describes three levels of engineering evaluation:

• a first-impressions visit: interview, document review and walk-through;
• a level survey: floor elevations, a drawing of deflection and tilt, and comparison with tolerances;
• a fuller investigation: soil sampling, plumbing tests, material testing, and tree and distress surveys.

An engineer who doesn’t sell repairs can compare competing diagnoses, specify the work and judge the completed repair against it. Some cities require engineered drawings for certain foundation work. See Foundation repair permits and licensing. Ask each contractor whether its proposal includes an engineer’s design or letter, who that engineer works for, and whether you get a copy.

What companies in our data say they install

Of 115 company websites reviewed for this edition (checked October 27, 2026):

• 64 name at least one repair or concrete-lifting method;
• wall anchors appear on 37, helical piers on 35, carbon-fiber reinforcement on 24, push piers on 23 and steel piers on 19.

These are statements on company websites, not verified installations. The 115 reviewed websites are not a census of contractors. See Which repair methods companies name.

Questions to put in every proposal

1. What is causing the movement, and what evidence supports that?
2. Which method, how many piers or anchors, and where? Is there a drawing?
3. Who designed it, and is there an engineer’s stamp or letter?
4. What depth, pressure or torque must each pier reach, and will I receive the installation log?
5. What does the plan do about drainage or moisture?
6. What lift or tolerance is the target, and how will it be measured afterward?
7. Who pulls the permit and schedules inspections?
8. Which written warranty applies to this exact work? See Foundation repair warranties.