15 Questions to Ask a Foundation Repair Contractor in Tulsa

The 15 questions that separate a real Tulsa foundation contractor from a sales crew, what a good answer sounds like, and what a bad one sounds like.

Oklahoma doesn't license foundation repair as a trade. Anyone with a truck and a hydraulic ram can call themselves a foundation company tomorrow morning. That puts the screening job on you. The good news is that the right 15 questions, asked in the driveway, will sort the real contractors from the sales crews in about twenty minutes. Here they are, with what a good answer sounds like and what a bad one sounds like.

Questions About the Company

1. Can I see your certificate of insurance, with my name on it?

Since there's no state license to check, the insurance certificate is the check. Ask for general liability and workers compensation, and ask the contractor to have their agent send the certificate directly to you with your address listed as the certificate holder. That takes the agent five minutes and proves the policy is active today.

Good answer: "Sure, I'll have my agent email it this afternoon." Bad answer: a photocopy from the truck with last year's dates, or "we're bonded" with no mention of liability or workers comp. Bonded isn't insured. If a crew member gets hurt driving a pier under your house and the contractor has no workers comp, you're the deep pocket.

2. Who's actually going to be under my house?

Some Tulsa companies sell the job with a polished estimator and then hand it to a subcontractor crew you've never met. That's not automatically bad, but you should know.

Good answer: "Our own crew, foreman's name is Mike, he's been with us a long while." Bad answer: a vague "our installation team" or any hesitation about whether the crew is employed or subbed.

3. How many jobs like mine have you done in this part of town?

Tulsa clay isn't the same everywhere. A contractor who works mostly in new Broken Arrow subdivisions on disturbed fill may not have much experience with a 1925 pier and beam bungalow in Maple Ridge, and the other way around.

Good answer: specifics. "We did a house two streets over last fall, same era, similar lift." Bad answer: a national brand's marketing numbers that have nothing to do with your neighborhood.

4. Will you pull a permit?

The City of Tulsa and most suburbs require a building permit for pier installation, and the inspection card is part of the paper trail a future buyer will want.

Good answer: "Yes, it's in the price, and the city inspector will come out before we backfill." Bad answer: "You don't really need one for this" or an offer to skip it to save you money.

Questions About the Diagnosis

5. How did you measure the floor?

A real diagnosis starts with an elevation survey. The contractor walks the house with a zip level or a laser and records the floor height at dozens of points, then draws it on a floor plan. That drawing tells you where the house is low, by how much, and which direction it's moving.

Good answer: shows you the drawing with numbers on it. Bad answer: "I can tell by looking at the cracks." Nobody can.

6. What do you think caused it?

In Tulsa the answer is almost always some version of clay drying out unevenly. But the specific cause matters for the repair. A big oak on the south side, a downspout dumping at one corner, a slab leak, poorly compacted fill on a new lot. Each one gets a different fix.

Good answer: points at the cause in your yard and explains how it connects to the drawing. Bad answer: "foundations just settle" with no attempt to find out why.

7. Is the house still moving, or has it stopped?

This one matters more than most homeowners realize. A house that settled ten years ago and stabilized may need nothing but cosmetic work. A house that's actively dropping needs piers now.

Good answer: asks you when you first noticed the signs, whether they've gotten worse, and may suggest a second measurement in a few months if it's borderline. Bad answer: every house is an emergency and every house needs piers today.

8. Do I need a structural engineer?

Not every job does. A straightforward corner settlement on a 1980s slab usually doesn't. A pier and beam house with a bowed beam, a house with a basement, anything over about 12 piers, or anything headed for a real estate transaction probably does.

Good answer: an honest "not for this one" or "yes, and here's a name, they're independent." Bad answer: a flat refusal, or an engineer who works for the contractor and always agrees with the estimate.

Questions About the Repair

9. Push piers or helical piers, and why?

Both work in Tulsa clay. Push piers use the weight of the house to drive steel pipe to refusal. Helicals screw in with a torque motor and are better for lighter pier and beam structures where there isn't enough weight to drive a push pier. The choice should come from your house, not from what the contractor stocks.

Good answer: explains which one and why, in terms of your foundation type and soil. Bad answer: only one option exists and it happens to be the one they sell.

10. How deep will the piers go, and how will I know?

Most Tulsa piers hit stable bearing between 18 and 35 feet. The crew records the depth and the pressure at each pier as they drive it. That log is your proof the pier is sitting on something solid.

Good answer: "We log every pier and you'll get the sheet." Bad answer: a fixed depth quoted before anyone has driven anything, or no mention of a log at all.

11. Are you lifting the house or stabilizing it?

Lifting means bringing the low side back up toward original elevation. Stabilizing means stopping the movement where it is. Lifting fixes more but risks cracking finishes, and on an older house it can open up more than it closes. A lot of honest Tulsa jobs are stabilize only.

Good answer: walks you through the tradeoff and gives you the choice. Bad answer: promises a full lift to level with no mention of risk.

12. What's in the price and what isn't?

Piers, brackets, excavation, backfill, permit, engineering if required, and the warranty should be line items. Drywall, brick, tile, plumbing, and landscaping repair after the lift usually aren't, and that's fine as long as you know going in.

Good answer: an itemized written quote with pier count, pier type, locations marked on the drawing, and the exclusions listed. Bad answer: one number on a business card, or a price that drops 20 percent when you say you'll think about it.

Questions About What Happens After

13. What does the warranty actually cover?

Most Tulsa contractors offer a warranty on the piers themselves, often described as lifetime or 25 years. Read it. It typically covers the piered sections against further settlement. It typically does not cover unpiered sections, cosmetic damage, drainage problems, or heave from a plumbing leak.

Good answer: hands you the document and points at the exclusions without being asked. Bad answer: "lifetime warranty, don't worry about it."

14. Is the warranty transferable, and what does the transfer cost?

A transferable warranty is worth real money when you sell. Some companies transfer it free, some charge a fee in the 50 to 150 dollar range, and some require a reinspection.

Good answer: specifics on the fee and the process. Bad answer: "I think so" or a warranty that quietly dies when the house changes hands.

15. What should I be doing after the job so this doesn't happen again?

Piers stop the piered section from dropping. They don't fix the soil. A contractor who cares about the house will talk about gutters, grading, soaker hoses in August, and whether that tree is a problem.

Good answer: a short list of things to do, some of which don't make them any money. Bad answer: nothing. The job's done, the check cleared, good luck.

A Few Tulsa Specific Checks

Beyond the 15, three things worth doing before you sign.

Look the company up on the Oklahoma Secretary of State business search. An active entity with a real registered agent is a baseline. Search the Tulsa County court records for the business name. A contractor with a string of mechanic's lien disputes or small claims cases is telling you something.

Ask for two addresses of past jobs in your part of town, and drive by. You're not looking for perfection. You're looking for a yard that got put back together and a homeowner who'd answer the door and say they'd hire them again.

And get three quotes. Not because the cheapest wins, but because three measured drawings of the same floor should mostly agree on where the house is low. If one contractor's drawing looks nothing like the other two, you've learned something.

FAQ

Related reading

• How to Choose a Foundation Contractor in Tulsa
• Helical Piers vs Push Piers: Which is Right for Tulsa Soil
• Foundation Repair Permits in Tulsa: What You Need to Know