Foundation issues could be deal breaker

[Remone R.]

Has anyone heard of any foundation issues with the clay in the East Austin, Round Rock or Pfleugerville area? If so how did you deal with it.

[Costin I.]

@Remone R., when considering a property with foundation issues, keep this in mind:

1. If you have brick/stone on the exterior, you might have to do tuckpointing. $$$

2. If you have tiles inside, the tiles will crack. And if they have to drill holes for interior piers, you pretty much will have to replace the entire flooring. $$$$

3. You'll have drywall cracks, so you should factor in drywall repairs and repainting. $$$

4. If the doors were adjusted to a crooked foundation, you might need to readjust or even buy new doors. $$$

5. You need to run a static test on plumbing after foundation repair. Old houses have cast iron pipers that will disintegrate (because of age and/or foundation shift). You'll have to replace all plumbing at that point. $$$$

6. Depending on how bad is the foundation state (how many inches you have to correct), is very possible the sewer line will disconnect/break in the horizontal portions. Repairing that requires tunneling, a repair that could be very expensive. $$$$

7. If the driveway- garage differential is big (for example, the driveway slab is sunken and you need to raise the house, you'll end up with an even bigger gap after repair) you might need to replace the driveway. $$$$

If anyone has more experience with any of these, please correct me if mistaken.