Thanks to the "wonderful" soil here in San Antonio, foundation cracks are very common in distressed houses.

Slabs pour in a day and you don't have to then frame a floor system... but a slab may not be an [good] option depending on your soil, geography, etc.* Shared wet walls* 2-story house (Half the roof cost)* Sheetrock returns on windows instead of trim... and in general, only run as little trim as you possibly can.* Stipple or popcorn ceilings (Way faster than a smooth-texture ceiling)* Carpet, carpet, everywhere (And vinyl flooring)* Basic cabinets and formica tops* Limit the number of windows in the house, and make sure they're all 1/1 vinyl* Minimal outlets and switches.

Do they test the soil?

Sandy did a job on Green Island, Silveerton and much of the shore area.

I've seen that done a lot to keep soil dampness down.

I am a little over 2k each for the two 4plexes I have.Dwelling amount 400,000 Liability amount 1,000,000m/2,000,000mDeductible 2,500Getting harder to insure in the last 2 years probably due to Irene and Sandy storms.

And they just use a baiting system but not the liquid one into the soils. 

Originally posted by @Sandy Gabin:Hi Lei, I have opened up many walls on my properties and never seen anything like this before.

They can help you determine soil suitability, lay out the road and grading plan. you will then need to hire a grading contractor to build the road.

Dallas and Houston are described as high taxes, bad soil and poor investments.