How Potter County Foundation Repair works

We are a referral service. That is worth stating plainly at the top of the page rather than burying it, because it changes what you should expect from us.

What we do

You tell us where the property is and what it is doing. We pass that to one independent foundation repair company that works the Amarillo area, and they contact you to arrange a look at the house. That is the whole of it. There is no charge to you at any point, and nothing you send us obligates you to hire anybody.

What we do not do

We do not inspect foundations. We do not take elevation readings, drive piers, pour concrete, cut French drains or write engineering opinions. Nobody on this side of the phone is a structural engineer, and this website is not engineering advice. When the contractor gives you a scope and a price, that scope and price are theirs, and so is the warranty behind them.

We also do not sell your details to a list of companies who then take turns calling you. One property goes to one contractor. If that company cannot help you, tell us and we will say so rather than passing you around.

What Texas actually requires

This deserves a clear answer, because a lot of advertising in this trade implies otherwise. Texas does not license foundation repair contractors. There is no state exam, no state board and no state credential for the trade. The Texas Residential Construction Commission that once oversaw residential builders was closed in 2009 and never replaced. The state licenses electricians, plumbers, HVAC contractors and irrigators — not foundation repair.

What Texas does regulate tightly is engineering. Only a professional engineer licensed by the state may diagnose why a structure is moving and seal a repair design. A repair company can quote you a price for work; forming and sealing a structural opinion is a separate role held by a separate professional.

What Amarillo requires

The city goes further than the state does. The City of Amarillo Building Safety Department issues its own contractor licences through the MGO Connect portal, with separate categories including General, New Residential and Residential Remodel. The Residential Remodel category carries a $20,000 surety bond requirement. Permits for work in city limits run through the same system, and Amarillo has adopted the 2021 International Residential Code, effective January 2024.

So the useful question to ask a contractor here is not the vague one about being licensed. It is the specific one: which City of Amarillo contractor category do you hold, and will you be pulling the permit? You can confirm the answer with Building Safety at 806-378-3041 before you sign.

Before you hire anyone

• Ask for the engineer's report or the elevation survey the scope is based on, and read it.
• Ask who pulls the permit and whether an engineer will issue a final letter afterward.
• Ask for a certificate of liability coverage sent to you directly from the agency, not a photocopy.
• Ask what the warranty covers, who honours it, and whether it survives a sale of the house.
• Ask what happens to drainage and grading as part of the price, not as a later add-on.

Those five questions will tell you more about a company than any brochure will. They are also questions a competent contractor will be pleased you asked.