Foundation installation in McAllen TX - a base built for the soil under your house
You have plans and a lot, and you're unsure what foundation the ground will carry. We start with the soil and build to fit it.
- Licensed and insured.
- Free estimates at your property.
- We respond within 1 business day.
What goes into a new foundation in McAllen?
Foundation installation in McAllen is building the concrete base your house or building sits on, either a slab poured on the ground or a pier and beam system, so it rests steady on the soil under it.
If you're reading this, you probably have a lot, a set of plans and a builder asking what foundation you want, and the answer starts in the ground, not on the drawings. The price moves with the size of the footprint, the design your soil calls for, how much fill and packing the building pad needs and how easily the trucks can reach it, while the schedule turns on the soil report, the city's paperwork and inspection, and the weather on pour day. If it's only the slab you need, our page on slab foundation building covers that side, and either way your written estimate gives you the number for your own lot.
How do you know your lot needs a closer look before the pour?
Wide cracks in dry ground
If the dirt on your lot opens up in cracks during a dry spell and turns sticky after rain, you're usually looking at clay that shrinks and swells. A foundation that wasn't designed for that movement shows it later as cracked tile and doors that stick, and that costs far more to fix than a soil test does up front.
Water standing after rain
Puddles that sit on the lot for a day or more mean the water has nowhere to go, and a foundation set low in that spot will have it running toward the house. We'd rather raise and pack the pad and plan the grade now, because fixing drainage around a finished house means digging right next to it.
Old concrete or loose fill
Broken concrete, an old pad nobody can explain or loose dirt someone dumped years ago tells you the ground under the new house isn't what it looks like. We dig into it to see what's there before we price anything, since building over loose fill is how one corner of a house starts to sink.
How we handle foundation installation
On a new foundation I'd rather start with a soil test and a design that fits it than guess, so the first things I ask for are the soil report and the plans. From there we stake out the footprint, strip the topsoil and build the subgrade, the packed ground the slab sits on, in layers so it doesn't settle later. We dig the beams, set the forms, lay the vapor barrier and tie the rebar, the steel that holds the concrete together once it's carrying the house, and nothing gets poured until the inspection is done. We pour early, before the heat of the day can dry the top too fast and leave it weak and dusty, then keep the slab damp while it cures, which is the slow hardening that gives concrete its strength. If the budget has to give somewhere, I'll tell you not to cut the base, because nobody sees it on pour day and it decides how the house sits for every year after.
A foundation rarely comes alone. Porches, garage additions and walls often sit on concrete footings, which we dig and pour along with the main slab when the plans call for them, and for a new shop or office we can build the concrete parking lot out front on the same kind of packed base.
Conventional slab with rebar
A slab poured on the ground with thickened edges, beams and steel tied all through it, which suits most single-story houses when the soil report allows it. Most framers and plumbers expect it, so it fits easily into a typical build schedule.
Post-tensioned slab
Steel cables run through the slab and get pulled tight after the concrete hardens, which suits ground that moves with wet and dry seasons. If your plans call for one, ask us who does the stressing and we'll tell you straight.
Pier and beam
The house sits on piers and beams above a crawl space instead of resting on the ground, which suits a sloped lot or an owner who wants room to reach the plumbing later. It takes more pieces to build, and the space underneath has to stay dry and vented.
Get a written estimate for your new foundation
Send the form and we'll get back to you within one business day to set a time. I come out to your lot, and the written estimate is free, with no obligation.
- Based in
- McAllen, TX 78501
- Hours
- Mon–Sun: 7 AM–11 PM
What happens after you call us about a foundation?
Here's how a foundation job runs with us, from the first look at your lot to the walk-through after the pour.
I come out and measure
You call (956) 331-0213 or send the form, and I come out to your lot to ask a lot of questions and take my own measurements. I'll want to see the plans and any soil report, because they shape everything that follows.
Get your written estimate
You get a written estimate that lays out the design, the work and the price for your lot, so you can compare it line by line. If the job needs city paperwork or inspections, we help you line them up.
Our crew pours with me
Our crew does the work with me on the job, from building the pad to finishing the concrete. The pour waits until the inspection is passed, so the date can shift with the city's schedule and the weather.
We walk it together
When we're done, I walk the slab with you and go over how to treat it while it cures. I'll also show you where the water runs off it, so your landscaping doesn't send it back.
Why McAllen homeowners and builders call Craftsman McAllen Concrete Construction
I look at every lot myself
I'm the one who comes out to look at your job, and our crew does the work with me on site. The person who asked about your soil is the same one standing there on pour day.
Pouring in McAllen since 2017
I learned concrete on a crew here in McAllen, pouring flatwork like driveways and patios along with foundations, and started this business in 2017. Nine years in, we're best known for the jobs with a catch, like an odd slope, a tight entrance or an old slab nobody can explain.
Licensed and insured crew on site
We're licensed and insured. A foundation is the most expensive concrete on the property to get wrong, so you shouldn't have to wonder who's covered while it goes in.
Satisfaction guaranteed on every job
That's our promise, whether it's a house foundation or a set of footings. If I don't know something about your lot yet, I'll say so and find out instead of guessing.
On a foundation, the ground and the cure matter more than anything you'll see once the walls go up, so tell us about your lot and we'll start there.
Foundations, footings and city inspections in McAllen
In McAllen, permits come from the city's Building Permits and Inspections Department. Its permit list names work like sheds and similar structures over 200 square feet and doesn't spell out foundations, so whether yours needs its own permit is a question for the department, and if you're not sure, we'll check with the office that covers your address and plan the pour around the answer. A building permit application goes in with supporting papers such as a floor plan and a site plan, which is one more reason to have your plans finished before we set a date. Where there's a foundation and steel inspection, the city's guide says it checks the vapor barrier, the spacing and supports of the steel, and the slab's height, measured with a transit, a surveyor's leveling scope, so we have all of that set and ready before the inspector arrives.
We're based in McAllen and work in McAllen and the cities around it. We often meet lots that need fill hauled in and packed into a pad, entrances where the concrete truck barely fits and old slabs from buildings long gone, and we handle them the same way on jobs in Edinburg and Mission, digging in to see what's under the surface before anyone writes a final number.
Questions about foundations in McAllen
What is the best foundation design for clay soil?
General guidance from a Texas homeowner group names three common designs for clay that shrinks and swells: a conventional slab on the ground, a post-tensioned slab and pier and beam. Compare them with your builder before the plans are drawn, since changing the design later means redrawing. The trade group for post-tensioning calls post-tensioned slabs a cost-efficient, high-performance choice for homes on shrink-swell soil, so it's worth weighing that one first.
Should I get my lot's soil tested before building a foundation?
Yes, the same group's general guidance is to have a geotechnical engineer, a soil specialist, test representative samples from each building site. Schedule the test before the foundation design is chosen, because the design should follow from what the samples show. We work from that report when we price and build.
How long does a new concrete slab take to cure before we can use it?
A new slab should be walkable within 48 hours, but concrete takes about a month to fully cure. To be safe, plan on a week before heavier loads go on it, which matters when you're lining up the framing crew and their materials.
Do post-tensioned slabs crack less than regular slabs?
Yes, the Post-Tensioning Institute says post-tensioning reduces cracking and keeps any cracks that form tight, which limits insects getting in and water that can damage flooring and cause mold. The institute also says these slabs can often go in faster than a comparable rebar or wire mesh slab, with fewer pieces to handle and less concrete to place. One of its specifications requires certified plants and certified field crews for installing and stressing, so it's fair to ask whether the crew on your job holds that certification.
How much does foundation installation cost in McAllen?
The price comes down to the size of the footprint, the design your soil calls for and how much work the building pad needs before we can pour. A post-tensioned slab or pier and beam prices differently from a conventional slab, and a lot that needs fill hauled in, a soil test or a hard-to-reach entrance adds to the total. Your written estimate gives you the figure for your own lot.
Who handles foundation permits and inspections in McAllen?
The city's Building Permits and Inspections Department issues permits and handles inspections, and we help you line up what your job needs. Someone has to be on site during a city building inspection, because the inspector won't enter a property with no one there, so we plan to be on the lot when it's scheduled.
Concrete work that often comes with a foundation
Concrete footings
If your plans call for piers, a porch, a garage addition or a wall, the footings carry that weight into the ground, so they get the same care.
Concrete parking lot building
A new shop or office needs parking, and a lot poured on a packed base that drains away from the door stands up to daily traffic.
Service areas for foundation work around McAllen
Craftsman McAllen Concrete Construction is based in McAllen, Texas, and builds foundations across the 12 cities listed below, including Pharr and Weslaco. If you're building in one of them or in a city nearby, give us a call.
Send us your lot address and plans
Pour dates hinge on the soil report and the city inspection, so starting the conversation early keeps the rest of your build moving.