Crack check · 30 seconds
Not every crack is a foundation problem.
Tell us what you're looking at. You'll get a plain answer: keep an eye on it, get it inspected, or call now.
1. Where is the crack?
2. How wide is it at the widest point?
3. Is it new, or getting bigger?
General guidance only. An on-site inspection is the only way to know whether movement is active.
The ground under Abilene moves every year.
Expansive clay works like a sponge. Long dry spells pull moisture out and the soil shrinks away from the slab. Heavy rain swells it back. That push and drop is uneven, so one corner of a house settles while another holds.
Clay that shrinks and swells
Texas has large areas of clay soil that shrinks as it dries and swells as it gets wet, and the ASCE Texas Section's foundation guidelines open with exactly that point. Under a house the movement is rarely even. The edges usually dry out and rewet before the middle does, and a shaded side can behave differently from a sunny one. That uneven push and drop is what cracks brick and bends door frames.
Wet springs and falls, hot summers
Abilene averages about 25 inches of rain a year, but it doesn't arrive evenly. May and June are the wettest months, September and October bring a second peak, and December through February are the driest (National Weather Service, 1991–2020 normals). July gets only a little over half of June's rain. A soaking spring followed by a long, hot summer is the kind of swing that makes clay move, and it repeats every year.
Older homes, two kinds of foundation
Census estimates put the median Abilene home's build year at 1974, and about a third were built before 1960. Most homes here sit either on a concrete slab poured at ground level or on pier and beam, with a crawl space and vents along the base of the walls. The two move in different ways and are repaired in different ways, so the survey checks which one you have first.
Slab or pier and beam? See both repairs →Trees, gutters and grading
Large trees close to a house can draw moisture out of the soil beneath it, while roof water dumped at the foundation does the opposite. Either one can make a single corner move while the rest of the house holds still. Extending downspouts and grading soil away from the walls cost far less than piers, and they're often the first thing worth trying. A survey notes where the trees and downspouts are, so the plan can deal with the cause and not just the cracks.
Drainage and soil moisture →Sources: ASCE Texas Section, Guidelines for the Evaluation and Repair of Residential Foundations, Version 3 (2022); National Weather Service San Angelo, Abilene normal monthly rainfall 1991–2020; U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year, tables B25034 and B25035, via Census Reporter.
What we fix
Every job starts with the same survey. These are the repairs it usually points to.
Measure first. Lift only what moved.
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Questions homeowners ask
Why do so many Abilene homes have foundation problems?
Much of the area sits on expansive clay soil. Clay shrinks when it dries out and swells when it gets wet, so long dry spells followed by heavy rain make the ground under a home move unevenly.
How do I know if a crack is serious?
Hairline cracks are often cosmetic. Cracks wider than about 1/8 inch, cracks that keep growing, or cracks where one side sits higher than the other are worth having inspected.
How much does foundation repair cost?
It depends on the foundation type, how many piers are needed and access to the work area. National cost guides put the average US job around $5,000, with a wide range. You get a specific number only after an on-site inspection.
Is a slab or pier and beam foundation harder to repair?
Neither is automatically harder. Slabs usually need piers driven underneath; pier and beam homes are often fixed by re-shimming or replacing piers and beams from the crawl space.
Can better drainage prevent foundation repair?
Often it helps a lot. Keeping water away from the foundation and keeping soil moisture steady reduces how much clay soil moves.