Update 2 years later: The house has remained stable through many weather changes and all the re-settling. I've had no further issues with doors not squaring, cracks in the walls or tiles, or anything. I'm grateful to know my home is going to stay right where it is! Previous review: I just had my slab foundation lifted by Douglas, and the experience has been good overall. There is one weak link in the chain for this great company, and that is the project manager, Rick. Here is the breakdown: - Coy, the salesperson who came out to bid the job, was professional and knowledgeable. He didn't rush me, answered all my questions, and even helped me understand bids from other companies. - Lisa, the person in the business office, was also professional and friendly. - The crew, led by a man named Felix, worked fast, contained their mess well, and seemed knowledgeable. Felix took time to answer any questions that I had and explain the process. My only complaint from the crew is that when they started on Friday, they had to dig up a bunch of the flower bed - no problem, I expected that. They dug up a rosemary bush, a lavender bush, and a knockout rose, set them aside, and Felix assured me they would put them back in soil and water them until they could be replaced. They didn't. Those plants are now dead after sitting in the Texas sun for 4.5 days with no water or soil on the roots. They worked Friday and Monday; I worked a 48-hour shift over the weekend so I didn't see they had left the plants out until it was too late. - Rick, the project manager. Well. I wouldn't know him if I saw him, because he has never set foot on my property that I'm aware of. The cleanup is happening now and I have been here for all the work. He seemed friendly but a little disorganized at first - he called me to confirm my appointment for the following week, but I was scheduled for the same week he was calling. He scheduled the crews to come on Friday and Monday; the crew wasn't sure why they were not working Saturday. On Friday, I called Rick with a question in the morning. He never returned my call; I called again in the evening and happened to catch him. On Monday, Labor Day, everyone was trying to reach Rick - Felix, the plumber, me - and no one could get him. The plumbing company kept calling me because Rick had told them (and me) the lift would be complete by 11am; the lift didn't even start until after 2. Rick told me the entire project would take two days. I found out at 4pm on the second day that there would be another day for cleanup, and that wasn't scheduled. So no one knew when the giant mounds of dirt would be put back in the gaping, child-and-pet-threatening holes and the holes in my garage floor repaired. I got up this morning still not knowing, left the house, and got a text from Felix at 8:45 that they were on their way and needed garage access. I still don't know when the plumber is coming. I also still haven't heard from Rick. Edited because I somehow forgot this detail: I specifically told Rick that I didn't want them breaking through in the garage. Most people prefer that to the driveway, but I am going to be re-paving the driveway in the near future, so I wanted to avoid holes in my garage. He said he would pass that along to the crew, but he did not. I have two holes in my garage. All in all, I'm glad I used Douglas and I have recommended them to others in the neighborhood. The project could have been managed MUCH more efficiently, which is why I only gave them 4 stars. In the end, I lost some plants and probably gained a few more grey hairs than I could have, but my home is now stable and warrantied for its life, so I can't complain too much about that. read more

Everyone at Douglas Foundation Repair is wonderful! My experience started with Darrel, the bid estimator. He showed up at my house at a time convenient for me and explained how he would measure my foundation, took the time to explain his bid and answered all questions I had. I worked intensely with Katherine, the Office Manager, and she was more than helpful through every phone call and e-mail. The Operations Manager, Rick, came to my house prior to the work beginning and was always available to answer questions, was on-site to oversee the work and even brought treats for my dog! The crew, headed by John was amazing!!!! John and his crew worked tirelessly on my house, preserved my landscaping flawlessly, putting everything back just the way it was before they started digging, filled in my pond and evened out my back yard with the leftover dirt, and even reattached my back gate than had come loose due to a rotted post! In my opinion, everyone at Douglas Foundation Repair went above and beyond what I would have expected from a foundation company repairing a concrete slab! I couldn't have dreamed of a more positive experience with Douglas Foundation Repair. They were with me every step of the way-from Douglas himself attending my loan closing to Katherine in contact with me to make sure all the details were completed and I was happy with the work, even weeks after the job completed. I highly recommend Douglas Foundation Repair!!!! Everyone I came into contact with was professional, honest and committed to the job and me, providing superior customer service. I felt comfortable working with everyone, at every level. I am beyond pleased with my experience and although I doubt I will have to call Douglas again to fix MY foundation, I will certainly recommend them to anyone I know who needs foundation repair forever!!!!!! Specifications: At the worst, my house had sunk 3" on one side and was raised about .5" on the other. Douglas installed 39 concrete piers around the entire exterior perimeter of my house and inside my home: 3 in the garage, 2 in the master bedroom and 1 in the 2 additional bedrooms (total of 8 inside the home). This may sound like overkill, but with the transferable lifetime guarantee and the amazing price I paid, I feel confident that my house isn't moving again!!! Lucky for me, no new cracks showed up because of the leveling and most of the cracks inside on the slab and in the walls shored back up! FYI: The bid I received from Douglas Foundation Repair was $5000 less than what I received from another company that only wanted to do half of the exterior of the house and no piers on the interior. I believe if you are going to do something do the whole thing and do it right...don't just band-aid the part you can see is broken :) read more

Douglas was straightforward and informative. I solicited 3 bids. Douglas wasn't the cheapest or the most expensive. I like their "smart pier" system ( two piers in each hole) compared to what the other contractors do (one pier in each hole), redundancy. If one pier fails there's another one in close proximity to take the load. It just made sense even to a non-expert that this would be better even if more expensive. Douglas was the only contractor to look at and mention my terraced patio and the effect that my gutter downspout drainage would add to the volume of water in my patio area thus potentially exacerbating the heave of the clay soil in that entire back area of my house. That made sense, an integrated approach, foundation stabilization, drainage, and soil. He suggested that I rework my existing french drain replacing it with a solid 4" pipe that all the downspouts now drain into and direct that water off to the side yard into the bar ditch such that none of the water from my roof now drains onto the patio. Douglas' crew was courteous, hard working, timely, and kept their job site clean. In and out in about three days. After they left you could barely tell anyone had been there. We had some big ole cracks in the limestone masonry veneer before, and after you can barely tell they were there. My doors that used to be very difficult to open and close will now blow open from a puff of breeze. When they dug the holes for our job they hit bedrock on all of them so our piers are all sitting on bedrock and so we are very confident the foundation beams won't settle again. This may not be indicative of all jobs but in our case it worked out very well, sort of a bonus. All communication before and after went smoothly. The job was well coordinated and supervised. Received the engineer report, warranty and warranty transfer paperwork in good order after the job was completed. Basically they did what they said they would do when they said they would do it and we liked them. Plus they have that Longhorn thing going for them. :-) What's not to like? read more

My slab problem seems minor compared to several posts about houses needing foundation repair. My problem involved a basketball court that had one of the slabs come up about 2" probably due to nearby tree roots. After Googling "slab repair Austin", I came across a video about "mud jacking" and ultimately called Douglas for a quote. I have 3 kids and its a small annoyance stumbling over this "curb" in the middle of our driveway/basketball court area, but I wanted to look into possible solutions thinking I'd not act on something so minor. So, my wife was home and they came a few days later with an estimate. I still had reservations about whether my problem could be fixed. I called their office and they spent the time telling me about the process and assured me about the aspects of mud jacking and that, although not a 100% certainty of the outcome, I got the impression they were comfortable and that's all I needed to give it a try and go to this expense for a possible solution. I'm sure glad I did!! The process completely leveled my entire area (raised 3 slabs because the higher slab couldn't be lowered) and I could not have been more pleased. But outside of the 100% positive outcome, I was very impressed with the customer service and professionalism from all I encountered throughout this whole process. I received emails about the planned service date and directly spoke with Steve and Rick who were most helpful. The day of the job (which I stayed home for), the onsite foreman (John) was simply outstanding. Answered all my questions and again...just amazed and marveled at how this process was so precise to completely fix our slabs. He spent the time explaining the process and we watched the slab come up at very small increments until there was a perfect end product. This company is well run and the customer service aspect is truly appreciated. Coupled with the technology they use, I have nothing but positives to say about this experience. Kudo's to all at DFR. read more

I don't think I have enough superlatives in my vocabulary to express how impressed I was with Douglas, Rick, Lisa and the rest of the DFR team. My house needed some repair work done and it was a tricky issue to figure out the best strategy. Douglas spent almost 2 hours with me in our first meeting as we talked about various approaches and things to consider. He also told me to talk to other foundation companies and a structural engineer just to make sure all possibilities were being considered. So I got 3 additional bids--one from each of Centex, Bruecher and Quality Foundation. The structural engineer said that hands down, Douglas Foundation had thought through the issue the best, was recommending the best types of piers (steel, you guys!) and would do the best job when it came to execution. (And Douglas was the fairest price to boot!) That engineer was exactly right. It is incredibly stressful to go through the foundation repair saga, not to mention expensive. So you have to do your research. I did mine and it led me to Douglas and his team and I am thrilled with the result. They finished the 3 day job that my house required yesterday. They were professional, clean, came in right on budget and on time. Douglas, Rick, Lisa and everyone else over there...thank you for taking care of me. I was distraught and confused and you took the time to walk me through the process and get me a great result. If I could give 10 stars I would. read more

I recently had my foundation leveled by Douglas Foundation Repair. I had obtained three bids from Level Best Foundation, Superior Foundation and Douglas. Douglas Foundation came in at the middle position as far as cost. However, their investator spent far more time with me, explaining everything that needed doing and how it would be done. The other two companies left me kind of hanging as far as information went and one recommended more work than I felt needed to be done to correct the problem. When Douglas arrived on the job, they were one of the friendliest and informative construction crews I have ever dealt with. They were careful to ask my permission on where to store the piers and were generally very courteous throughout the process. I really can't say enough about how hard and fast these guys worked. They were definitely the hardest working bunch of fellows I have ever seen on a construction site. When they were finished, they cleaned the site up and made it look extremely neat considering the amount of dirt they had moved during the process. I am overall very pleased with their work and this company and would recommend them to anyone I know. I was truly expecting this to be a fairly bad experience but was pleasantly surprised and pleased with the whole situation. Thanks for a great job! read more

Douglas Foundation allowed me to keep my American Dream of owing a home. After retiring I could not wait to begin sharing my homes with my family and friends. Then came the worst drought in Austin and the state of Texas. My doors did not close, the large appliances did not work, the garage door had to be fix and then I began noticing cracking all over my home. I knew that something was wrong and with the help of former student who has a construction company he recommended Douglas Foundation. He said that Douglas is the best he is seen in his line of work. I began to make calls to other companies and getting bids. After seeing how other homes across my house were being treated by the men working I saw terror in my eyes. Then, I finally call Douglas Foundation and Douglas spent time explaining how he worked and that he pays attention to detail. I was sold .... His bid was great and his men worked with care throughout because I visited the site every day. My home is beautiful and Douglas Foundation improved my home by correcting the 7 inches that was off. I appreciate the professional and home down explanations he offered to me and I recommended him highly. You will not be disappointed and will begin inviting friends soon. read more

This summer's draught and poor construction of our home caused major foundation problems. Needless to say, my husband and I were concerned since we were not even able to shut our front door. After several bids, there was no doubt Douglas was who we were going with. He was thorough and spent extra time with my husband explaining the issues we had and solutions to repair them. He was professional, friendly, and obviously knew what he was doing. It was amazing to see the immediate results and gave us confidence that our home would be in good condition. His workers were also professional and I especially appreciated how nice and patient they were with our three year old little girl. She was very interested in everything they were doing and they never seemed annoyed by her. They also went above and beyond by replanting our plants that had to be dug up. A portion of our deck was also taken apart and they replaced it as well. What a relief that my husband didn't have to all of that. So as I said, you won't be disappointed. You will be greatly satisfied! read more

Concerned about my foundation, I called Douglas Foundation based on these Yelp reviews. Actually, I filled out an inquiry form on their website and they called me back that day. We scheduled an appointment for a few days later. Darrel came over and I listed off my laundry list of concerns about the house and the foundation work that had been done right before we purchased it. He was friendly and happy to look at everything I had to show him. As I was describing everything though, in the back of my head I was thinking "Don't appear so concerned, he'll tell me that unless we spend 10 million dollars, this house will surely slip into the bowels of hell within a week". When he was done, I braced for the news. He told me "This foundation is stable and is well within tolerance. It is fine, let it be and don't waste your money." I was floored (no pun intended). So while I cannot speak about the quality of their work, in the bidding/consulting process they exhibited extreme integrity. Peace of mind for $0. Thank you Darrel and Douglas Foundation. read more

Just moved and based off all the recommendations my friends and coworkers gave, I am very glad we decided to go with Douglas Foundation. They were extremely knowledgeable and upfront with every detail about the home and estimates. Their specialist took their time to evaluate the home, draw things up and explain what has been going on and what could happen should we hold off on repairs any longer. Seems others that had come out to bid on the home just cared about getting us scheduled and getting paid. Douglas Foundation did not make us feel rushed at all during this process and made sure we understood every detail during the evaluation. Once things got started, the crew that was sent out was very professional from start to finish and made sure we felt comfortable and stress free during their work. This is a FANTASTIC company! I would highly recommend them to anyone looking to get the job done right the first time. This company and the staff they have is very friendly. read more

There's a ton of companies that do foundation repair in town, I suggest you use someone else. Not only were these guys slow to finish the job, but they left the job site looking filthy everyday . I was also charged way more than the original contract stated. Even though i was assured the cost would not go up-I felt like I was held hostage! When your house is torn up and a crew has been there for months , you will do anything to get rid of them- and pay I did!! Also had several items go " missing" from inside my house during construction- The owners attitude was less than reassuring, in fact he made my otherwise tolerant , forgiving wife say- " that guy is a pig" My advice - use someone, ANYONE , else besides Douglas Plauche and Douglas foundation repair - read more

I had a very pleasant experience with Jason from Douglas Foundation. His service was prompt, professional, and friendly. He was easy to work with and very conscientious about the stress level of a home buyer. I really appreciated his honest advice, straight talk, and professional opinion. Jason took the time to work around my schedule and conducted his foundation inspection according to the quick turn on the option period. Jason was prompt in his responses to questions (both via email and phone), and didn't hesitate to give information that would be beneficial when purchasing a home. Thanks to Jason, I was able to make the right decision on the purchase. THANKS JASON and DOUGLAS FOUNDATION!!! I will recommend you to friends and family in the future. read more

I waited over a year to post due to the nature of foundation settling and the required repairs performed to my parent's house out the Colony subdivision in Bastrop. Prior to choosing Douglas, we received 3 other estimates from the other big competitors located in the Austin area. All the companies were fair, but we seemed to get along with Jason from Douglas Foundation who provided the estimate. Their estimate was in the middle and the proposed repairs fell in line with the others. So we ended up choosing Douglas Foundation and a year later the foundation is performing well. But, I wanted to highlight that Mr. Douglas came out himself to monitor the repairs to my parents house and provided tips to help maintain the foundation during this drought spell. read more

Great foundation company! Thomas rocks! Came out and inspected our pier and beam house. Recommended some minor repairs but otherwise said the house foundation was solid and in good shape. Didn't pressure us to do any major work. Hand over recommended some a minor shift and shimmy, or whatever it's called. Let us know that the most helpful thing we could do at this time would be drainage repairs to ensure our foundation wouldn't start buckling. Knew what he was talking about because inspector said the same thing a few weeks before! Would recommend them for any foundation inspection or repairs. Didn't tell us we should do unnecessary foundation work which is so refreshing compared to other companies. super helpful and nice! read more

Darrel came by to do the initial free measurement, evaluation and sale. He was friendly, consultive and professional and there was no pressure or fear tactics, just honest assessment of the issues. After I signed on it was easy to coordinate events with Steve at the office. John came by with his large team exactly when scheduled. John was also friendly and professional and his team got to work right away. They worked quickly. By the time they were done they actually left the yard looking better than when they started! The doors and windows that wouldn't shut now shut, the floor that was bent is now straight and I'm glad I used Douglas Foundation. read more

I was referred to Douglas Foundation Services by my realtor for some foundation check on the house. I logged my request on the website and got a call the next day to arrange the appointment. That was pretty fast. On the day of the appointment, Coy came in for the measurements. He arrived on time. He finished his work quite within the assigned time slot, within half an hour and gave me a complete detail of his analysis. He was really professional and accurate. The best thing was the honesty of the analysis where he didn't notice any issues. I will definately recommend Douglas Foundation Services. They are professional and ethical folks. Keep it up! read more

I do Real Estate Investments and often come across Homes that need Foundation Repair. Douglas is the Man to Call. He will tell you the truth, give you several options, and He will TELL YOU IF YOU DO NOT NEED A FOUNDATION REPAIR! Yes, it seems crazy, but call a few Foundation Repair Guys and see what the difference is between what they tell you and what Douglas tells you. There will be a difference in Price, too. Douglas will be Lower. He has done a couple of Foundations for me recently, and of course, everything is perfect and everybody is happy! By the way, He is on time and gets it done in the time-frame that he promises. Sincerely, Matt read more

I used Douglas Foundation Repair to take care of foundation problems at my home. They came out and looked over the situation, talking to me and my brother and gave me a 'lock key' price--the job involved putting in 7 steel piers to level my garage/kitchen area. On the appointed day, they came early morning, working all day digging the holes and completing the work at the end of the day. Excellent job--GREAT clean up. The workmen were careful of my in-ground watering system (they broke 1 of the pipes and fixed it--no question, no problems). I would highly recommend them--very knowledgeable, very professional, very honest. Sandy M. read more

I used Douglas Foundation to adjust and stabilize the entire perimeter of my home which is a 2500 sq ft slab. Goes without saying, this was an extensive job. Unbelievably the crew came in as scheduled, dug the holes, set the piers (47 of them), performed the lift and backfilled all in just 3 days. All said and done with cleanup and concrete patching they were in and out in 5 days. Douglas, the owner, came by several times and walked me through the process before any work began. He was very informative and genuine. I highly recommend at least getting a quote from them if you think you might need foundation repair. read more