Post-Tension Slab Repair in Jersey Village, TX
Jersey Village Foundation Repair Pros repairs and stabilizes post-tensioned concrete foundations across Jersey Village and the greater Houston metro, starting with a tendon map rather than a shovel. A post-tension slab holds steel cables under roughly 33,000 pounds of tension each, and that single fact changes how every part of the repair has to be planned: where piers can bear, where a hole can be cut, and what a crack across the floor actually means.
Almost every home built in this area since the early 1980s sits on one. The design suits Houston clay well, because a tensioned slab behaves as one stiff plate and rides small ground movements that would crack a conventionally reinforced pour. What it does not do is stop the soil moving. When the clay shrinks away beneath one corner, a post-tension slab still loses support: it simply fails differently, and it needs a different repair.
Post-Tension Foundation Services
Tendon Location & Mapping
Radar and electromagnetic scanning to plot every cable run on a marked floor plan before drilling, coring, or piering.
Broken Tendon Assessment
Identification of failed or de-tensioned strands, with engineer-specified splice or edge-anchor repair where the break is recoverable.
Edge Anchor & Pocket Repair
Correction of spalled, corroded, or blown-out anchor pockets along the slab perimeter, including re-grouting to seal the strand end.
Piering Around Cable Layout
Steel push and helical piers placed to the mapped tendon geometry, restoring elevation without cutting a single strand.
Void Fill Beneath Tensioned Slabs
Polyurethane injection through ports positioned clear of the cables, filling the gap that caused the slab to span unsupported.
Pre-Remodel Scanning
Marked plans for plumbers, electricians, and remodellers who need to cut a tensioned slab safely for a drain, doorway, or island.
How Post-Tension Slabs Fail on Houston Clay
The failure pattern here is distinctive. A conventionally reinforced slab tends to crack progressively and in several places as the soil moves, which at least gives a homeowner early warning. A tensioned slab resists, holds its shape across a developing void, and then shows movement suddenly and at the edge: a corner drops, a perimeter crack opens, or a door that closed cleanly for twenty years stops latching within a season.
Three causes account for most of what we document. Clay shrinkage during drought pulls support from beneath the slab edge, leaving the stiff plate cantilevered over nothing. Erosion from roof runoff or a leaking supply line does the same thing faster and more locally. Corrosion at the anchor pockets, usually where an original grout patch failed and let moisture reach the strand end, degrades the tension the design depends on. The third is the one most often missed, because the evidence sits at the slab edge under a flower bed.
Our Post-Tension Repair Process
- Interior elevation survey on a numbered floor grid, recording where the slab sits before anything is touched
- Tendon scan across all planned work areas, with cable runs marked on the floor and transferred to a plan drawing
- Perimeter inspection of every accessible anchor pocket for spalling, staining, corrosion, or failed grout
- Probe and acoustic testing to establish whether the slab is spanning an unsupported void
- Drainage and moisture assessment to identify what removed the support in the first place
- Engineered repair plan: pier locations dimensioned against the tendon map, plus any splice or anchor work specified by the engineer
- Post-repair elevation survey documenting the corrected profile against the opening readings
Why the Tendon Map Comes First
Cutting a tensioned cable is the one mistake on this type of foundation that cannot be undone cheaply. The strand releases its load instantly, which is a genuine hazard to anyone standing nearby, and the slab permanently loses the compression that section was carrying. The repair then involves a structural engineer, a splice, and a homeowner paying for damage that a scan costing a few hundred dollars would have prevented.
So we map first, without exception, and we hand the marked plan to the homeowner. It stays useful long after our work is finished: the next plumber who needs a drain line, or the contractor pricing a kitchen island with a floor box, starts from a drawing instead of a guess. Any contractor willing to core your slab without scanning it is telling you something useful about how they work.
Post-Tension Repair Versus Conventional Slab Repair
The diagnosis is similar and the execution is not. Both start with an elevation survey, because numbers on a floor grid are the only reliable way to separate a slab that has moved from a floor that was never poured flat. Both usually trace back to soil moisture rather than concrete quality. The difference is constraint: on a conventional slab, a pier goes where the structural load path wants it, while on a tensioned slab it goes where the load path and the cable geometry agree.
That constraint has a cost, and we would rather state it plainly than surprise anyone with it. Expect a post-tension project to carry a scanning line item and a somewhat longer planning stage than the equivalent slab foundation repair. Where readings show real differential drop, the repair is still foundation piering, laid out to the map. Where the slab is close to level but unsupported, void fill is the cheaper and correct answer, and an active water source means drainage correction belongs in the same quote. Homes showing perimeter cracking also need crack repair in the plan, and our elevation survey is what settles which of these applies.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does post-tension slab repair cost in the Houston area?
Tendon location and a documented elevation survey on a post-tension slab generally runs $2,200 to $4,500 as a standalone diagnostic. Piering a post-tensioned foundation typically falls between $9,500 and $21,000 because pier placement has to be mapped around the cable layout before any hole is cut. A large perimeter project with drainage correction included can exceed $24,500. Every figure follows the survey and the tendon map, never a square-foot rule of thumb.
How do I know whether my slab is post-tensioned?
Most Houston-area homes built from the early 1980s onward are post-tensioned, and many carry a stamped or cast warning plate near the garage door or an exterior corner reading that the slab contains post-tensioned cables and must not be cut or drilled. Sealed pockets spaced along the slab edge, roughly the size of a fist and patched with grout, are the other visible sign. Where no plate survives, we confirm with a scan before any work is planned.
Can a broken tendon be repaired, or does the slab need replacing?
A broken tendon is repairable in the great majority of cases, and slab replacement is very rarely the honest answer. A structural engineer specifies either a coupled splice on the existing strand or a replacement anchor at the edge, depending on where the break sits and how much of the cable is sound. What matters more is the cause: a tendon that failed because the slab was left unsupported over a void will break again if only the cable is addressed.
Is it safe to pier a post-tensioned slab?
Yes, and it is routine work, provided the cable layout is mapped first. Piers bear on brackets fixed to the slab edge or on interior points established clear of the tendons, so the strands are never cut. The risk on a post-tension slab is not piering itself: it is drilling or coring blind. A cut tendon releases its load instantly, which is both a safety hazard to the crew and a structural loss to the slab.
Do you scan before drilling for plumbing or a doorway?
Always, and we will decline to core a post-tensioned slab that has not been scanned. Ground-penetrating radar and electromagnetic location put the tendon positions on a marked floor plan before anyone starts a hole. The scan is inexpensive against the cost of a severed cable, and we provide the marked plan to the plumber or remodeller who needs it rather than keeping it to ourselves.
Warranty on Post-Tension Work
Piering installed on a post-tensioned foundation carries the same lifetime transferable warranty as our conventional piering, because the piers reach strata below the seasonal moisture zone and their performance does not depend on the cables. Tendon splice and anchor repairs carry a ten-year workmanship warranty on the repair itself. Scanning is warranted for accuracy within the marked area, which is why we mark the floor rather than describing cable positions verbally. Our warranty guide sets out what each of these covers, and the Houston cost guide shows how the line items are usually priced.
Serving Jersey Village and the Houston Metro
We repair post-tensioned foundations throughout Jersey Village, Houston, Cypress, Spring, Katy, Copperfield, Willowbrook, Champions, and Tomball, which covers most of the housing stock built here during the post-tension era. See our service areas for coverage by suburb, or the FAQ page for background on why Houston clay moves foundations year-round.
Get a Free Post-Tension Slab Inspection
Call Jersey Village Foundation Repair Pros at (281) 555-0184 for a free elevation survey on your post-tensioned foundation, including a tendon scan of any area you are planning to cut.