All Texas Foundation Repair

HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE! I felt extremely disrespected by their workers who were described by Mark (the salesman) as long term hard working people. Mark landed the job by speaking half english and half spanish. The day I was alone with them at the house they did a terrible job, one of them knocked on my door to tell me they were done for the day and had to wait for inspection, I tried talking to him in spanish as I knew it was our native language and he was arrogant, reluctant, no eye contact, he didn't respond clearly. Summary of the events of the day: 1) They broke the main water supply for the house, they left me without water inside the house. 2) when I contacted Mark, they tried to gaslight me by telling him that it was my sprinkler system running. I had to send multiple videos to prove the running water in front of the house and the faucets with no water supply. Mark did respond properly by coming to the house and bringing a plumber to fix it. 3) They broke the sprinkler system whi

These guys did our foundation back in 1991. It's been many years later and we are getting ready to put a new roof on, so we wanted to make sure the foundation wasn't messed up, since we've had floods and droughts since 1991. I called them to come out and do an inspection/assessment to see what might need to be done. Bill Marks, the owner, came out with equipment, did a thorough inspection, and verified that we've had LESS than 1/2" of movement since 1991, which is remarkable. As it turned out, the foundation is fine and good to go for the new roof. He told us that if we noticed any funky stuff in the future, we should call him to come back and inspect it again. Super knowledgeable and truly upfront with us. If you need foundation work done, this is who you should call!

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Bill Marks was very knowledgeable & curious, his men arrived at the appointed time, did an excellent job and cleaned up afterwards.

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Scope of work. Level a pier and beam bungalow in the Heights. Initially the quote was $3,700. With an understanding that all the rotten beams that required changing, would be changed. Job completed. A month or so later however after the old siding was removed, it was apparent that the front porch corner beam – although it was completely rotted to the core, had not been changed and the house was dipping in that corner. There was also a badly rotted area of beam under the kitchen at the back of the house. I contacted Bill Marks about this, he sent out his guys to finish the job. Another $1,700 was charged for replacing 2 more beams (that should have been changed initially). Bringing the total job to $5,400. What really bothered me though, after telling Bill that I had just had new siding put on the house and the guys needed to remove and replace the siding carefully - after changing the beams, they literally tore off the siding and threw it in a heap around my house. Damaging some more of the existing siding in the process. SO I had to have my contractor go buy more siding, put it back on the house and shell out another $180 for his extra work. To add salt to the wound, the foundation guys left the rotten beams on my front yard! How in the heck was I supposed to pick up and dispose of those 40ft beams? After calling Bill again to ask him why they didn’t take them – he said “it’s expensive to dispose of the beams”! What??? Seriously? Well how was I supposed to move them? He said, “We have Big Trash Day in the Heights”… really?! As you can imagine, I was not happy and told him they HAD to come back for those beams. I looked on their website and it states that they remove debris etc. after a job. Not in my case however. I called the office to talk with Bills super nice office manager (think her name is Cathy) and she was completely understanding and apologetic of my situation. I also told her about having to replace and pay for more siding that they had damaged and asked if they could deduct that from my invoice and refund at least the $180. She said that she would ask Bill, and promised that they would be back out that day to get the beams – and she kept her word about the old beam removal. They were gone when I got home from work that day. In all, Bill Marks is a very nice guy, but he needs to make sure his customers are happy and satisfied with the end result. When there are problems – just put them right, without making things worse by letting his workers leave a job site in a shambles. Although he said his guys would come back and put the siding back on – by now I didn’t trust them to do it right. They should have shown me more care the first time around. I was disappointed that he didn’t agree to refund the extra $180 it cost me to repair the damage his workers caused. Unfortunately after my experience, I could not in all honesty give a great review. There are a lot of foundation companies out there.

It went really well. They were very professional and did good work. The salesman, Mark, was especially nice and explained everything in detail prior to doing the job.

Had many companies to come out and check the house, none gave a satisfactory answer.  Had an engineer look at house and he recommened several companies, ALL TEXAS FOUNDATIONS  REPAIR was amoung them.  Bill Marks gave his recommendations, among them to use the old Bell Bottom piers that I had put in 30 years ago and press piles if they were needed.  House was a 1938 story and half brick, very heavy.  In raising the house 8 inches in the middle the concrete beam was not cracked, nor were any of the bricks cracked.  The young crew was very small but all of them knew their jobs and continually worked.  They fixed the old foundation repair jobs that were not done very well over the years.  Put in some extra joists that I had requested. The crew was young but very experienced,  they had a very large truck with everything they needed, including the 40 jacks they used to raise the house.  Other leveling jobs I had done on the house had not gone so well but this Job went much better than I had thought it would....had a different house when they  were finished, it took me a long time to find a company like this one, when they started it went quickly....very satisfied....money well spent. I believe This leveling job will take the house to the century mark and beyond.

Excellent service and work!

Bill was extremely professional and helpful.  He responded much quicker than any of the other companies I contacted.  In fact, other companies could not get out for weeks or months.  He took measurements with latest state of art devices.  His advice was excellent.

It went as well as it possibly could have gone.  First of all, Bill Marks and his crew showed up precisely when they said they would, an experience my wife and I have had only one other time with more than a dozen Houston contractors we have used in the last decade.  Second, Bill took care to identify exactly the work that needed to be done, and demonstrated clearly to me the reasons why.  Third, the crew performed the work with care and courtesy to my wife, who works from home.
Today, when the work was completed, Bill and his crew foreman walked us through the entire house, showing us that is it now level.  I don't know what more you could ask for from a contractor, and again, we have seldom had such an experience when dealing with contractors in Houston.
All Texas was the third home leveling service I contacted based on Angies list recommendations.  The first one I contacted told me it would be 3 months before he could even come out and give me an estimate, then another 3 months before he could begin work.  Ridiculous.  The second said it would be a month before he could come out and take a look. Not quite as ridiculous, but close enough.
Bill came out the day after I called him, and his crew came out to get the work done three weeks later.  It would have been one week later had my wife and I not been out of town.
Folks, if you need your home leveled in the Heights, make All Texas your first call, not your third.  Trust me, you'll be happy you did.

Placement of piers was ok.  And quality of concrete piers seemed to be good.  But was surprised that they only used visual observations in making adjustments to the foundation.  After breaking out holes in the driveway to place piers along that side of the house, they filled the holes in the driveway with dirt and water and then poured concrete over the top.  The muddy water leeched into the concrete and has compromised the integrity of the concrete  One of the holes they dug on the far side of the house was only partially filled when they left.   They did minimal tamping of the soil they replaced in the holes.  All the dirt was taken so when the dirt in the holes settle I will have to buy soil to fill them in.
WARRANTY IS A NON-WARRANTY
They told me when they came out for their sales presentation that they had a lifetime warrenty. Found out later that their warrenty is a non-warranty.  It is a lifetime warranty but they charge $50-$100 per pier to make necessary adjustments.

great

Work was done quickly and the crew showed up on time. I am happy with their work.
When I asked about the pros and cons of leveling part of the house, and then leveling the rest of the house at a later date, I was told there would be no issues.
This is not entirely true. There are various new cracks in the house that I am reluctant to repair until the rest of the foundation work is completed.

First he came over and took measurements.  He said the house was nearly level.  But, since we were planning to have some work done in the kitchen, it would be be good to make sure that was level.
They came back a week or two later and did the work in one day.  As expected, some new cracks in the sheet rock appeared.  Otherwise, the change was barely noticeable.  The backdoor has two locks.  One would no longer lock.  The screen door dragged.  He would have come back and fixed that, but we just waited a few months and the problem went away.  The top lock was still tight, but a neighborhood did a little filing and took care of that.
Overall, I am very satisfied with the work an would recommend.

They did a great job. The guy who runs the company, Mr. Bill Marks – he is doing the job for a long time. He is really nice guy and easy to work with. He is very upfront. He is very much to address any concerns. We have a lot of rock damaged after they leveled the house and he is very helpful with that.

Contacted several foundation repair contractors, Mr Marks and All Texas
provided a competitive bid and were able to begin the work immediately. 
While that can be a red flag, his foreman crawled under my house to
give a comprehensive bid before work began, not while doing the work.
The
crew was courteous and worked quickly but did not rush the job and try
to complete in one day, the foreman was constantly using the zip level(a
must if you are leveling a pier and beam home).
 Charges for work/repairs beyond the original
estimate were listed on invoice but no further charges came about.
The
crew even repaired a leak that came about in my galvanized plumbing,
saving me several hundred dollars paid to a plumber or several hours of
stupidity on my part crawling under the house.
I crawled under the
house to check the work and they had done everything that was explained
to me, I am satisfied with the results

I was very much pleased with them. They did a great job. Everything that they told me like the timing was great. The man who worked was Mike and right now he is doing the foundation on my daughter's house and he is very professional and great.

I had previously heard about Bill Marks from a thread in Houston Architecture magazine.com, when I found him on Angie's list, we decided to bring him in for a quote. He was one of 3 quotes we received for the job. He scheduled to come out and look at the house the next day and arrived right on time. He was even able to accommodate meeting us 5:30pm on a weekday. He thoroughly inspected our foundation and measured the leveling inside and walked us through the leveling in each room. He was very knowledgable and gave us his quote. It may not have been the cheapest, but it certainly wasn't the most expensive. His crew of 6 came out at 8AM the following morning and finished everything by 3PM. The foreman walked through the house with us again to show the new leveling measurements (all even). Bill warned us of possible sheetrock damage and said he would call us if it happened to get our approval to proceed. We knew the house desperately needed leveling so we gave him the approval to continue with the leveling even if the sheetrock cracked. The cracks weren't too bad (I expected much worse since the leveling was so bad before Bill & his crew arrived). I would certainly use his services again. His crew worked diligently and was professional. Bill was a pretty good salesman too.

I have used All texas twice--once in 2008 and again in 2011. The actual jobs were done professionally and quickly. Unfortunately, the first job did not totally fix the problem, as we again experienced movement two and half years later. The piers that were installed did not seem to fail, but several had to be reworked and many were added in 2011. All Texas did discount the additional work slightly. The fact that the work had to be redone in 2011 was very frustrating, as we now have to re-do some interior work done after the first job because of the additional movement. 

See above. I found the company name online. Many companies were busy with concrete foundation repair due to the drought. I needed pier and beam leveling. This company had done work on historic homes in my area. I sent an email, got one back and had an appointment the next day with Bill, the owner.
He was able to accommodate the day I could be home and they were great.
They really know older homes.

They were very efficient and a lovely group of people to work with.

Mr. Marks, the owner, arrived on time for our appointment. He looked under the house from the crawlspace entry, determined what needed to be done - somehow - and drew up a proposal for $3250. He included the usual clause that any additional work would be addtional cost and he gave me numbers. I accepted his bid, knowing that additional work would probably be necessary. That was the last time I saw Mr. Marks. His crew of six arrived an hour late on the first scheduled day. This was after I called Mr. Marks to ask where they were. Orlando, the foreman, was somewhat apologetic. His crew then proceeded to crawl the entire space underneath the house to inspect the foundation. They reported to me and to Mr. Marks - by phone - that all the sills and joists were dryrotted. Although this was not good news, I half expected it based on another estimate I had received. I decided to have them do a partial repair of the front of the house. At no time did Mr. Marks mention to me that a permit was necessary in the city where I live. Although I realize I am ultimately responsible for this compliance, I would expect a contractor to be aware of this fact wherever he intends to start a job. When I asked Mr. Marks about this after checking with the city, he told me that he had not gotten permits before when he did work here? The city shows that he did so in 2006. The current requirement for contractors includes paying a $150 fee to register with the city and provide plans of the work to be done. Although he agreed to register and pull a permit if I desired, he did not want to. Orlando and his crew finished the first day by removing most of the bad wood. They worked from 10am to 4pm with a 1 1/2 hour lunch break. He answered my questions but was otherwise uncommunicative about the work being done. The second day, Orlando and the crew were an hour late again. I called the office again to ask where they were. They resumed removal of the bad wood, started installing new wood and consequently raising the floors. They worked from 10am to 4pm with another 1 1/2 hour lunch break. The third day, after arriving late again, Orlando and crew finished installing the new wood and raising the floors. When I asked Orlando that day - twice - when they intended to return from lunch, he said "I don't know" ( ?? ) It was necessary that they repair a vent cover opening in the front of the house that was damaged while moving themselves/material in and out of the crawlspace. They had to "adjust" three doors in my hallway that would not close properly. The fourth door needing adjustment was the front door which would not close more than halfway. They worked on this for a while. Although they did get it to close, it still sticks and is misaligned with the door frame. After they had left, I realized that the adjustment they made to get the front door to close was unacceptable. They had left the middle of the floor directly in front of the door unsupported. It was weak and spongy. At this point, I was not 100% confident in All Texas Foundation Repair's integrity. I stopped payment on the check and called Mr. Marks to ask him to send the crew back out a.s.a.p. and fix the floor. They showed up three days later and corrected the problem. The front door still closes, but still sticks.

Bill personally performed the estimate. His crew of six extremely courteous men arrrived on time and was led by Jose Orlando, the sort of fellow who inspires trust and confidence. Soft spoken and true to his word, he regularly updated me on the work as it progressed. Bill called shortly after the work commenced to make sure I knew he could be here immediately if I needed him. I didn't, the guys were great. They finished the work ahead of schedule making sure all my doors worked perfectly before cleaning up and leaving the place cleaner than they found it.

Mr. Marks was very prompt in responding to my inquiry about the job, and visited the property on his own to evaluate whether he could perform the work. Mr. Marks asked whether I was getting other bids and requested the bid amounts. He said that he would beat the lowest bid by several hundred dollars. However, Marks did not provide specific details about the type of work he would perform. I refused to consider his bid until he would meet with my husband and specifically describe, in detail, what his bid included. After this meeting, Marks provided a bid for $3700 that included the entire repair and leveling cost. Once the work was initiated, Mr. Marks said that he had underestimated the scope of the work--it was going to require a significant amount of wood repair. Without my authorization, Marks also replaced part of the floor in the bathroom and part of the doorframe. Indeed, these repairs were necessary, but I did not authorize the work before it was preformed at an additional charge. Marks did not remove waste materials from the job site, nor was the area left as clean as I would have expected. The final bill was $6500--almost $3000 more than the initial $3700 estimate. In my opinion, Mr. Marks intentionally underbid the job. He has been in business for many years, and should be more competent at estimating the scope of a project. Mr. Marks took advantage of me. I would not recommend his services.