A good Hattiesburg foundation repair survey takes 60–90 minutes and produces an elevation contour corner to corner, dated crack measurements, an exterior water review, and a written scope. No charge anywhere across six counties; ask to keep the document.
What the contour is, the five shapes it comes back as, and what each one costs to address.
What a contour actually is
A set of floor elevation readings taken at intervals across the entire footprint, each with a location, expressed as height relative to the highest point. Not one measurement beside the crack — twenty or thirty across the house, so the shape of the movement becomes visible.
That shape is the diagnosis. Two houses with identical cracks can produce completely different contours, and the contour is what determines whether you are buying a $2,000 drainage job or a $12,000 pier line.
The five shapes, and what each costs
| Shape | What it means | Usual answer | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| One edge low, the rest flat | Active material under that stretch | Pier line, one elevation | $4,000–$9,000 |
| One corner low, falling two ways | A lens beneath that corner | Localised piers | $4,000–$6,000 |
| Dip through the middle | A buried boundary crossing the footprint | Support both sides of the line | $9,000–$15,000 |
| Whole house low but level with itself | Uniform movement | Often monitor, not repair | No repair cost |
| Flat, cracks unchanged | Movement finished | Cosmetic only | $400–$1,500 |
Rows four and five are the ones a survey exists to find. They are also the two a company paid by the job has the least reason to look for, which is the argument for keeping the reading and the selling visibly separate.
What else to ask for
- Crack widths measured, dated, photographed against a rule for future comparison
- Where roof and surface water actually goes, walked rather than assumed
- Construction type confirmed — slab or raised, which changes the whole approach
- A written scope naming which sections need support and which do not
- Depth assumption, per-foot overage rate, pier log commitment, and the specialist's licence class
Bring another company's quote
Ask the specialist to read it against your contour and say whether the layout follows the readings. The specific thing to look for: does the quote explain where it is not putting piers? On layered ground that omission is the most common way a bid grows, and it is very hard to spot without the survey in front of you. There is no expectation you switch.
Survey questions
Is the first visit free?
Many local specialists don't charge for the first visit, but it depends on the company. Ask when the specialist calls, before they come out. Ask for the contour, the crack measurements, and the written scope as part of it, as a document you keep.
How long does it take?
Sixty to ninety minutes for an average house. Taking readings properly across a whole footprint is the slow part, and it is also the part everything downstream depends on, so it should not be rushed.
Do I need to be home?
For the first part, ideally. The five questions on our about page are ones only you can answer, and your account of when things changed is genuinely diagnostic. After that you are welcome to leave the specialist to the readings.
Will I be told if nothing needs doing?
You should be, and it is a normal outcome. A flat contour with crack widths unchanged through a full wet and dry season means keep measuring. Ask to keep the baseline, which makes the next survey far more informative than the first.
Can I take the report to another company?
That is what a good report is written for. The readings are numbers with locations, which any competent contractor can check against their own instrument. A report only its author can interpret would not be evidence of anything.
Get a Hattiesburg elevation survey
Tell us which rooms are affected and which are not. On interbedded ground that contrast is the most useful thing you can give us — a house where the front is fine and the back bedroom is dropping is telling us something about what each end is sitting on. You get a call back from a local specialist who serves Hattiesburg.