How to get foundation repair leads for your foundation company

Start with the inspections you already did and didn't close

Every foundation company has a drawer of proposals that went quiet — the homeowner who got an $18,000 pier quote, said they needed to think, and never called back. That list is the cheapest lead source you own, and it converts better than anything you can buy because the scope is already written and the problem has only gotten worse.

Work it on a schedule. Ninety days after a proposal goes quiet, the crack is wider and the framing of the conversation changes from "here's a quote" to "here's what changed since we were out." Seasonal triggers help: after a long dry spell, after heavy rain, and every spring when doors start sticking again.

• Log every unbooked proposal with the date, scope, and quoted price
• Follow up at 90 days, then at each seasonal shift (post-drought, post-rain, spring)
• Re-walk the property free if the problem has visibly grown — the re-inspection books the job

Own your Google Business Profile for repair terms, not just your name

Foundation homeowners search the symptom first — "cracks in brick veneer," "doors sticking in house," "uneven floors repair" — and the company name second. A profile with weekly photos of actual pier installs, crack repairs, and crawl space work, each captioned with the neighborhood, ranks for symptom searches in a way a website rarely does on its own.

Ask for the review the day the crew leaves, while the homeowner is standing on a level floor they paid for. Foundation companies live and die on reviews more than almost any trade, because the ticket size makes homeowners read every single one.

Build the referral lane most companies ignore: real estate

Every home inspection in your market generates foundation questions, and most inspectors won't recommend a contractor by name — but agents, lenders, and title companies will. A reliable "we can look at it this week and write it up for the file" relationship with a dozen producing agents is worth more than most paid channels, because these leads arrive with a closing deadline attached.

The trade-off: pre-listing and pre-close inspections have to be fast and written up cleanly. If you can turn an inspection report into a scope and price within 48 hours, you become the default call.

• Offer 48-hour turnaround on inspection reports for active transactions
• Price transferable-warranty jobs clearly — agents ask about warranty transfer every time
• Stay neutral: agents need a credible scope, not a scare quote that kills their deal

Answer cost questions in public before the national brands do

Homeowners search "how much does foundation repair cost" weeks before they search for a contractor, and the first page of results is national brands and lead brokers. A straight answer with real local ranges — pier cost per pier, slab versus pier-and-beam, when polyurethane foam injection is enough and when it isn't — puts a local company in the conversation the nationals can't localize.

This is slow-build content, not this week's lead source. Write it once with honest numbers, update it yearly, and let it collect search traffic while the faster channels carry the calendar.

Buy leads to fill the gaps — with a cap on competition

Foundation leads are where buying goes wrong fastest: the same homeowner record gets sold to four or five companies, the first to arrive sets the scope, and everyone else is quoting against a number they never saw. Buy only where competition is structurally capped: Homeowner Henry sends each job to no more than three contractors and allows only 3 per county for the trade. See the full economics on the /pros/foundation-leads pillar page.

The pricing is simple: $5 a month per county, and every lead that comes in from that county is included at no extra charge. No contract, cancel any time, billed monthly in advance and prorated when you add a county. On a five-figure average ticket, a single closed job pays for years of coverage.

Speed to lead beats everything else you could change

The single highest-return change most contractors can make is calling faster. A homeowner who fills out a form is in buying mode for a window measured in minutes, not days. If you call back the next morning, you are quoting against someone who already walked the roof.

Build the habit into the crew's day: whoever is nearest a phone calls within five minutes, texts if there's no answer, and calls again that evening. Three touches in the first 24 hours, then weekly for a month. Most jobs that look dead are simply un-followed-up.

• Call within 5 minutes, text immediately if there's no answer
• Three contact attempts in the first 24 hours, at different times of day
• Every lead gets a written estimate or an explicit no — never silence
• Log the outcome of every lead so you can price your channels next quarter

The only number that matters: cost per booked job

Lead price on its own tells you nothing. What tells you everything is cost per booked job — lead price divided by your close rate — measured against your average ticket.

Run it honestly for one month. Count every lead you paid for, every one you actually reached, every estimate you gave, and every contract you signed. Most contractors are shocked by the reach rate, not the close rate: leads you never get on the phone are the real leak.

• Cost per booked job = (leads bought x price per lead) ÷ jobs signed
• At $5 a month per county with leads included, one booked job pays for years of coverage
• A $15 shared lead at a 1-in-20 close rate costs $300 per job — and eats four times the phone time
• Compare that number to your gross profit per job, not to your revenue

How Homeowner Henry does it differently

Henry is a homeowner-facing site: people arrive from local foundation cost guides and city pages, describe the job, and verify their phone number by text before the request is released. There is no auction and no resale to directories.

Every job goes to a maximum of three foundation contractors, and only 3 contractors per county hold the trade at all. When three are in, the county closes. Coverage is $5 a month per county and every lead in your counties is included — no charge per lead, no contract, cancel any time.

Your first week getting this running

Don't build all of it at once. Get the free channels moving first, then layer in paid leads once you know your inspection-to-close rate.

• Day 1: Pull every proposal from the last 12 months that didn't close; schedule the 90-day follow-ups
• Day 2: Clean up your Google Business Profile — service areas, photos of real pier and crack work
• Day 3: Call three agents you know; offer 48-hour inspection turnaround for their active deals
• Day 4: Draft your local cost-guide page with real price ranges for your soil and housing stock
• Day 5: Set the callback rule — every inbound inquiry gets a call within five minutes
• Day 6: Claim your counties and start coverage, then measure cost per booked job against your free channels
• Day 7: Log every lead's source and outcome in one place — this is what tells you what to do more of next month

Foundation lead channels compared — cost, speed, and what they're actually for

At a $10,000+ average ticket, close rate matters more than lead price — a cheap shared lead you never reach costs more than a $25 lead you book from.

The five-minute callback script

Say this on the first call, before anyone else reaches them.

Ninety-day proposal revival call

For proposals that went quiet — the problem has grown, so lead with that.

Agent partnership opener

For the listing and buyer's agents you want sending inspection work.

Questions contractors ask

How do I get foundation repair leads with no money to spend?

Work your unclosed proposals, your Google Business Profile, and real-estate agent relationships. All three cost time only, and all three convert better than purchased shared leads because the homeowner already has a reason to act.

What should a foundation contractor pay for a lead?

Measure cost per booked job, not cost per lead. Homeowner Henry charges a flat $5 a month per county with every lead included, so on a $10,000+ average ticket one closed job pays for years of coverage. Compare that to a $30 shared lead that closes one in twenty — $600 per job and four times the phone time.

Why are foundation leads so expensive on the open market?

Because the ticket size supports it. National foundation companies and lead brokers bid symptom keywords up knowing one job pays for hundreds of clicks. Capped-county models exist to get local companies out of that auction.

Do free inspections still work as a closing tool?

Yes — but the inspection has to be fast and the follow-up disciplined. The company that books the inspection first usually writes the only scope the homeowner fully understands, so speed to the appointment matters more than the pitch.

What does a foundation lead cost on Homeowner Henry?

Leads are included. You pay $5 a month for each county you cover, and every phone-verified homeowner in those counties comes to you at no extra charge. No contract, cancel any time.

Are the leads exclusive?

A job goes to no more than three foundation contractors, and only 3 foundation contractors hold a county at once. They are not resold to directories or bidding sites.

What if a lead is bad?

Wrong number, out of area, or not a real project gets a replacement credit. You tell us, we credit it — no dispute forms.

Sources and further reading

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Construction Trades
• Google Business Profile Help
• American Society of Home Inspectors — Standards of Practice