Foundation repair in Frisco, Texas

Frisco is the newest housing stock in this set by a wide margin: median year built 2009, with 79.7 percent of units built in 2000 or later and 40.3 percent in the 2010s alone (ACS 2019–2023, Frisco). It is also split across two counties — about 63 percent of the city's area in Collin and about 37 percent in Denton (Census TIGERweb), which is worth knowing before reading county-level guidance as if it applied citywide.

Post-tensioned slabs are what the city inspects

Frisco is one of only two cities in this set whose own inspection documents name foundation systems, and the naming is specific. The residential inspection checklist is written against "ACI Manual of Concrete and Post Tension Institute Practices and International Residential Code," with line items for "Chairs and cables tied in place and supported against displacement" and "Cable ends secured and Dead-Ends provided with clearance," plus "Drilled Piers Installed, if included, per plan" (Frisco Residential Inspection Checklists).

Paired with a 2009 median build year, that puts most of Frisco's housing in post-tensioned slab territory rather than the conventionally reinforced slabs of older suburbs. It changes what a homeowner should be cautious about. Cables run through the slab under load, which is why the checklist tracks their placement and ends, and why drilling or cutting into a Frisco-era slab is not a casual step. Anyone proposing interior work through a post-tensioned slab should be able to say how the tendon layout was established. Nothing here supports a claim about how many Frisco houses are of which type — the city publishes an inspection standard, not a census.

Four Vertisols, not one

Frisco's soil is more mixed than the Blackland Prairie shorthand suggests: Houston Black about 36.6 percent of city area, Heiden about 15.5 percent, Branyon about 14.4 percent and Austin about 12.8 percent, with "Houston Black clay, 1 to 3 percent slopes" the largest map unit at roughly 24.8 percent and two Branyon units together near 14 percent (USDA Soil Data Access).

Four of the top five series are expansive. Heiden's official description records dry-season "cracks that are 1 to 8 cm (0.5 to 3 in) wide at a depth of 30 cm (12 in) or more," and Branyon's states that "When dry, cracks 2.5 to 8 cm (1 to 3 in) wide extend from the surface to depths of 51 cm (20 in) or more" (USDA series description, Heiden; USDA series description, Branyon). Measured, Heiden runs PI 30 to 55 with linear extensibility to 17 percent, while Branyon is milder at PI 23 to 47 and 13 percent (SSURGO). A newer engineered slab does not exempt a house from that ground; it means the original design already anticipated it, so the live question is usually what changed around the perimeter since.

The permit costs $75

Frisco publishes a flat line item: "Foundation Repair … $75.00" (Frisco consolidated fee schedule). The general rule is broad — "Permit applications are required prior to any construction to modify, repair, replace, demolish, or improve an existing structure" (Frisco permits FAQ).

Frisco's fetched permit material does not state an engineer's letter or sealed-plan requirement for repair work, unlike several nearby cities that do. That is an absence in the published documents rather than advice to skip engineering; the same city already requires an engineer's inspection pass before a new slab pour under its checklist (Frisco Residential Inspection Checklists).

The strictest watering rules in this group

Frisco is under mandatory drought restrictions: "Current Phase: Phase 3 Mandatory Water Use Restrictions (enacted May 8, 2026)" (Frisco water conservation). Under Phase Three, the schedule became "enforceable under Section 171-22 of the Frisco Water Code": "Even-numbered addresses may water on: Tuesday and Saturday – overnight between 6:00pm and 9:00am," "Odd-numbered addresses may water on: Sunday and Wednesday," and "No outdoor irrigation on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays" (Frisco Phase Three announcement).

Two assigned overnight windows a week is a tighter constraint on perimeter moisture than anywhere else in this set. The one relief the announcement gives is for the delivery method rather than the schedule: "You may water flowers, plants, bushes, and trees anytime using drip irrigation, a watering can, or a hose with an automatic shut-off valve" (same announcement). On Houston Black and Heiden clay, a steady drip line beats a heavy soak every fourth day, and in Frisco right now it is also the only route that stays inside the ordinance on non-watering days.