Ann Arbor particulars
Washtenaw County is one of the nine Michigan counties in EPA's highest radon zone, Zone 1, where the predicted average indoor level is above 4 pCi/L. EGLE says the residential code requires radon-resistant construction in new homes there, but that rule does not reach an existing house, so testing is still on you. Ann Arbor's fee schedule, revised July 15, 2025, treats basement waterproofing as a building permit that also requires grading plan review and a grading permit, with a $15 base application fee and a permit fee of $100 plus $10 per $1,000 of project cost.
Applications go through STREAM; the office is at 301 E. Huron St., 734-794-6263. The city's flooding page says basement water can come from storms, spring snowmelt or groundwater building up, and advises a backup for the sump pump. Of 53,715 housing units, 64.3 percent predate 1980, 30.5 percent predate 1960 and 15.2 percent predate 1940, and the median value is $435,100, high enough that an engineer's report is small next to the bill. Ypsilanti is 6.0 miles away.
Foundation repair in Ann Arbor: what to know
Building, Rental and Inspection Services takes applications online through STREAM and answers at 734-794-6263. The city's fee sheet prices a building permit at $100 plus $10 per $1,000 of project cost for $1,000 to $50,000, adds a $15 application fee and a 20 percent plan examination charge, and bills $35 for each extra inspection. Foundation repair has no named line there, so ask if yours is treated as a building permit job.
With 64.3 percent of 53,715 units built before 1980 and 15.2 percent in 1939 or earlier, Ann Arbor mixes old cores with newer edges. A state license is needed from $600 of work, per LARA. For a diagnosis that comes before any pier talk, the engineer guide is the place to start.
Permits for foundation repair in Ann Arbor
The base code requires a permit to repair or alter a structure, Michigan's exemption list does not name foundation work, and your city's building official makes the call.
Many cities run their own building department, so start by asking the City of Ann Arbor building department who issues foundation repair permits.
When a foundation problem is an emergency
- A wall is visibly moving or has shifted since you last looked.
- A floor is dropping or a doorframe has pulled apart in days.
- Water is coming through a wall near the electrical panel. Do not step into that water.
- A crack that has not changed in months and lets no water in.
What to do before you call a foundation company
Try this first: email the building office with your address and scope, and ask for the permit type in writing.
- Photograph each crack with a coin beside it, and mark both ends with a pencil and the date.
- Check that downspouts end away from the wall; the University of Minnesota Extension lists grading and gutters ahead of any drainage system.
- Ask the first company who diagnosed the problem and whether it would also do the repair.
What foundation repair costs
The estimate below is the Michigan-wide one, adjusted for Michigan wages and not for Ann Arbor in particular. The same table is on the foundation repair page. How we estimate costs. Prices as of Oct 19, 2026.
| Item | Figure | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Estimated range, not a quote | $2,300 to $8,375 per project | Built from 2 national published ranges, adjusted by the Michigan cement mason median wage ratio (1.05). No Michigan foundation company price is shown, because none of the companies we looked at published a price we could count. |
| Cement masons and concrete finishers, Michigan median | $59,860 a year | What workers are paid (BLS 2025 data via O*NET), not what you are charged. |
| Construction laborers, Michigan median | $49,590 a year | What workers are paid (BLS 2025 data via O*NET), not what you are charged. |
| Civil engineers, Michigan median | $92,100 a year | What civil engineers are paid, not what an engineer's report costs. No wage category covers foundation crews exactly. |
| Building permit, Ann Arbor | $15 application fee, then $100 plus $10 per $1,000 of project cost | Revised July 2025. Basement waterproofing is named. |
| Building permit, Grand Rapids | $79 for work valued at $1 to $1,000; $215 at $20,001 to $21,000 | FY2027 chart. No foundation line. |
| Building permit, Lansing | $175 for work valued at $4,001 to $10,000 | Schedule of July 1, 2026. |
How we estimate costs: the Estimated range row is a model, not a quote. It takes two published national ranges for this job (cost guides from third-party sites that we have not verified and do not cite) and multiplies them by Michigan's cement mason median wage ratio to the US (1.05, BLS 2025 data read through O*NET OnLine). No permit fee is added: the city permit rows below are shown as printed. The wage and permit rows are what workers are paid and what a city's own schedule charges, and neither is a price. Your soil, water and the repair method move a real quote well outside any range, so get an independent diagnosis first. We have not collected quotes, and we found no Michigan foundation company that publishes a price we could count. Full method.
Questions about foundation repair
How do they fix foundation problems?
The repair depends on the cause, and the cause has to be found first. Typical work is sealing or injecting a crack, bracing or rebuilding a wall, adding support under a footing, or fixing grading and drainage. We have no source that ranks these methods, so ask why the proposed one fits the cause.
How much does foundation repair cost in Michigan?
Our estimate for foundation repair in Michigan is $2,300 to $8,375 per project, built from national published ranges and adjusted for Michigan wages, because we have collected no Michigan quotes. A crack seal and a pier job sit at very different points in that range. Ask for an itemized price that names the method and the permit, and shows the license number.
Does foundation repair need a permit in Michigan?
Probably, but your city decides. The base code requires a permit to repair or alter a structure and Michigan's exemption list does not name foundation work, yet no state page we read says so in plain words. Ann Arbor, Dearborn, Livonia, Sterling Heights and Warren print waterproofing as a permit item, so call your building office before work starts.