How We Rank Contractors: The Method Behind "Top"

No contractors are listed yet

As of October 6, 2026, this site lists no contractors. Our name says "Top," so we owe readers the method before any list goes up. This page is that method. When listings appear, each one will show the date it was last checked.

Three rules that do not bend

1. Payment never buys a ranking position. A contractor cannot pay to move up, to be listed, or to keep a competitor off a list.
2. Paid relationships are disclosed on the listing. If a listed contractor pays us for referrals, the listing says so where you read it, not only on this page. The FTC expects paid connections that readers would not assume to be disclosed clearly^[10].
3. Quote requests work differently from listings. When you ask for a quote, we connect you only with a contractor who pays us for referrals, and the quote form says so. Our ranking checks still apply to that contractor.
4. Failing a required check means no listing. A contractor missing a required license, registration or insurance proof is not listed, whatever else they offer.

What we will check

1. Licensing or registration where it is required

There is no single national or state license for this work in our launch states, so the check depends on the city.

Place	What we will confirm
Texas	No state license exists for foundation repair contractors. The state's construction commission was abolished in 2010[1]. We check city requirements instead.
San Antonio	A City-licensed, active Residential Building Contractor for residential foundation repair permits[5].
Houston	The contractor's slab repairs go through the foundation repair permit with engineer plans[8].
Columbus	The correct city contractor license or registration[2].
Cleveland	City registration, bond and insurance[3].
Cincinnati	Current city contractor registration[4].
Chicago	A general contractor license of the right class for the project size[6].

We record the license or registration number and where we confirmed it, so you can check it yourself.

2. Proof of insurance

We will ask for current certificates of general liability insurance, and workers' compensation where the contractor has employees. In Illinois, we check against the state minimums: $100,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence for bodily injury, and $50,000 per occurrence for property damage, unless the contractor qualifies for the net-worth exemption^[7]. A verbal "we're insured" does not count.

3. Written warranty terms

"Lifetime warranty" means little until you read it. We will read each contractor's written warranty and summarize:

• What it covers: pier adjustment only, or damage to the house too.
• Whether it transfers to a buyer, and any fee or deadline.
• What voids it, such as skipped watering or drainage upkeep.
• How it treats heave. Common Houston-area repair piers are not tied to the grade beams and cannot stop uplift from swelling clay, and the Foundation Performance Association does not count heave after repair as pier failure^[9]. Warranties that exclude heave should say so plainly.

4. Complaint and review checks

We will search state attorney general complaint channels where records are available, public complaint records such as better-business complaint files, and court records in the contractor's county for patterns of disputes. We will read reviews across more than one platform and look for warning signs: bursts of five-star reviews, copied wording, or the same unresolved problem repeated. One bad review does not disqualify anyone. A pattern does.

5. Permit and engineer practice

For slab foundation repair, we will ask whether the contractor pulls permits where the city requires them and whether an independent licensed engineer designs and signs off on repairs. In Houston and San Antonio, engineer involvement in residential slab repair is a city requirement, not a bonus^[5][8]. For leveling and flatwork, we ask what drainage fixes they recommend, since soil and water problems cause most re-settling.

How often we recheck

Our policy is to recheck licenses, registrations and insurance at least once a year, and sooner when a certificate expires. Any credible complaint a reader sends us triggers a fresh review. A contractor who drops below the bar comes off the list until the problem is fixed.

What this method cannot tell you

We do not inspect job sites or test installed piers. A listing means a contractor passed paper checks, not that every job will go well. For a slab, the best protection is still an independent engineer's evaluation and a written contract you have read. See how we match for how referrals work.