Foundation repair in Marietta
Marietta has one local quirk that costs homeowners time on every structural job, and almost no repair company mentions it before the quote.
Check which permit office covers your address
Before anything else, check whether your address is inside Marietta city limits. The city and Cobb County run separate permit offices, so the answer decides where your foundation work gets filed.
Inside the city, the rule is broad: a permit is required whenever an owner or contractor intends to: construct new, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish a building or structure. City of Marietta, Building Permits Outside the city limits, you are in Cobb County's residential permitting process instead. Cobb County Residential Permitting Confirm which one applies to your parcel before you sign anything, and ask the contractor to name the office they will file with.
If you were planning to pull the permit yourself
The City of Marietta allows it within limits: a homeowner can be their own Building Contractor if they meet conditions set forth in O.C.G.A. 43-41-17(h), with a notarized Property Owner's Affidavit, proof of ownership and plans. But homeowners CANNOT apply for any mechanical, electrical, nor plumbing permits. City of Marietta, Homeowners Building Permit
That matters on foundation jobs more than people expect, because crawl space and basement work frequently disturbs plumbing lines or a gas line to a water heater. The structural part may be yours to permit and the line relocation is not.
What is under your house
Marietta is in Cobb County, where the USDA maps Madison, Pacolet, Gwinnett and Cecil soils, all classified fine and kaolinitic, all rated low for shrink-swell and well drained. The survey numbers and the ratings are here. What the county survey cannot tell you is what your own footing bears on if the lot was graded, which is a question for an engineer at the house. You can at least pull the mapped soils for your parcel free from the USDA Web Soil Survey before a contractor tells you what is down there. USDA-NRCS Web Soil Survey
Cobb County's wet and dry record
Soil moisture here swings hard, and that swing is what opens and closes cracks across a season. NOAA's drought portal publishes the current and historical drought record for Cobb County specifically, which is worth a look if you are trying to work out whether a crack moved because of weather or because of a structural problem. Drought.gov, Cobb County, Georgia
Before you call anyone in Marietta
- Confirm city limits or unincorporated Cobb. It changes the permit office and the fees.
- Measure and date your cracks. See warning signs.
- Look up your parcel's mapped soils and whether you are on a graded slope.
- Get an engineer's report before a contractor's estimate. See inspections.
- Ask every bidder which permit office they file with and who attends inspection.