Foundation Inspection in Plano, TX

Plano by the Numbers

Method: Census counts are estimates with published margins of error; weather is the 1991 to 2020 normal at McKinney Municipal Airport.

Which Plano Homes Are Fifty Years Old? The 20,392 Built in the 1960s and 1970s

Plano's housing was built in waves. Census counts 20,392 homes from the 1960s and 1970s, 17.5% of the total, and 94,430 from 1980 on. Only 1,618 predate 1960, 1.4% of the total, the smallest share on this site. The older group that matters in Plano is therefore the 1970s housing, now around fifty years old.

Manufactured homes number 557, 0.5% of housing units, the lowest share among the eleven cities. A Plano request is almost always a site-built house, and the HUD certification page is rarely the right one.

62,592 households own their home, 57% of occupied units, and 47,930 rent. Plano's 287,339 residents live in 116,440 homes.

What Does the McKinney Airport Record Say About Rain Around Plano?

The nearest station with published normals is McKinney Municipal Airport. It reports 38.3 inches of rain a year, the highest of the six stations, with May the wettest month at 4.77 inches and August the driest at 1.73. The July average high is 95.0 degrees, the lowest of the six stations, and the January average low is 33.9.

Collin County Has the Most Active Clay of the Seven: 65.5 Percent Very High

The USDA soil survey rates 74.5 percent of rated acres in Collin County high or very high in shrink-swell, the highest share of the seven counties on this site, and 65.5 percent very high. Only 3.9 percent is rated low. Houston Black alone is 210,429 acres, followed by Heiden at 45,880 and Tinn at 35,997. The survey leaves 18 percent of Collin County acres unrated, so the figures describe rated land only.

That makes the 1970s houses the ones to read carefully. Collin County had some land in severe drought in 51 of 262 weeks since October 12, 2021, and the map dated October 13, 2026 shows 48.09 percent in that class and 4.19 percent in extreme drought. By year, the weeks with any severe drought were 24 in 2022, 18 in 2023 and 1 in 2024. The report records what the house shows; the soil name stays a county fact. Across all those weeks the mean share of Collin County in severe drought or worse was 13.5 percent, the lowest of the seven counties.

County detail, with the named soils and the weekly drought record: Collin County soil and drought data.

What Has the Engineer Done in Plano?

Before he started the firm, Heath Salmon's municipal design work included Plano. That work is public infrastructure, not houses, and the point is narrow: he has read Plano's plans and drainage conditions from the engineering side.

At 116,440 homes Plano is the third largest of the eleven cities by housing units, and its 22,010 homes built before 1980 are a bigger group than the older housing of Weatherford, Mansfield and Grapevine combined. The quote follows the address, the foundation type and the number of structures.

“I cannot recommend Heath highly enough! As a Real Estate Professional, I value working with experts who prioritize my clients’ best interests and provide exceptional guidance.”

Caroline Atwell, Google review. Reviewer location not stated.

What Does the Plano Report Not Attempt to Predict?

Future movement. It records the conditions as found on the day, and the firm quotes no repair because it does none. Permitting and drainage notes sit alongside. Read the foundation inspection page for the visit, then use the request form for a Plano address.

More From HGS Engineering

• Foundation Inspection: Foundation repair inspections by a licensed engineer.
• Structural Design: Single-family, multi-family and commercial: foundations, framing, retaining walls and plot plans.
• Retaining Walls: Retaining wall design and evaluation.