Sealed engineering letters across Texas, city by city
Design wind speed in this state runs from around 100 miles per hour in the interior past 150 on the lower coast. Soil runs from Houston Black clay that moves inches every season to Permian caliche that barely moves at all. Fourteen counties carry a windstorm certification requirement the rest of the state has never heard of.
None of that is decoration. It changes what a document has to say and which office reviews it, which is why each page below is written for its market.
Opening soon
Sealed Engineering is not yet accepting orders. Firm registration is pending with the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, and no engineering services are being offered or performed under this brand until it is granted. Founding customers on the waitlist are contacted first when ordering opens.
The windstorm line
The Texas Department of Insurance designates fourteen seaward counties plus the part of Harris County east of Highway 146. Inside that area, construction has to be documented with a WPI-8 certificate of compliance before windstorm coverage will be written or continued. Outside it, there is no such requirement at all. These Tier 1 markets sit inside it.
Gulf Coast
- HoustonHarris County . WPI-8 areaBeaumont clay and Lake Charles clay, highly expansiveWind: roughly 130 to 140 mph basic wind speed
- Corpus ChristiNueces County . WPI-8 areacoastal clay and clay loam over deltaic depositsWind: roughly 140 to 150 mph basic wind speed
- BeaumontJefferson County . WPI-8 areaBeaumont clay, highly expansive, with a very high water tableWind: roughly 135 to 145 mph basic wind speed
- VictoriaVictoria Countycoastal prairie clay, expansiveWind: roughly 130 to 140 mph basic wind speed
Rio Grande Valley
- McAllenHidalgo CountyRio Grande delta clay and clay loam, moderately to highly expansiveWind: roughly 120 to 135 mph basic wind speed
- BrownsvilleCameron County . WPI-8 areaRio Grande delta clay, expansive, with a shallow water table near the coastWind: roughly 145 to 155 mph basic wind speed
- HarlingenCameron County . WPI-8 areaRio Grande delta clay and clay loam, expansiveWind: roughly 140 to 150 mph basic wind speed
Central Texas
- San AntonioBexar Countysplit between Edwards limestone north of the Balcones Escarpment and Blackland clay south and eastWind: roughly 105 to 115 mph basic wind speed
- AustinTravis CountyEdwards limestone and karst west of the Balcones Escarpment, Blackland clay eastWind: roughly 105 to 110 mph basic wind speed
- KilleenBell CountyBlackland clay east, limestone and thin caliche soils westWind: roughly 105 to 115 mph basic wind speed
- WacoMcLennan CountyHouston Black clay, Blackland Prairie, very high plasticityWind: roughly 105 to 115 mph basic wind speed
- College StationBrazos Countyexpansive clay of the Brazos and Navasota bottoms with sandier uplandsWind: roughly 110 to 120 mph basic wind speed
- Round RockWilliamson CountyBlackland clay east of I-35, limestone and thin soils westWind: roughly 105 to 115 mph basic wind speed
West Texas
- El PasoEl Paso Countyarid alluvium, caliche, and collapsible siltsWind: roughly 100 to 110 mph basic wind speed
- MidlandMidland Countycaliche and calcareous loam, low to moderate expansionWind: roughly 100 to 110 mph basic wind speed
- OdessaEctor Countycaliche and calcareous loam, low to moderate expansionWind: roughly 100 to 110 mph basic wind speed
- San AngeloTom Green Countyshallow calcareous soils over limestone, with expansive clay in the lower areasWind: roughly 105 to 115 mph basic wind speed
- AbileneTaylor CountyRolling Plains clay and clay loam, moderately to highly expansiveWind: roughly 105 to 115 mph basic wind speed
Not on this list?
These 25 are the markets with pages written for them, not the limit of where documents go. Deliverables produced from documents are prepared for any Texas address. Anything requiring a site observation is scheduled around a certified field technician reaching the property, which is what sets the timeline in the more remote parts of the state.
More city pages are added in waves rather than all at once. A page that cannot say something true and specific about its market is worse than no page, so each one waits until it can.
Tell us where the property is
The address decides the wind speed, the soil, and which office reviews it.
Opening soon. Founding customers get first turnaround slots.