- A single accidentally cut cable in a residential slab runs $800–$2,000 to splice and re-tension. Corrosion-driven repairs run $3,000–$5,000 per tendon, engineered multi-cable repairs land between $10,000 and $15,000, and garage-scale restoration is priced at $45–$150+ per square foot.
- The cable itself is rarely the expensive part — reaching it is. Concrete removal, access, engineering, and finish restoration drive most of the bill.
- An accidental cut is usually a one-cable problem; corrosion almost never is. That single difference can multiply a project tenfold.
- In South Florida, salt air attacks post-tension systems from the anchor heads inward — and 1970s–90s buildings with early unbonded systems are now at the age where milestone inspections and 40-year recertifications keep surfacing the damage.
- Almost every broken cable can be repaired without replacing the slab — and when a contractor cuts one, their liability insurance usually pays for it.
In This Article
Post tension cable repair costs between $800 and $2,000 for a single accidentally cut cable in a residential slab, and $3,000 to $5,000 per tendon when corrosion is involved. Larger engineered repairs — multiple cables, elevated slabs, parking decks — typically land between $10,000 and $15,000, and garage-scale restoration is priced by the square foot instead. If you just found a snapped cable poking out of your slab edge, or your contractor's saw found one the hard way, those are the honest numbers to plan around.
The frustrating part of researching this question is that almost nobody publishes them. Ranking pages either describe the repair without pricing it or quote figures in units you can't compare. This guide puts the published numbers in one table, explains what moves your quote up or down, and walks through how professional post-tensioning repair actually works — in plain English, from a state-certified structural contractor.
How Much Does Post Tension Cable Repair Cost?
Here is the full range of published contractor figures, reconciled into one view:
| Repair scenario | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| One cut cable, simple splice and re-tension (residential slab) | $800 – $2,000 |
| Per corroded tendon, exposed and replaced (commercial rates) | $3,000 – $5,000 |
| Typical full project range (multiple cables, access work, restoration) | $2,875 – $11,850 |
| Engineered multi-cable repair (chip-out, splice, re-tension, repour) | $10,000 – $15,000 |
| Garage or deck-scale post-tension slab repair | $45 – $150+ per sq ft |
Two things explain that wide spread. First, the cable itself is rarely the expensive part — reaching it is. Concrete removal, finish restoration, and access drive most of the bill. Second, a repair triggered by corrosion is almost never a one-cable problem, while a repair triggered by an accidental cut usually is. That difference alone can multiply a project tenfold.
What Is a Post-Tension Tendon — and Why Repairs Cost More Than Regular Concrete Work
A post-tension cable, or tendon, is a braided high-strength steel strand — usually about a half-inch thick, sheathed in plastic — that runs through a concrete slab. After the concrete cures, each cable is stretched with a hydraulic jack and locked off at an anchor head at the slab edge. The stretched steel squeezes the concrete together permanently, which is what lets post-tensioned structures span longer distances with thinner slabs than ordinary reinforced concrete.
That stored tension is also why post-tension repair is specialist work. Unlike passive rebar, every tendon is actively carrying load — often tens of thousands of pounds of force. Repairing one means safely releasing that force (detensioning), fixing the steel, and pulling it back to design tension with calibrated equipment. It's a controlled, engineered procedure, not a patch job, and the pricing reflects that.
One detail that matters for your quote: whether your system is unbonded (cables slide inside a greased plastic sheath — standard in homes and most Florida condos) or bonded (cables grouted solid into ducts). Unbonded cables can often be repaired by pulling a new strand through the existing sleeve. Bonded systems behave more like rebar and are repaired differently, sometimes with regrouting to restore protection around the steel.
What Breaks the Cables in the First Place
Corrosion. The dominant cause in South Florida. Salt air, humidity, and moisture intrusion work through hairline cracks and failed sealant until chlorides reach the steel. Tendon corrosion typically starts at the anchor heads — the most exposed point of the system — and works inward, invisibly, until the cable snaps or the concrete above it breaks loose. Buildings from the 1970s–90s with early unbonded systems are the most vulnerable.
Accidental cuts. The other classic failure is a saw or core drill finding a cable during a remodel. It happens often enough that builders stamp "DO NOT CUT OR CORE" into post-tension concrete slabs.
Scan before you cut — every time.
A scan with ground-penetrating radar costs a few hundred dollars; the repair it prevents costs thousands. If you're planning any slab cutting, scan first.
Construction and stressing defects. Less common: nicked sheathing, poorly sealed anchor pockets, or cables damaged during original stressing. These usually surface as early, localized cable failure rather than widespread deterioration.
The 6 Factors That Drive Your Repair Price
- 1Number of tendons involved. The single biggest variable. One cut cable is a day of work; a corroded slab edge can hide dozens of failing cables.
- 2Access and location. A cable in an open garage bay is cheap to reach. One under tile in an occupied condo unit, or in an elevated deck requiring shoring, is not.
- 3Extent of corrosion. A clean break can be spliced with a coupler. Corroded strand has to be chased back to sound steel — and what an inspection finds at one anchor head often changes the scope.
- 4Engineering and permits. Structural repairs of this type should be designed or reviewed by a structural engineer and permitted. It adds a real line item, and it's not the place to economize.
- 5Scanning and locating. GPR mapping before and during the work protects the crew and your remaining cables.
- 6Finish restoration. Flooring, waterproofing, stucco, paint — putting everything back is often a third of the bill on occupied properties.
Post-Tension Slab Repair: What Each Scenario Runs
A contractor cut a cable in your home's foundation
$800 – $2,000+This is the best-case repair. Crews expose a small section, splice the strand with a coupler (or thread a new cable through the existing sleeve), pull it back to design tension, and patch. Published figures and contractor reports put this at $800 on the simple end and a few thousand dollars when multiple cables or difficult access are involved.
Corrosion in a condo balcony, pool deck, or elevated slab
$3,000 – $5,000 per tendonHere, post-tension slab repair is priced per tendon — commonly $3,000–$5,000 each at commercial rates — because each one needs exposure, evaluation, splicing or replacement, tensioning, and corrosion protection. Deflection (visible sagging between supports) or multiple stained cable lines usually signal a multi-tendon scope. Condo balcony repairs of this type require engineering oversight and permits.
A parking garage or full deck restoration
$45 – $150+ per sq ftAt this scale, post-tension slab repair pricing shifts to the square foot: roughly $45–$65 for minor repairs, $65–$85 for partial-depth work, and $85–$150+ for full-depth structural restoration. Industry case reports are consistent on one point — deferred maintenance multiplies scope. Assessments that start with a handful of flagged cables routinely grow once the concrete is opened, which is exactly why early repair is the cheap version. Learn more about our parking garage repair services.
How the Repair Actually Works (Step by Step)
A qualified crew follows Post-Tensioning Institute (PTI) procedures:
Scan and locate. Ground-penetrating radar maps every cable near the work area.
Expose. Crews chip out a controlled section of concrete around the damage, or open the anchor pocket at the slab edge.
Detension. The damaged cable's remaining force is safely released. This step is why post-tension work belongs to trained crews — the stored energy is no joke, though modern release procedures make dramatic failures rare.
Splice or replace. A clean break gets a mechanical coupler; a corroded or shattered strand gets pulled and replaced through the sheath. Severely damaged systems may need full tendon replacement with new anchors.
Re-stress. A hydraulic jack pulls the cable back to its engineered tension — the target values come from the structural engineer, verified by elongation measurements.
Protect and patch. Anchor pockets are sealed against moisture, grout or repair mortar restores the slab, and finishes go back on. On bonded systems, regrouting restores the protective envelope around the steel.
Done properly, the repaired cable performs like the original — this is a permanent fix, not a band-aid.
Warning Signs Your Cables Need Attention
- Cracking that follows straight lines across the slab
- Rust staining bleeding through the surface
- Concrete spalling (flaking or breaking away) — especially on balcony edges and soffits
- Sagging or deflection between supports
- A cable physically protruding from the slab edge
- Popped or corroded anchor head caps
Any one of these justifies an inspection; a cable sticking out of your foundation justifies a call this week. That said, don't panic — slabs are engineered with reserve capacity, and one failed cable rarely means imminent structural damage. It does mean the clock is running.
Why South Florida Buildings Can't Wait on Cable Repairs
Builders in Texas and the Southwest pour post-tension foundations to cope with expansive soils. South Florida uses the same technology overhead — in elevated condo decks, balconies, and parking structures — where a failure has much more serious consequences. The national advice on this topic assumes freeze-thaw cycles and road salt. Miami's version is worse in slow motion: year-round salt air, storm-driven moisture intrusion, and coastal humidity attacking post-tension systems from the anchor heads inward, 365 days a year. Condo towers, parking garages, and pool decks across Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties built in the post-tension boom of the 1970s–90s are now at exactly the age where tendon corrosion accelerates.
Florida's compliance calendar adds urgency. Milestone inspections under SB 4-D (required for condos three stories and up) and 40-year recertifications in Miami-Dade and Broward routinely surface post-tension damage that boards didn't know existed. When an engineer's report flags corroded tendons, repair stops being optional — and the structural integrity of the building, its insurability, and its reserve budget all depend on how quickly and competently the work gets done.
Budget it before the inspection does. Budgeting repairs at today's per-tendon prices beats funding an emergency restoration at three to five times the cost later. When corroded tendons show up in a milestone report, the timeline stops being yours.
Who Pays When a Contractor Cuts a Cable?
Usually the contractor who cut it — their general liability insurance exists for this. Courts and insurers generally treat scanning before cutting as the contractor's due diligence, not the owner's. If you're the owner: document everything, get the damage assessed by a structural engineer, and notify the contractor in writing. If you're the contractor: notify your carrier, and know that "the homeowner told me it wasn't post-tensioned" is a weak defense without documentation. On engineered buildings, the engineer of record should be alerted before repairs are designed. Either way, don't leave a cut cable unrepaired while the paperwork gets sorted.
- 1The real numbers: $800–$2,000 for a single cut cable, $3,000–$5,000 per corroded tendon, $10,000–$15,000 for engineered multi-cable repairs, and $45–$150+ per square foot at garage scale.
- 2Six factors move every quote — tendon count, access, corrosion extent, engineering and permits, GPR scanning, and finish restoration. Access, not the cable, is usually the expensive part.
- 3The repair is a controlled PTI-standard procedure — scan, expose, detension, splice or replace, re-stress, protect — and done properly it's a permanent fix, not a band-aid.
- 4Watch for straight-line cracking, rust stains, spalling, deflection, a protruding cable, or popped anchor caps. One failed cable is rarely an emergency, but the clock is running.
- 5In coastal South Florida, salt-air corrosion plus SB 4-D milestone inspections make early per-tendon repair far cheaper than an emergency restoration at three to five times the cost — and if a contractor cut your cable, their insurance usually pays.
Stephanie Lopez
Owner, New Age Construction Group
Stephanie Lopez is the owner of New Age Construction Group, a state-licensed structural restoration contractor (CGC#1531273) serving Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach County. She leads the firm's concrete restoration, waterproofing, post-tensioning, and 40-year recertification work for condominiums, HOAs, and commercial properties across South Florida.
View Full Profile →Frequently Asked Questions
Get a straight answer on your slab. New Age Construction Group repairs post-tension systems across Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties — engineering-led, permitted, and built for coastal conditions. If a milestone inspection flagged your tendons, or there's a cable where a cable shouldn't be, we'll assess it free and scope the right repair. State-certified general contractor, license CGC #1531273.
