Henry Peña Sr. (left) and Henry Peña Jr.
Our
Story
Founded in 1962. Family-owned and operated for three generations.
Coastal Testing Laboratories has been testing the ground Houston builds on since 1962. Under the Peña family since 1976, we’ve stayed focused on the same things: answering quickly, putting customers first, and getting reliable, standardized reports into their hands.
A Houston Family Business
Houston has always been home. Serving it well is personal.
Coastal Testing Laboratories was founded in 1962, as Houston was growing fast and needed people who could tell builders what was under their feet. In 1976, Henry Peña Sr. purchased the company, and the Peña family has owned and operated it ever since. Today Henry Peña Jr. leads CTL with his son working alongside him: three generations of the family have built their careers here.
A lot about Houston has changed since then. The way we work hasn’t. We respond fast, we show up when we say we will, and we treat every client like a long-term relationship, because so many of them become one. Every report that leaves our office is built to the same standards, so engineers, builders, and public agencies can act on it with confidence.
Houston has always been the place our family calls home, and our home base has always been Pasadena and Deer Park, on the city’s east side. We live here, our crews live here, and the roads, neighborhoods, and job sites we test are the ones we drive past every day. That’s why we take serving this region to the best of our ability so seriously.
- 1962
Coastal Testing Laboratories is founded on Houston’s east side, where it has been based ever since.
- 1976
Henry Peña Sr. purchases the company. The Peña family has owned and operated it ever since.
- Today
Henry Peña Jr. leads CTL, with the third generation of the family on the team, across geotechnical engineering, drilling, environmental, and materials testing.
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