Warning signs
Signs of a foundation problem
Cracks, uneven floors and doors that stick can have several causes. These pages explain what to record and what a foundation inspection may check. They cannot establish the condition of your house.
Pick the closest match
Seven signs and what they can mean
- Cracked brick, plaster and ceilingsZigzag lines through brick joints, splits slanting up from window heads, plaster that reopens a season after it was patched.Read on
- Doors that rub, windows that jamThe bedroom door now scrapes its frame, the bolt misses the strike plate, a sash will not lift.Read on
- Floors that slope, dip or springA dropped pencil rolls to the hallway, the parlor has a hollow, the boards give as you cross them.Read on
- Cracks in the basement wallFieldstone, granite, brick, block and poured concrete each crack in their own way. Which marks deserve a visit.Read on
- A basement wall that bows or leansA level line splitting the block wall, a belly in the stonework, the top course tipping toward the oil tank.Read on
- Chimney, porch or stoop coming adriftDaylight between chimney and clapboards, a three-decker porch stack out of line, a stoop tipping to the street.Read on
- Puddles along the foundationRain that sits against the wall for a day, a downspout ending at the sill, a yard pitched toward the cellar.Read on
Reading them together
Look for a pattern, then have it assessed
Any single item on this list has innocent explanations, and each page gives them. What makes an inspection worthwhile is a pattern: signs that sit one above the other, that lie on the same side of the house, or that have changed since you last looked.
Change is the thing to record. Mark the ends of cracks in pencil with the date. Photograph gaps with a ruler in the picture. Note the month a door began to rub. A company can do far more with six months of your notes than with a single visit.
None of these pages can tell you what is wrong with your house. Only someone who has examined it can.
Local pages
Ground and permit notes by neighborhood
Foundation repair in Boston
Have a Boston foundation company take a look
Give the street, the kind of building and what has changed. The company settles a day to visit, and afterwards you receive its written account of the cause and what it would charge.
Ready to have it looked at?
Phone and say what you have seen. The firm on the other end is a Boston-area foundation repair company, independent of this website, and it can book a visit to your home.
Call (617) 555-0111You speak with an independent company, not with this website. See the referral disclosure.