6 Structural Issue Warning Signs You Can't Afford to Miss

Whether you’re a new homeowner, looking to purchase your first home, or have been living in your forever home for years, you may see warning signs of structural problems. Home inspectors are often excellent at what they do, but no one is perfect, it’s worth having foundation experts examine these issues as well. Even the best-untrained eye can miss the writing on the wall, which could lead to destructive consequences.

These are a few of the most common structural problems you don’t want to miss or misinterpret:

1. Sticking windows or doors. Homeowners often assume a sticking window or stubborn door is standard in an aging home. It’s common for home buyers and inspectors to dismiss the signs as symptoms of the home “settling,” but that isn’t always the case. A shifting foundation can directly cause windows or doors to stick in their frames. This shift starts when the home’s foundation is sinking into the soil beneath it, skewing the structure above it. This often happens when fill soil is poorly compacted and compresses over time, or it may happen when soil washes away or dries up and shrinks due to extreme weather events. No matter the cause, the problem can be serious and may foreshadow disastrous issues in the future.

2. Gapping floors and ceilings cause an aesthetic issue that’s easy to blame on a home settling, especially if the structure is more than 20 years old. However, there could be an underlying reason for the interior wall being separated from the floor or ceiling. As with sticking doors and windows, this may be a result of foundation settlement issues. So, when a home has a ceiling or floor gaps, it’s probably time to bring in foundation experts to take a closer look.

3. Bouncing or uneven floors. Unlike the issues mentioned above, bouncing, or uneven floors may be caused by warped floor joists due to excess moisture, causing swelling, or lack of moisture, causing shrinking. This is common in homes built over a crawl space rather than a fully sealed basement — although waterproofing issues can lead to the same results in basements. However, foundation settlement may cause bouncing or uneven floors too, so it’s worth having experts examine them to determine the cause and best resolution. Even if you have a basement in your home, it may have an addition built over a crawl space, causing it to be prone to bouncing and uneven floors, while the rest of the home is not.

4. Drywall or plaster cracks. This aesthetic eye-sore can indicate deeper structural issues. When a foundation settles, it typically does so in an uneven manner, meaning parts of the house may sink while others don’t. Or perhaps they sink at different rates. This can skew the home’s framing, which can cause windows and doors to stick, floors and ceilings to gap, and interior walls to crack. The trouble is interior wall cracks — especially hairline cracks — are easily filled or painted over, making them easy to miss at an inspection.

5. Separating chimney. While a home inspector should spot an issue as obvious as a chimney separating from the rest of the home, it may be missed. A chimney separation is likely caused by poor soil beneath it, but it may be exacerbated by the chimney’s foundation not being physically connected to the main structure. This problem could arise immediately after a home’s construction or years later as it settles into poorly compacted or washed-out soil.

6. Driveway, pool deck, patio, and sidewalk cracks. Walk down any residential sidewalk, and you’ll see cracked, broken, and sunken slabs, which are easily dismissed. You’ll see these same issues in other concrete structures too, including driveways, patios, and pool decks. While these may not seem severe like foundation-related problems, they affect the value of your home and cause a tripping hazard and potential liability issues for the owner. However, what they do have in common with foundation issues is the cause — poor soil. Like the foundation, concrete slabs can sink and crack over time while settling into poorly compacted fill soil or voids left behind after soil is washed out or shrinks due to drought.

If you’re looking to buy or sell a home and suspect it may have a foundation, crawl space, or concrete issue, contact Ayers Basement Systems. We have the expertise and equipment to accurately assess and permanently repair most foundation, crawl space, and concrete issues.