I'm no expert, but if you are new to real estate, here are a few examples of what to look for regarding foundation problems. If you see these signs, it may be nothing, or it could be a problem. If you have a concern that there may be a problem, consult with an expert.

The first place to look for problems is by walking the perimeter of the property. Some signs that you will want to look for are cracked bricks and/or mortar. The place these most often appear is near windows or doors. Here are a couple of examples.





In the two pictures above, it is very obvious that someone has repaired the cracked brick and mortar. The repair is fairly recent. Sometimes the repair has weathered or was done by someone with talent and it's hard to distinguish between the repair and the normal surface.

Another place to look for foundation issues is the exterior trim. Sometimes, large gaps will appear after movement. Here's an example of something that a buyer should notice and have it checked out.



You can see that the trim has pulled away from the brick about 1/2 inch or more. Again, most of the problems I have notices are near doors, windows, and the garage door.

Evidence of foundation problems can be found in the interior of a home as well. Here are a few examples.







As you can see, these drywall cracks all start at a corner. Not all cracks mean foundation problems are present, but be aware of them and look for them.

Finally, this is a sure sign a foundation problem exists.



The slab was cracked from side to side and dropped about 1/2 to 1 inch. Part of the floor was covered in laminated wood, so it wasn't visible. However, it was very noticible that that the floor was not level and had a ridge. However, the portion of the floor that was covered in ceramic tile removed all doubt that an expert should be consulted.

Daaaaang.....

Stopped by a past client from 5 or so years ago yesterday because he had "some foundation questions." The house is only 6 years old.

The back section had huge cracks inside and outside. It appeared to be lifting. The weird part was that when you looked at the grading around the house it was proper. So water was not pooling next to that area to make the soil too wet and lift.

Found out that the neighboring house had had the same problem. Turns out that deep ground water is running under these houses from the contour of the golf course behind them. Again it was not really apparent that this would be a problem because the golf course land in question appeared to route the water away from the houses.

The neighbor's house ended up having to have the soil "chemically treated." Not exactly sure what that involves since I am not a foundation expert. But he said it run 7 to 10k.

The crazy part about our soil in this case was that you don't see ANYTHING wrong with the grading when you look at it. How the heck is anyone supposed to prevent that?

Pier and Beam. You got about a 1k problem instead of a 5 figure problem.

I've always wondered why pier and beam wasn't being used all that much these days.

Expense I guess.

[This message has been edited by p_bubel (edited 3/23/2012 10:23a).]

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I've always wondered why pier and beam wasn't being used all that much these days.

Expense I guess.

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ding ding

builders want to make money and realize that (most) buyers don't see any significant value in the better foundation.

Also bear in mind MANY MANY homes in Texas show these symptoms (save for an actual fissure) but don't have a foundation problem. We just went through this selling our house. The inspector got the prospective buyers riled up, but we'd had an engineering study done that certified the slab was within tolerance. Buyers had a foundation company owner inspect it and he couldn't even find something to sell them (us).

Just FYI for those that see drywall and mortar cracks and run off in fear the house may fall over on them.

Absolute... I'd be curious to know where those two homes were located. You work in Houston, si? Most of Houston has the Beaumont or Lissie formations on the surface which are both thick impermeable clay. The Beaumont is much higher plasticity and more subject to shrinking and swelling. The Lissie has its own nasty little trick.

The only place I'd expect to see groundwater shallow enough to influence a home is in the Willis and further updip formations unless they're in some alluvial deposits over by Spring Creek or the Trinity or San Jacinto Rivers...

Gotta agree NdP,

A HIGH percentage of the early 80s homes in B/CS have cracked mortar and sheet rock. All you have to do is look at the sides of the houses as you drive through one of these hoods and you can see every house on the block will have cracked mortar. Its so common that I would say its already priced into some areas. Its pretty common to pull all the flooring up on one of these properties and the slab look perfectly fine. People that aren't familiar with it will freak out because they automatically assume the house is about to crack into two pieces. It also doesn't help that there are foks out there selling doom and gloom.

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Pier and Beam. You got about a 1k problem instead of a 5 figure problem.

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Yep. It makes moving around utilities, toilets, and everything else loads easier too.

The downside I've run into is, it's loads harder to install tile and stone flooring. I'm getting ready to reinforce the crap out of our place to get deflection where it needs to be. It'll take eight new piers, two beams and loads of sistering for our kitchen, entry and living room alone.

Texas soils are horrible. Especially in DFW, and east of 35 in Austin, San A, etc.

I worked in a structural engineering firm in DFW for about 4 years (I was a general Civil, not a structural) and heard that 70% of homes in DFW had foundation issues, along with numerous horror stories.

You really can't fix foundations, you just treat the symptoms and hope to prevent future issues.

Chemical stabilization is typically lime treatment. It works but there are studies that show it leaches out/migrates before 20 years and you are back to untreated soil conditions.

Drainage is extremely critical. The goal is to keep the moisture content constant under the foundation.... dry or wet.
If a house is built in a dry year you have problems keeping moisture out, if it was built in a wet year, it the other. I would prefer the wet year, slabs do better spanning settlement than they do being lifted. Trees can cause problems by removing moister from the soil in addition to the roots lifting the slab.

Build you home on rock, farm in clay, etc.

"We're going to need an expert to take a look at the hairline crack to determine the effect it may have on the integrity of the structure."