Signs Your Foundation is Settling

Inside Your Home: you may see cracks forming in the drywall across your ceiling, or in the walls around windows and doors. Not sure if the cracks are superficial or settling? Open and close the doors or windows in the room with the cracks. If the doors/windows "stick" and are hard to move, this is a sign your foundation is settling.

Outside Your Home: you may see cracks in the foundation, especially near the windows that are difficult to open or close.

Foundation Settling

In most cases, a chimney is built on a foundation that is separate -but connected- to the house’s foundation.

A chimney is a heavy structure, built out of brick or stone. Because it’s a significant amount of weight in a small footprint, your chimney often settles faster than your house does. When this happens, the connection between the foundations is strained, and can crack or separate.

Once the chimney is no longer securely anchored to your home, it begins to lean. This is when a gap can form between your chimney and house, allowing drafts and water to intrude.

Mold, Mildew, and Bacteria

Mold, mildew, bacteria, and other biological growth are all by-products of a wet basement or crawl space. These organisms are everywhere in our environment, and can enter your home on your shoes, gym bag, or even through a draft in your foundation.

When the foundation is unlevel, your home’s structure is pulled in opposing directions. Building components like wooden beams and concrete walls are not designed to bend or stretch- so they begin to twist or warp.

As the wooden components of your home warp, they move the framing of the house. Drywall is not flexible; it will not bend or twist.

Another sign of settling is sticking doors and windows. You can test for this yourself:

1. Open the window nearest the developing crack. If it’s hard to open or won’t stay open, you have a settling problem.

2. If there’s a door close to the crack, test this also. A sticking door may not close or it may not stay closed without being locked.

Because most crawl spaces do not have a floor, the exposed ground under your home allows water, insects, and other vapors to enter the crawl space.

Fiberglass insulation is often an additional issue, because it absorbs moisture. Most older homes have fiberglass insulation installed between floor joists and beams. Damp insulation means damp wooden floor components.

Damp wood will rot, sag, and deteriorate. It will also grow mold and provide an ideal “home” for insects like termites. All of these issues increase the rate and severity of damage to your floor.

When the foundation is unlevel, your home’s structure is pulled in opposing directions. Building components like wooden beams and concrete walls are not designed to bend or stretch- so they begin to twist or warp.

As the wooden components of your home warp, they move the window and door frames. Once the frame shifts in place, it prevents your door or window from moving smoothly. Another sign is cracking in the drywall around these sticking doors and windows.

These cracks often start off very thin, as hairline cracks. These cracks may include water intrusion, but not always.

But once a crack forms, it creates a weak spot that widens each time the hydrostatic pressure pushes on it.

If cracks are left untreated, they expand or multiply.

When the foundation wall weakens enough, it develops a break. This looks like a long horizontal crack in a poured concrete wall.

If your foundation is made of concrete blocks, this type of crack can also resemble a staircase.

If you see these larger cracks it’s an indication that your foundation is beginning to bow or move inward.

If you are planning to finish your basement, you should install an egress window. This provides a secondary exit that can be used in case of fire or other emergencies.

International Building Codes mandate that every bedroom should have two exits, in case of emergency.

For a basement bedroom, the first is the stairway up to the main floor. The second needs to be an exit (egress) window.