How to Spot the Signs of Foundation Damage
Knowing the signs of foundation damage can be the difference between a low-cost repair and a pricey new foundation.
As a homeowner, it’s crucial that you stay vigilant about maintaining your home and staying up to date on all repairs, in order to avoid major problems down the road.
While you should routinely have your home inspected by a foundation specialist, here are a few of the warning signs of foundation damage you should keep a lookout for:
Cracks: Cracks on both the exterior and interior can be indications of foundation settlement and possible foundation damage.
Sloping floors: If you’ve noticed sloped or unlevel floors in your home, this is oftentimes an indication of severe foundation settlement and damage. The same is true for any bowing walls and protruding nail heads.
Doors and windows that stick or seem misaligned: If you’ve started to have trouble opening and closing doors and windows around the house, this may be related to an uneven foundation. That’s because when one side of a home’s foundation sinks lower than the other, this inconsistency affects the opening mechanism in the doors and windows around the home.
Roof leaks: If you’ve noticed that your roof is leaking (especially if it’s new) or that it appears uneven, this can be a signal that there are issues with the foundation and the way the home rests on it.
Clogged gutters: Gutters should be cleaned regularly. When gutters become clogged, this can cause rainwater to run down the sides of the house and seep into the structure’s foundation. When water pools around a home’s foundation, this can deteriorate the structure and erode the outer layers.
Foundations can settle at an uneven rate due to a number of factors. Most commonly, this happens because it’s an older house, the soil was compacted poorly, or the foundation was constructed with shoddy materials and/or workmanship.
“A foundation can settle (move downward) into the soil beneath it,” explains Julian Construction founder Julian De La Torre. “When this occurs, it usually means the home’s structure has become distorted or uneven in some way. The settlement occurs when the soil becomes more compacted. Most foundations experience some type of settlement as time goes on. Problems occur when the settlement weakens the structural integrity of the building.”
If you think your home is in need of foundation repair, house leveling, foundation replacement and/or earthquake retrofitting, contact Julian Construction today and we will send one of our foundation specialists out to conduct a free, thorough inspection with a quote for repair.
We have extensive experience serving our Los Angeles community and nearby regions. In fact, Julian Construction has inspected over 30,000 structures in the area!
Julian Construction was formed in 1994 and our focus has always been on building and maintaining foundations, doing foundation repair and replacement, earthquake retrofitting, and house leveling.
When you work with Julian Construction, you get the principles of the company and the workers of Julian Construction under your home.
And in order to keep foundation repair affordable for our customers, we offer a price guarantee — because we know our quote for repair will represent your very best value.
Give us a call at (323) 733-3377 to schedule your free inspection or complete the inspection request form.
