How to Identify and Repair a Sinking Foundation

Understanding Sinking Foundations: A Serious Home Issue

How often do you think about your home’s foundation? If you’re like most homeowners, you never give it a second thought until strange things begin to happen. Doors that don’t close properly, windows that are tough to open, or slanted floors are all signs of a sinking foundation.

While some shifting is normal with age, a sinking foundation is a whole other story. That foundation trouble can lead to serious problems with structural integrity and could even make your home unsafe. That’s why it’s vital to address foundation problems immediately, before they can turn into a situation that drains your pocketbook.

Here’s what homeowners need to know about a sinking foundation, how to spot the problem, and what it will take to fix it.

What Causes a Sinking Foundation & Why Does It Matter?

The most common reasons for a sinking foundation include soil erosion around and under the house, poor drainage that can lead to water infiltration, and the natural settling that occurs over time. Let’s take a look at some potential foundation issues:

• Weather Changes: Natural freeze-thaw cycles can affect the soil underneath your home. If that soil wasn’t prepared properly before the home was built, the changes caused by these cycles can be even more pronounced. In addition, floods and other severe weather can have a significant impact on your home’s foundation.
• Your Home’s Age: Foundation requirements are set forth by the government, but those points weren’t a consideration when older homes were built. If your home is more than 50 years old, the foundation might not be up to code, which can lead to sinking.
• The Soil: Where your home is built could mean natural settling is more pronounced. For instance, a house built over swampy or sandy land might compress the soil much more quickly than a house built over sturdier ground. The result can be sinking, leaning, and other issues.

Ignoring the problem of a sinking foundation could eventually affect the stability of your home, sometimes even making it dangerous to live in. A sinking foundation can also mean difficulty in selling your home if you choose to part with the property. You might even have to fix the problems before you can put the home on the market.

Find Local Foundation Pros

How to Identify a Sinking Foundation

There are many ways to identify a sinking foundation. Some might seem obvious, such as cracks in the exterior walls of the foundation itself, but others are subtle. Sinking can occur over a period of years, and you might not notice the changes in your home until the foundation is already well on its way to trouble.

• Cracked Drywall: Small cracks are the normal consequence of time, but look for cracks that are more than 1/8 inch in width, horizontal or at a 45-degree angle, or wider at one end than the other.
• Slanting Floors: Roll a marble across your floors and see what happens. If the floors are slanted or dipped, that is a sign that what’s underneath them isn’t as sturdy as it used to be.
• Leaning Chimney: Though it can take many years for a chimney to lean, when you notice the problem, take action immediately.
• Sticking Doors and Windows: Your doors now scrape against the frame. Your windows are hard to open, and even your garage doors might seem off-kilter.
• Gaps around home features. You might notice gaps in places they shouldn’t be, such as between the cabinets and the wall.
• Musty smells. If you notice that your basement smells musty or is more humid than usual, it might be due to cracks that formed as your foundation settled.

If you notice any of these issues, get in touch with a professional immediately. The sooner you address the problem, the better the outcome will be.

Methods for Repairing a Sinking Foundation

Though repairing a foundation might seem like a monumental task, engineers who handle this work on a daily basis have a few good tricks up their seasoned sleeves. Here’s what to expect if you are told your foundation needs repair:

• Underpinning: This is a method that reinforces the foundation through the use of piers or beams that are installed into the ground to stabilize the house. This can be done in several different ways. However, it is usually done with hydraulic pressure pushing piers into bedrock or a newly poured concrete slab. This is the most common option.
• Mudjacking: Also known as slab jacking, this involves pumping a mixture of sand, water, and soil underneath the concrete slab to lift it where it has begun to sink. The pressure of the new material underneath the slab can stabilize the home. However, it doesn’t work well if the soil integrity isn’t the best.
• Polyurethane Foam Injection: This involves injecting foam or other approved materials into the area under the foundation slab. While this might work well in some areas, those that have regular freeze-thaw cycles aren’t the best candidates for injections. In addition, the foundation must be completely dry to allow the material to adhere to the concrete.
• Reblocking: Also known as restumping, this involves completely replacing the damaged foundation with a new one. The repair team will jack up the house to replace the damaged areas. Many foundation contractors use this as a last resort due to the extensive work and expense involved.

How Much Does Foundation Repair Cost in 2024?

The typical cost to repair a sinking foundation runs between $2,100 and $7,800. Most will pay around $5,000. However, most serious problems can lead to higher costs of $15,000 or more.

If you need to have the foundation entirely replaced, expect to pay between $20,000 and $100,000. Much of that cost depends upon the size of your home. The process includes lifting the house, removing the old foundation, creating a new one, and settling the house on top of it. The process can take at least a few weeks, usually longer, and you will have to be out of the house during the process. That means expect additional costs for lodging, travel, food outside the home, and the like.

Find Local Foundation Pros

Factors Affecting the Cost of Foundation Repair

The cost of foundation repair can vary widely depending upon a host of factors, some of which are out of your control. Here are the factors that can affect your bottom line:

• Soil Type: The type of soil around your foundation can help determine how easy it will be to repair, replace piers, or jack up the house. For instance, sandy soil will make for a more difficult job than clay-based soil.
• Difficulty of Repairs: The more difficult it is to access your foundation, the more likely you will pay more for specialized equipment usage. It will be more cost-effective to visually assess a finished basement than to use cameras in tight spaces.
• Geographic Location: Local labor costs will vary widely across the country. Look into labor rates for your geographical location to get an idea of what you will pay a professional.
• The Extent of the Damage: It is incredibly important to get work done on your foundation as soon as you notice a problem. The longer the issue persists, the more expensive it will be to fix.
• Repair Method. If the foundation can be shored up with the addition of new piers or reinforcing, you will pay much less than if you have to move the house to replace the entire foundation.
• Home Size: As you might imagine, repairing the foundation for a 1,800 square-foot house will cost much less (in most cases) than comparable problems for a 3,000 square-foot house.

Why Foundation Repairs Are Best Left to Professionals

It can be tempting to repair a foundation on your own, especially when you see a hefty price tag for the work. In many cases, homeowners use self-leveling compounds or other quick fixes, which might appear to work for a while. But the underlying issues haven’t been addressed, which means the sinking of the foundation will only get worse.

Repairing a foundation is serious business, and it’s risky. Doing it yourself could result in further damage and turn a $5,000 job into something much more expensive. You need to work with someone who can analyze the soil underneath the house, look at the structural integrity, and have the equipment to lift up the house, if necessary. These tasks are best handled by the best foundation companies.

Signs That Your Foundation Needs Immediate Attention

A small crack here or there might be concerning and should certainly be addressed. But how do you know when it’s a very serious, time-sensitive issue? Here are a few signs that your foundation needs urgent repairs.

• Large, Visible Cracks: Cracks on interior walls might be handled as DIY. However, cracks on exterior walls or the foundation itself must be addressed by a professional to ensure the integrity of your home stays intact. This is especially true if those cracks seem to get bigger by the day.
• Pooling Water: Water that pools near the foundation is a sure sign that part of your property is starting to sink. In addition to pooling water, you also run the risk of severe water damage that will further erode the foundation.
• Poor Drainage: As a home foundation shifts, it often puts strain on pipes that run throughout the home, and that can lead to problems with drainage. If your showers and sinks aren’t draining properly – and you know that the pipes and drains are clean – it could be your home settling and disturbing the pipes.
• Nail Pops: If you notice nails making their way out of drywall, door jambs, floors, and stairs, something is causing that. It’s often pressure from a shifting foundation.
• Your Home Is Off: Are doors tough to close? Does the floor seem to tilt a little? Are the windows suddenly hard to open and close? These signs indicate that your walls are no longer in alignment, and that’s one of the serious consequences of a sinking foundation. If your home suddenly seems a little “off,” that’s a sign it needs your immediate attention.

Recognizing these issues early on can save you a great deal of trouble and money. The moment you notice something that indicates a sinking foundation, get in touch with the pros to figure out the next steps.

The Long-Term Benefits of Addressing Foundation Problems

If there is any problem with your foundation, don’t wait to call the pros. A sinking foundation can compromise your home’s stability, leading to structural damage. It can also impact plumbing and utility lines, increasing the risk of water damage, gas leaks, or even fires. Addressing foundation issues early can help prevent costly and dangerous problems.

In addition, you will realize many long-term benefits from fixing a sinking foundation. This includes preventing further damage and increasing your property value.

But much more valuable than that is peace of mind. You want to be sure that your home stands strong and safe for many years to come. Fixing foundation problems right now can help you make that dream a reality. It will cost much less to take care of the problems as soon as you notice them. Modernize stands ready to help you find local contractors for your home’s foundation.

Find Local Foundation Pros