Settling House Foundation

Cracks

• One of the most common and visible effects of the house settling is cracking in the foundation that continues up the wall. As the rain and soil change and erode over time, the condition of the compacted soil around the house changes, which leads to sinking of the foundation but, because the change in the soil is not uniform throughout the soil, different portions of the home sink at different rates. This causes the concrete structure of the foundation to experience different amounts of strain at different points along its length. The imbalance is enough to cause minor and sometimes major cracks in the foundation, allowing water and soil to creep in and begin an erosion process that can seriously damage the integrity of your home.

Creaking

• A settling home can also be prone to make noises such as yawning and creaking. Again, this is due to weight that is unevenly distributed along the length and breadth of the foundation. The parts of the foundation that sink cause the frame of the home to stretch and warp slightly, which causes the yawning sound heard by homeowners with a settling house. Although these sounds are sometimes innocuous, in extreme cases they are early indicators of foundation expansion or serious imbalances that can cause one side of the room to be noticeably higher than the other.

Expansion

• Foundations that are not maintained or repaired during the settling process can experience expansion, which is a process where a damaged foundation is slowly pushed apart by the weight on top of it. Expansion is indicated by deep cracks that reach all the way through a foundation structure. If left unrepaired, these cracks widen and the foundation pushes apart, causing severe damage and even collapse of the home.

Sinking

• The process of house foundation settling is a process of sinking into the earth. Because this happens at different rates, it can cause severe imbalance that damages the integrity of the home. Even sinking can also cause damage, exposing siding and other vulnerable parts of the home to moist soil, mildew, mold and rot.