Identifying Home Foundation Trouble

Knowing the early warning signs of foundation troubles can head off problems that ultimately could cost tens of thousands of dollars to fix. The sooner you identify potential problems, the easier (and not to mention less expensive) it is to fix them. Ground Up Builders are the foundation repair experts in Nashville, Murfreesboro, and Middle Tennessee.

If you see (or feel) that your house is settling, that isn't cause for panic. Houses settle over time, and a little unevenness is to be expected. Even though houses settle, you need to be aware of the warning signs that more dramatic changes are taking place.

On the inside of your home if you start to see any of the following, call Ground Up Builders and have the professionals come and inspect your home for any foundational problems that might be starting.

• A door begins to jam or fails to latch.
• Cracks appear in walls, especially over doorways, windows, or where walls meet ceilings.
• Cracks open in vinyl or ceramic tile over a concrete floor.
• Windows that used to open and close easily suddenly begin to stick or won’t close completely.

Moving to the outside of your home, check to see if your foundation is straight by sighting down the length of your foundation wall from each corner. The walls should be fairly straight, both up and down and from side to side. Check for leaning walls with a level.

A bulge or curve in either a block foundation or a poured concrete wall could signal that the foundation has shifted, or that the soil around your foundation may be expanding and contracting, putting pressure on walls.

Expansive soil, also called shrink-swell soil, is a very common cause of foundation problems. Depending upon the supply of moisture in the ground, shrink-swell soils will experience changes in volume of up to 30% or more! Foundation soils ,which are expansive, will “heave” and can cause lifting of a building or other structure during periods of high moisture. Conversely, during periods of falling soil moisture, expansive soil will “collapse” and can result in building settlement


Ground Up Builders can determine whether any of these warning signs point to normal settling or to structural damage. Call us today at 615-624-1027 for all of your foundation repairs! Be sure to check out our Facebook page and visit us HERE for special coupons and discounts!