Warning signs

What cracks, sticking doors, sloping floors and water problems usually point to.

• Are cracks in a garage or house slab a foundation problem?Most are concrete shrinkage and not structural; a crack matters when one side is higher, it keeps widening, or it lines up with signs like sloping floors.
• Are drywall nail pops and tape joint cracks a foundation problem?Usually not. They are most often caused by wood framing drying and shrinking, and point to the foundation only when other signs line up.
• Are sticking windows or cracked glass a foundation sign?They are possible signs of foundation movement but do not identify a cause alone. The whole-house pattern and an elevation survey separate it from other causes.
• Can a high water bill mean a leak affecting my foundation?A rising bill with no change in use usually means a leak. A leak under a slab can wet expansive clay and push part of the floor up.
• Can slow drains or sewer backups signal foundation movement?On expansive clay, soil movement can break buried drain pipes and a leaking drain can make the slab heave, so the two are often checked together.
• Do sticking doors or tapered door gaps mean foundation movement?They can. Out-of-square door frames are a listed sign of possible foundation movement, but the pattern across the house and a floor survey decide the cause.
• Is a vertical crack in brick veneer a foundation problem?A vertical crack near a corner, offset or long wall is often brick expansion. Tapered cracks, or ones at an addition, more likely involve the foundation.
• What causes a hump in the middle of a slab floor?Usually heave: soil under the area swells and pushes the slab up, from slow moisture build-up, a plumbing leak or removal of a large tree on expansive clay.
• What causes a sudden sinkhole or depression near an Oklahoma house?It can be a sinkhole over dissolving gypsum or limestone, found in parts of western, northeastern and southern Oklahoma, or a washout where water removed soil.
• What causes sloping floors in an Oklahoma house?Causes range from a drying slab edge to settling interior piers; slopes over about 1 percent are usually noticeable, and an elevation survey finds the cause.
• What do diagonal drywall cracks at door corners mean?Diagonal cracks from door and window corners are a common sign of uneven foundation movement, since corners concentrate stress.
• What does a gap at the frieze board above brick mean?A gap between the top of the brick and the frieze board often means the foundation edge carrying the brick has dropped, commonly as perimeter clay dries.
• What does a gap under the baseboard mean for my foundation?It shows the floor and the bottom of a wall have moved apart, a listed sign of foundation movement on shrink-swell clay. A floor survey shows which part moved.
• What does a horizontal crack at the brick ledge or slab edge mean?It can come from brick and concrete moving against each other, the slab edge lifting or dropping, or frost or soil pressure; a floor survey helps tell which.
• What does a horizontal crack or bow in a basement wall mean?It usually means soil outside is pushing the wall harder than it was built to resist, from wet soil, swelling clay, frozen soil or poor backfill.
• What does a stair-step brick crack wider at the bottom mean?It suggests the wall was pushed apart from below, often as swelling clay lifted part of the foundation. An elevation survey confirms heave or settlement.
• What does a stair-step brick crack wider at the top mean?It usually points to settlement: part of the foundation below dropped. On Oklahoma clay, soil drying under the slab edge, often near trees, is most common.
• What does it mean when clean-edged cracks appear suddenly?Several new, sharp-edged cracks at once point to a sudden cause such as an earthquake, blasting or an impact, rather than slow seasonal clay movement.
• Why are my cabinets or countertops pulling away from the wall?The floor or wall may have moved; on Oklahoma clay one cause is center heave, where the slab interior rises, though cabinets also loosen for ordinary reasons.
• Why are my floor tiles cracking in a straight line?A crack running through several tiles usually follows a crack or bend in the slab below, often from clay swelling under part of it or edges settling.
• Why are retaining walls, fences and trees leaning on my slope?When they all lean the same way, the upper soil may be slowly creeping downhill, which can also pull at foundations near the slope.
• Why are the floors bouncy or soft in my crawl space home?Bouncy or soft floors usually point to framing or support problems, such as moisture-damaged wood or supports that are missing, too far apart or failing.
• Why do cracks open and close with the seasons?Expansive clay shrinks as it dries and swells as it rewets, so the house moves with it and cracks widen in dry months and tighten in wet months.
• Why does my floor sag between piers in a crawl space?It is usually a framing and support problem: interior piers that settled or tilted, spans too long for the load, or wood damaged by moisture.
• Why is brick pulling away from my window or door frame?Usually the foundation edge carrying the brick has dropped, often as perimeter clay dries and shrinks. The gap tends to be widest in late summer and drought.
• Why is my chimney pulling away from the house or leaning?Its heavy footing at the edge of the house can settle, or the soil under it can be soft or drying. Earthquake shaking is another possible cause in Oklahoma.
• Why is my driveway or patio lifting, sinking or cracking?Thin slabs on Oklahoma clay lift when soil swells and sink when it washes out, compresses or dries. This alone does not mean the house foundation moved.
• Why is my garage door gap uneven or the header sagging?One side of the garage foundation may have dropped, or the lintel or door hardware may be at fault, so floor level, opening and brick are checked together.
• Why is the soil pulling away from my foundation?Clay along the house has dried and shrunk. The gap is a moisture sign, not proof of damage, but the same drying under the slab edge lets the perimeter settle.
• Why is there a gap between my ceiling and an interior wall?Either swelling soil has pushed the floor and wall up (foundation heave) or roof trusses have bowed up and lifted the ceiling (truss uplift).
• Why is there a gap under my slab edge or footing?Supporting soil has been removed, most often by running water, though settling fill, collapsing soil and slope movement can also leave a void.
• Why is there water, condensation or mold in my crawl space?Moisture under the house is not being controlled. Keeping humidity below 60 percent helps limit mold, along with a vapor barrier, drainage and ventilation.
• Why is water ponding next to my foundation after rain?The ground is not carrying water away. On expansive clay, uneven wetting can swell soil and lift part of the foundation, and running water can erode soil.
• Why is water seeping where my basement floor meets the wall?Water at the cove joint and white deposits mean water is moving through the foundation, usually from poor grading, downspouts or a high water table outside.