Outside the house
Start at the brick. Stair-step cracking that follows the mortar joints diagonally is the classic differential settlement pattern, and the wider the crack the more worth measuring it is. Look at whether the crack is wider at the top or the bottom — that tells you which way the wall is moving.
- Stair-step cracks in brick or mortar joints, particularly near corners
- A gap opening between the brick and the slab, or between brick and window frames
- Brick courses that are no longer level along a long wall
- A chimney leaning or separating from the wall
- Cracks in the visible edge of the slab
- Doors and windows visibly out of square in their openings
- Water standing against the foundation after rain, or ground sloping toward the house
Inside the house
Interior signs are usually about movement rather than cracks. Doors are the most sensitive instrument in the house — they were hung square, so when they stop closing properly something has moved.
- Doors that stick, drag on the frame, or will not latch
- Doors that swing open or closed on their own
- Diagonal sheetrock cracks running up from the corners of door and window openings
- Gaps opening between the wall and the ceiling, or the floor and the baseboard
- Cracked floor tile or grout running in a line rather than in one spot
- Floors that slope, bounce or feel soft underfoot
- Cabinets or countertops separating from the wall
What does not necessarily mean trouble
Not every crack is a foundation crack, and plenty of houses have cosmetic damage from ordinary curing, seasonal humidity and settlement that finished decades ago.
- Fine hairline cracks in sheetrock joints that have not changed in years
- Small vertical cracks in a mortar joint with no displacement either side
- Nail pops in the ceiling
- Minor surface cracking in a garage slab or driveway with no elevation difference
- A house that has always been slightly out of level and has not moved since
How to tell whether it is getting worse
Measure it and date it. Mark the end of a crack with a pencil line and write the date next to it, and photograph it with a tape measure across the width. Do it again in three months. A crack that has not moved is a very different problem from one that has.
The other thing worth doing is paying attention to doors, because they change before cracks do. A door that started dragging this year is telling you the structure is moving now, not that it moved in 1998.
When to call
Call when something is actively changing, when a door has stopped working, when you can feel a slope, or when the cracking is wide enough that you have started photographing it. Call sooner rather than later — the number of piers a house needs grows as the movement continues, and pier count is what you pay for.
Our inspection is free anywhere in Deep East Texas, and it ends with elevation readings and a written answer. If the answer is that your house is fine, that is what we will tell you, and it still costs nothing. Call (903) 932-8150.