Floor Elevation Analysis

Houses Shift With Time

While a degree of foundation settling is common as time passes, when homeowners find they have floors that sink or are uneven, these problems are often caused by foundation issues that have likely not been detected. By inspecting the levelness of the floor aids the homebuyer in making their decision to purchase the home. Floor levelness indicates whether the foundation has settled excessively in certain areas of the home which could lead to costly mitigation.

With newer slab-on-grade foundations it is more difficult to tell if the foundation has shifted over time and where the shift has occurred.

When homebuyers choose to check the foundation levelness it provides insights into the home foundational health and whether the home may need further analysis by a local professional contractor.

When Is It Time for an Inspection?

Typical signs that the foundation has settled are as follows:

  • Hard to shut or misaligned doors.
  • Cracks in walls.
  • Cracked tiles or grout.
  • Gaps in wood flooring.
  • Cracks in the perimeter of the foundation.
  • Varying floor slope.
  • Gaps along baseboards

When testing we utilize lasers and survey equipment to provide you with information that shows the level of the flooring throughout the home in reference to a starting location. We have found homes with greater than 2-inches of slope from front to back but the current homeowner was unaware of the issue. After further investigation it was found that the foundation had settled more rapidly in comparison to the rest of the home sloping toward the master bedroom. Expansive soil is often tied with foundation damage and uneven floors. After further investigation it was found that excessive moisture caused the soil to expand, while dry periods caused it to contract. This continual fluctuation led to foundation movement and cracks due to continual ground shifting. In turn, this can lead to a host of foundation damage effects both inside and outside of the home. To mitigate the situation, a local professional contractor replaced and compacted the soil in the area of concern and leveled the home to prevent further settlement.