"How Can You Tell The Wall Has Moved?" Homeowner

Jack McGuire, leading specialist at Colorado Structural Repair, laments on a recent assessment for a new homeowner.

“On my last appointment of the day on Tuesday I met a delightful young lady who had recently closed on the home we were now standing in.  She had called us out to look at what she believed may be a wet basement situation. She had purchased from the estate and seller’s disclosure was not available.  Looking at the dated finished basement, I noticed the paneling seemed to have a wave in it. She was not anticipating a structural issue may be lurking there and was not interested in pulling some of the wall covering at the time without further confirmation that there may be a problem.  (She was anticipating a sump pump perhaps and maybe some drain work.) I suggested we walk the exterior together and take a look.  

The corners of a foundation are the strongest and often remain the least damaged: so that’s where we started.  By placing my fingers under the siding where the top of the foundation and siding come together, it provides a rudimentary but good visual measurement.  Moving down the wall toward the center of foundation on the side of the home I applied the same technique, this time revealing a much deeper measurement and the ‘light bulb’ went on for my homeowner. Returning to the basement she was now more eager to remove a portion of the paneling.  Our suspicions were confirmed, the exposed wall revealed a significant horizontal crack that no doubt was caused by her wet basement suspicions. Neither of us were thrilled with the find, but we now had a good idea of the cause, the consequence and the repair required to get her off to a solid start in her new purchase.  And frankly that’s why our customers call us out. “

You can book a complimentary assessment with Jack by calling the office at 720-441-3611 or you can always reach him directly at 720-270-9998/ jack@coloradostructuralrepair.com