A foundation question in Lexington
A crack you hadn't noticed before, a floor that feels slightly downhill, a basement wall with a damp line: each of these sends people looking for answers about their foundation. The answer depends on what kind of foundation is under your house, what the soil and water around it are doing, and whether the movement is still going on. None of that can be settled from a photo. What you can do is collect good evidence, keep water away from the footing, and ask sharper questions of anyone who offers a repair.
This page starts with the figures NOAA publishes for the Lexington/Bluegrass station and one plainly labelled water-utility fact, then works through the symptoms, the people who evaluate them, the repair types and the paperwork.
Lexington/Bluegrass station figures
These figures come from NOAA's engineering weather data for the Lexington/Bluegrass station, at an elevation of 988 feet:
- Design temperatures at Lexington/Bluegrass: a 1% summer design temperature of 89°F, with a mean coincident wet-bulb temperature of 74°F, and a 99% winter design temperature of 10°F.
- Wet-bulb hours at Lexington/Bluegrass: in an average year, NOAA counts about 459 hours with the wet-bulb temperature above 73°F and about 1,719 hours above 67°F.
- Wind, rain and freeze-thaw at Lexington/Bluegrass: a 50-year basic wind speed of 90 mph (3-second gust at 33 feet), a 100-year rainfall rate of 3.0 inches per hour, and about 49 freeze-thaw cycles in an average year.
A drinking-water fact
As a plain local fact about drinking water: Kentucky American Water's Richmond Road Station is one of its three treatment plants serving Central Kentucky. The other two are Kentucky River Station I in Fayette County and Kentucky River Station II at Hardin's Landing in Owen County.
Know which foundation you have
Symptoms look different depending on what holds the house up, so start there.
Full basement. Look at the walls from inside. Horizontal cracks partway up a block or poured wall, a wall that bows inward, stair-step cracks through block mortar, and water entering at the joint between the wall and the floor are all worth photographing and measuring. Efflorescence, the white powder left as water evaporates from masonry, shows where moisture is moving through.
Crawlspace. With a flashlight, check the piers, the beams resting on them and the band of framing on top of the foundation walls. Note shims that have slipped or crushed, piers leaning off plumb, wood that is dark, soft or crumbly, and standing water on the ground or vapor barrier.
Slab on grade. Cracks in tile laid straight across several pieces, gaps opening at baseboards, and a slab edge pulling away from a porch or garage floor are the clues to note.
In any house, watch the openings above: doors whose top gap has turned wedge-shaped, windows that no longer lock, and diagonal cracks running from the corners of door and window frames.
Water at the footing
Water is the variable a homeowner controls. Walk the outside of the house during a hard rain and look at where the roof's water ends up.
- Clear gutters and check that each section slopes toward a downspout.
- Extend downspouts well out from the wall, or into a drain line that carries water away and actually discharges somewhere.
- Look at the soil and beds along the foundation; they should fall away from the house.
- Check window wells and basement stairwells for drains that are clogged or missing.
- If you have a sump, test the pump and confirm where it discharges.
Leaking supply or drain pipes can also put water where you can't see it. Read the water meter with every fixture off, then again later; if the number has moved, call a plumber before any foundation work is planned.
Who should look first
A repair company's inspection is often free, and its estimator can tell you a lot. Keep in mind that the person describing the problem is also offering to sell the fix. A structural engineer who doesn't sell repairs charges for a site visit and a written report, but has nothing riding on which method you choose. For movement that seems active, or a bid that proposes a large amount of work, that independent report is worth weighing. Whoever you call, ask them to say in writing what is moving, why, whether it is still moving, and what they would do.
The repair families
Bids tend to fall into a few groups:
- Water management: grading, gutter and downspout work, drain lines, a perimeter or interior drain and sump.
- Wall stabilization for basements: wall anchors, steel beams or bracing set against a bowed wall, or carbon fiber straps.
- Underpinning: steel push piers, helical piers or concrete piers installed under the footing to carry the load down to firmer bearing.
- Slab lifting: polyurethane foam or cement-based grout injected beneath a sunken slab.
- Crawlspace support: new or adjustable steel posts, added beams, and replacement of damaged framing, often with vapor barrier work.
Ask every bidder why its method fits your house, and what the alternatives would have been.
Permits, coverage and paperwork
Before you sign, ask:
- Which city permits does the job need, and who pulls them?
- Will an engineer's stamped design be part of the work, and who hires that engineer?
- What state license, if any, covers this work, and what is the number?
- Can you show proof of liability coverage and workers' compensation?
- Who calls in utility locates before digging?
If an insurance claim may be involved, call your insurer early and read the relevant parts of your policy.
Reading the proposal
A useful written proposal names the method, the count and location of piers, anchors or injection points, target depth or bearing, any drainage work, excavation and backfill, interior and landscape restoration, permit handling, the payment schedule, and the warranty, including whether it transfers to a future buyer. Where two proposals differ sharply, ask each company to explain its reasoning in writing.