Foundation Inspection in Gresham, OR
Foundations on flat Gresham lots do not have the slope-driven problems that dominate assessment on the west side, and that absence is genuinely useful — it removes a whole class of explanation and makes what remains easier to identify.
What remains is mostly about water and about how the house was built. Flat ground drains slowly, so a foundation can sit in saturated soil for long stretches of the wet season, and saturated soil has lower bearing capacity than the same soil dry. Settlement here tends to be gradual, fairly uniform, and correlated with drainage conditions rather than with anything structural.
The other item specific to this stock is the garage. Post-war houses commonly have an attached garage whose slab and perimeter were built to a lower standard than the house, and it frequently settles independently. Cracking at the junction between house and garage is extremely common and is usually about the garage rather than about the house — but it is worth confirming which, because it looks alarming either way.
What We Look At Here
- Floor elevation survey to distinguish uniform settlement from differential movement
- House-to-garage junction, and which side has actually moved
- Perimeter drainage on flat ground, including any low point holding water
- Crawl space conditions as an indicator of how wet the surrounding soil stays
- Foundation concrete condition and any prior repair
- Whether additions have their own foundation settling at a different rate
More on the service itself: Foundation Inspection. More on the area: Gresham.
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
There is a crack where my Gresham garage meets the house. Is that serious?
Usually it is the garage moving rather than the house. Attached garages in post-war construction are typically founded to a lower standard and settle independently, which cracks the junction. Confirming which side moved is the point of measuring.