Foundation Inspection in Lake Oswego, OR
Larger Lake Oswego houses on steep ground frequently have foundations at three or four different elevations, following the site down. That is normal and appropriate, and it also means the house is bearing on soils at several depths whose properties differ from one another.
The consequence is that these houses can move in ways that make no sense read as a single foundation. One wing settles while another does not, because they are founded at different depths on different material. Interpreting that as differential settlement across one foundation leads to the wrong conclusion; interpreting it as several foundations behaving independently leads to the right one.
The transitions between levels are where evidence concentrates. Each step is a discontinuity, and cracking there is expected. What is worth measuring is whether the two sides of a step have displaced relative to each other, because that indicates the two elevations are genuinely moving apart rather than the corner simply cracking.
What We Look At Here
- Foundation levels mapped, with the bearing elevation of each established where possible
- Movement assessed per level rather than across the house as a single foundation
- Displacement at step transitions, not merely the presence of cracking
- Floor elevations taken within each level and compared between them
- Drainage behaviour at each foundation level on a sloped site
- Whether any level is acting as a retaining wall as well as a foundation
More on the service itself: Foundation Inspection. More on the area: Lake Oswego.
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
One wing of my Lake Oswego house has settled and the rest has not. Why?
On a stepped site the wings are often founded at different elevations on different soils, so they behave as separate foundations. Movement in one without the other is expected behaviour for that construction rather than evidence of a single failing foundation.