Foundation Inspection

[Daniel.858]

I’ve been asked to do a foundation inspection at a client’s residence. They had a survey done and found that the floor in one of the bedrooms has an 1-1/2” difference in height from one end to the other. The house has a raised floor and crawl space.
This is my first inspection of this kind. What should I look for? Is there a check list? Are there standards published for foundation settlement?

 

[oldestguy]

I'd be careful using "standards" unless you can prove they also apply to the area. As for tolerable settlement the geotechs usually will state something like 1", but tie it into angular displacement and visible cracking, etc. If you don't have structural and appearance problems related to settlement, sometimes a lot of distortion goes unnoticed and is no problem, especially for older buildings. The main thing to look at is possible continuing settlement and movements especially where the area soils are prone to expansion and shrinkage. Trees nearby can cause problems usually by removing soil moisture and causing shrinkage of some clays. In summary, if some potential legal action is possible, I'd defer to those well experienced.