Expert: Bruce E. Johnson - 2/15/2009

Question
QUESTION: My front door will not open it sticks.  The floor in front of it slopes down towards the door.  Outside the door there is a giant crack in the side walk.  The drywall is cracking in the corners of the house facing the front door.  The house is 30 years old what could be causing this now??

ANSWER: Hi Maria, it sounds like the foundation is settling in this area.  This could be caused by several things.  A water leak?  A leak in your plumbing or sprinkler system can cause a washout under the foundation and hence cause the footing to drop.  Extremely wet weather?  Rainy weather will cause water to build up around an improperly drained foundation and cause wash outs also.  Wet soil conditions can cause soils with a lot of clay to become spongy or soft and allow settling.  Clay will also expand when wet and shrink when dry.  Over time this may leave a void under the foundation and cause settling.  

Mudsill deterioration?  If you house is frame construction and sitting on a foundation, it sits on a mudsill.  Which is a piece of wood attached to the foundation.  If this mudsill is rotten it will collapse and cause settling in the framing.  This would not account for the sidewalk cracking though.  

Anyways it sounds like you are experiencing foundation settling.  How much more it will settle remains to be seen.  It has taken thirty years to reach this point.  It may take another thirty years to settle further.  Now, how to keep this from getting worse and fix it?

Once the problem is found you can have the house jacked back up and reinforce the foundation with concrete.  Another option is to just fix the problems you are having above and hope the foundation has settled all it is going to.  You can cut the door down enough to clear the porch.  Remove and replace the porch slab at a lower elevation (this should be done anyhow.  Sloping toward the door can be causing the problems, water can be running that directions and adding to the foundation erosion.  
I hope this information helps feel free to write again regarding this or other matters, sincerely bruce e johnson..bejohnsonconsulting.com


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank-you Bruce...I appreciate your quick response. I was wondering also, we have a large tree in the front of the house as well, could the roots that are growing be attributing to this problem.  The tree has grown alot in the past 5 years.  Thanks so much!

Answer
Hi again Maria, yes it is very possible that the roots are causing problems.  If the concrete is heaving up instead of sinking, then this could very well be the problem.   I hope this information helps feel free to write again regarding this or other matters, sincerely bruce e johnson..bejohnsonconsulting.com