Your slab foundation appears to be tilted. Maybe tilt is suspected or you’ve had it confirmed by a foundation inspection. Or perhaps this is a home you’re looking at buying and there’s a report showing tilt. How can you know for sure that this is what’s going on with this foundation? What even causes a foundation to tilt? And most importantly, can this be fixed and how???
At Anchor Foundation Repair, we’ve been inspecting and repairing Brazos Valley foundations for 40+ years. We’ve seen and handled all sorts of foundation issues including tilted foundations.
In this article, we will review key indicators that let us know a home is tilted and discuss what causes this particular foundation problem. We also offer a few options for how this tilted issue can be handled. That way you will know how to move forward with taking care of this tilt!
How Do You Know That a Home Is Tilted? (Indicators)
Knowing whether a home is tilted or not is tricky to determine. Many times, homeowners believe that they have foundation issues and call for help, not necessarily knowing that the specific problem is tilt. They might think it’s just your run-of-the-mill foundation problem.
Tilted homes are not particularly common around the Brazos Valley (or probably anywhere for that matter) and the signs are somewhat unique. It’s certainly a much rarer foundation issue. After fully checking the inside and outside of a home during a foundation assessment, we will see particular indicators that point to tilt.
- A level placed on horizontal surfaces and trim or floors will consistently point in the same direction throughout the home.
- Horizontal brick lines on the exterior will also point down in the direction of the tilt.
- You may be able to physically feel the floors sloping in a particular direction.
- Other typical signs of foundation issues will not be present.
I know, that last statement may have thrown you for a loop. The standard signs of foundation issues will likely not appear in a home with tilt. That’s because the whole foundation is dipping down as one unit and does not put stress on walls, doors, or trim in the usual ways that help us verify foundation settlement through these visual cues.
The foundation is moving like a see-saw rather than parts bending or moving separately. So the most common and reliable indicators of foundation issues don’t tend to show up in tilted homes.
Hot Tip: If a zip-level-type device was used to assess the foundation, the resulting elevation diagrams would also show tilt or at least a directional slope. However, we don’t use these tools because their results can often be confusing and/or misleading. Zip over to this article for more thoughts on this kind of elevation-measuring device.
Problems You See with Foundation Issues Not Associated with Tilt
For comparison purposes, the typical signs of foundation problems that usually appear reveal stress on finishes in the home. Because one part of the foundation is moving and another part is not, the finishes exhibit signs of distress and separation due to the foundation settlement. For example,
- Diagonal cracks in drywall,
- Stair-step cracks in brick,
- Gapping or separating trim,
- Separations around windows, and
- Doors that are sticking, not latching, or closing properly.
When the entire foundation is tilting together, you won’t get these sorts of distress signs because nothing is being pulled apart.
Why Would a Home Foundation Tilt? (Causes)
Homes can tilt for several reasons and for some of the same reasons that cause typical foundation settlement problems. The most likely causes of home tilt are:
- Expansive clay soils,
- Poor compaction of soil brought in to build the pad site during construction,
- A plumbing leak under one side caused a void the home settled into, or
- From the effects of gravity due to the home being on a slope or hillside.
These reasons truly are the same things that can cause typical foundation settlement. The only difference is that the foundation in a tilted home remains intact in one piece. The settlement forces have not cracked or bowed the foundation, so it moves in one piece altogether.
Maybe it was constructed with more strength and therefore didn’t break, or perhaps it’s the *luck* of the draw. Although you might not be feeling all that lucky, so let’s say coincidence instead.
Most tilted homes we’ve seen are newer and built in the 2000s when building codes called for added beam depth and increased strength. These beefed-up slabs might not break as easily as their earlier counterparts but are still susceptible to the issues above. The result is a tilting foundation instead of a cracking one.
How Can a Tilted Foundation Be Handled? (Solutions)
There are a few options for handling a tilted foundation and a couple may surprise you. I say handled and not *fixed* because some of these choices won’t return the foundation to its original *untilted* position.
- Full Kitchen Sink Repair: Install interior and perimeter foundation support to correct the tilt by raising and returning the foundation to its original state of levelness.
- Stabilization: Install perimeter support only to prevent the home from tilting further, but won’t correct the current tilted position.
- Do Nothing: When you don’t have all the typical signs of foundation issues, like cracked walls, or faulty doors, some homeowners don’t mind a slab that’s a little off-kilter.
You might think it’s weird but stabilizing or doing nothing are legit options. Extensive interior and exterior foundation repairs are admittedly expensive. Some homeowners opt for the partial or non-repairs because they are not as stressed due to the lack of other distress signs that typically push homeowners to repairs.
You may be okay with a home in a slightly tilted state if it doesn’t bother you and is perfect in other ways.
The only thing to keep in mind with not fully returning the home to its original *untilted* condition is the risk to under-home plumbing lines. The one thing that is potentially getting stressed with a tilted home is your underground plumbing. You can’t see it and might not know if there’s a problem.
Under-slab plumbing lines could become compromised due to the current tilt or the home continuing to tilt further in the future. Pulled plumbing lines lead to plumbing leaks, more damage to your home, and bigger i.e. more expensive issues down the road.
Hot Tip: If you think that stabilization or doing nothing may be good options for you, have a hydrostatic pressure test conducted on your under-slab plumbing lines before deciding. The test ensures the lines are not already leaking or pulled into compromise. Knowing this info one way or the other may make your path forward clearer.
Who Can Help Me Repair My Tilted Foundation?
Now that you know the total picture of tilt, who can help repair or stabilize your foundation? Well, any method of slab foundation repair has both stabilization and repair capabilities.
If you’re lucky enough to live here in Bryan, College Station, or one of the surrounding Brazos Valley communities like Brenham or Madisonville, Anchor Foundation Repair can help you with whatever option you choose. We can evaluate your home and help you get a hydrostatic test. We can stabilize your home in place or raise it back to its original elevation with our drilled bell-bottom pier repair method.
When you’re talking about correcting a home that is tilting, you need to understand how the different slab foundation repair methods work. Understanding the repair concepts will help you choose the repair method that best meets your needs.
