Foundation problems found during a home inspection
Foundation issues like a horizontal crack, a bowing wall or sloping floors point to movement. Book a structural engineer before your deadline.
Updated · By 
Ben Sikes
Which foundation problems on an inspection report are serious?
Of the foundation and structural issues in a home inspection, start with anything that points to movement: a horizontal wall crack, a bowing wall, a sinking slab, sloping floors. Book a structural engineer for those before your inspection deadline, and get the repair scope in writing so contractors can bid on it. The swing is wide: Fixr puts foundation repair at $200 to seal a small crack and up to $40,000 for underpinning. The table covers 24 findings, with a primary source on how serious each is and the cost range its guide found.
Key takeaways
- Your home inspector names the crack but isn't required to judge whether the structure is adequate. A structural engineer does that.
- Homeowners insurance generally doesn't cover settling, so price the repair into this deal rather than counting on a claim later.
- Ask the seller for the repair the engineer specifies, priced on a contractor's written bid, not a round number.
| Finding | Serious per | Cost range | Who prices it | Guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bats in the attic | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): bat bites "can be tiny, and you may not even know if you were bitten" | $400 to $8,500 (Fixr; This Old House, 200 or more bats) | Bat excluder | Guide |
| Bowing basement wall | International Association of Certified Home Inspectors (InterNACHI): a horizontal crack in a block or brick wall "is potentially serious" | $2,000 to $25,000 or more (Today's Homeowner; The Basement Guide, full wall replacement) | Structural engineer, then a foundation contractor | Guide |
| Carpenter ants | NC State Extension: an ignored problem "can lead to significant damage to wood" | $250 to $3,500+ (This Old House; Defender, local, Sacramento area, with wood repair) | Pest control company | Guide |
| Carpenter bee damage | UC IPM: nests "can weaken structures; however, they rarely cause severe damage" | Get a written bid | Pest control company, then a carpenter | Guide |
| Conducive conditions for termites | Mississippi State Extension: they increase "the potential for a building to be attacked by termites" | $500 to $3,000 to regrade (White Shovel, local, Huntsville, AL) | Grading contractor | Guide |
| Cracked floor tile | InterNACHI: one cause is "movement in the tile underlayment" | Get a written bid | Tile contractor | Guide |
| Cracked flue liner or chimney crown | InterNACHI: the liner keeps out "hot, toxic and corrosive combustion gasses" | Get a written bid | Certified chimney sweep | Guide |
| Cracked roof truss | InterNACHI: trusses "should never, ever be structurally altered in any way without approval from a structural engineer" | The engineer's repair detail sets the price; Today's Homeowner says a truss can sometimes be repaired or reinforced, and a full set for a 1,700-square-foot home is $6,460 to $8,500, which is not your ask | Structural engineer, then a contractor | Guide |
| Crawl space moisture | InterNACHI: "Any standing water must be eliminated, and the source of the water identified and repaired" | $800 to $15,000 (Palm Build Restoration, local, Florida and the Carolinas; Fixr, full encapsulation) | Waterproofing contractor | Guide |
| Cripple wall bracing | Earthquake Brace + Bolt: "If they collapse during an earthquake, so will your home" | $1,000 to $20,000, the top end a hillside house (Fixr) | Seismic retrofit contractor | Guide |
| Foundation crack | InterNACHI: "all cracks are structural but not all of them are structurally alarming" | $200 to $40,000 (Fixr) | Structural engineer, then a foundation contractor | Guide |
| House settling or cracked slab | InterNACHI: "recommend follow-up by a soil or structural engineer" | Get an engineer's scope, then a written bid | Structural engineer, then a foundation contractor | Guide |
| Leaning chimney | InterNACHI: "Accidents caused by their collapse can lead to death" | $500 to $15,000+ (Sunrise Roofing & Chimney, local, Long Island, NY, mortar repair to full rebuild) | Chimney contractor | Guide |
| Pier and beam foundation | InterNACHI: severe settlement in older buildings "may be very costly to repair" | $1,000 to $20,000 or more (Modernize) | Structural engineer, then a foundation contractor | Guide |
| Powder post beetles | University of Kentucky: "second only to termites in their ability to damage dry, seasoned wood" | $500 to $2,500+ (Pest Control Price) | Pest control company | Guide |
| Sagging floor joists | InterNACHI: soil movement "may continue, eventually causing serious and/or expensive-to-repair damage" | $200 to $500 per joist repaired, $1,000 to $5,000 for joist repair to fix a sagging floor (Bob Vila) | Structural engineer, then a framing contractor | Guide |
| Sloping floors | HUD: "anything from an annoyance to an indication of a potentially serious structural problem" | $300 to $20,000 (Bob Vila, subfloor repair to serious foundation repair) | Structural engineer | Guide |
| Stair and handrail findings | InterNACHI: "Any stairway of 4 or more risers should have a handrail on at least one side" | Get a written bid | Carpenter | Guide |
| Stair-step cracks in brick | InterNACHI: "major settlement cracking can be an issue" | $8,000 to $25,000+ for major structural repair (Brick & Stone Master, local, Dallas-Fort Worth) | Structural engineer, then a mason | Guide |
| Temporary support post | InterNACHI: "Bending is an indication that the column cannot bear the weight of the house" | $500 to $550 per steel jack (Bob Vila) | Structural engineer, then a contractor | Guide |
| Termite damage | InterNACHI: wood-destroying insects "can cause serious problems in the wooden structural components of a house" | $500 to $30,000+ (Miller Pest Solutions, local, Des Moines, Kansas City and Omaha) | Pest control company, then a contractor | Guide |
| Tree roots near foundation | Purdue Extension: "tree roots can damage a house foundation, with an invitation to do so" | Get an arborist's and an engineer's written bids | Arborist and structural engineer | Guide |
| Water in basement | InterNACHI Standards of Practice: "active water penetration" is reported "as in need of correction" | $650 to $18,000 (This Old House) | Waterproofing contractor | Guide |
| Wood rot | InterNACHI: advanced brown decay leaves wood "unable to support much weight" | $5,000 to $10,000+ for structural framing (Defender, local, Sacramento area) | Licensed contractor | Guide |
Kept prices every line of an inspection report for $79, usually under 4 hours, and marks foundation movement as needing a professional quote.
What's the biggest red flag in the structure section?
The rows whose source talks about collapse or health: a leaning chimney, a cracked flue liner, bats, a temporary post that bends, and cripple walls in earthquake country. Get the pro in the "Who prices it" column to the house first. If you find a bat in the house, the CDC says to contact animal control or your health department so it can be tested for rabies. If a carbon monoxide alarm sounds, leave the house, then call 911 or your gas utility, then a licensed professional.
Next come the movement rows: wall cracks, bowing, settling, sloping or sagging floors. Treat each as movement until a structural engineer's report says otherwise. The engineer, not the report, decides which end of the cost range you're on.
Does a home inspector check for structural issues?
Yes, up to a line. InterNACHI's Standards of Practice have the inspector report "observed indications of possible foundation movement, such as sheetrock cracks, brick cracks, out-of-square door frames, and unlevel floors." The same standard doesn't require the inspector to "determine the adequacy of foundation bolting, bracing, joists, joist spans or support systems."
The American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) standard says the same: no opinion on "the adequacy of structural systems and components." So your report names the crack. A structural engineer tells you whether the house moved and what fixes it.
How much does a structural assessment cost?
Today's Homeowner puts a foundation inspection at $400 to $1,500 and says that changes if the damage is severe. Ask for the scope in writing, naming the repair method, so contractors can bid on it. How to get repair estimates during the inspection period covers fitting the visit in before your window closes.
Here's how one line adds up. Say the engineer finds a 20-foot block wall with a slight bow and calls for wall anchors. Today's Homeowner puts those at $80 to $150 a foot. That's $1,600 to $3,000 (20 × $80 and 20 × $150). Add the engineer at $400 to $1,500 and the line comes to $2,000 to $4,500. If the engineer calls for piers instead, Fixr prices them at $1,000 to $3,000 each, so the pier count drives the bill.
How to use this list before your deadline
- Match each structure line on your report to a row above.
- Book the pro in the "Who prices it" column for every safety and movement row, before your deadline.
- Send the rest of the report to Kept (how Kept prices).
- Ask for a repair, a credit or a price cut, line by line, backed by those bids and prices.
- If the seller says no, your contract sets your options and dates. Confirm both with your agent.
Does homeowners insurance cover foundation repair?
Usually not for settling. Progressive says "foundation cracks or settling aren't covered by your homeowners policy" as a general rule, though damage from a covered peril such as a windstorm may be. Coverage varies by insurer and state, so ask your insurance agent, and price the repair into this deal.
How do I know what my structure list is worth?
Add the engineer's fee and the contractors' written bids to priced lines for the rest of the report. That total is your ask, and each line shows the seller where it came from.
Deadline in days? Upload your inspection report to Kept and get the rest of your list priced while the engineer scopes the structure.
Sources
- InterNACHI, Home Inspection Standards of Practice
- ASHI Standard of Practice
- InterNACHI, Inspecting Foundation Walls and Piers
- InterNACHI, Avoiding Litigation: Foundations
- InterNACHI, Inspecting for Foundation Damage from Expansive Soils
- InterNACHI, Evaluating Structural Framing
- InterNACHI, Chimney Inspection: Preventing Collapse
- InterNACHI, Roof Penetrations, Part 2
- InterNACHI, Roof Framing, Part 3
- InterNACHI, Inspecting and Correcting a Vented Crawlspace
- InterNACHI, Ceramic Tile and Stone Inspection
- InterNACHI, Inspecting Visible Masonry
- InterNACHI, Adjustable Steel Columns
- InterNACHI, Stairways
- InterNACHI, Termite Control in the Home
- InterNACHI, Wood Decay
- HUD, Residential Rehabilitation Inspection Guide
- CDC, Preventing Rabies from Bats
- Earthquake Brace + Bolt, EBB retrofit
- NC State Extension, Biology and Control of Carpenter Ants
- UC Statewide IPM Program, Carpenter Bees
- Mississippi State University Extension, Conducive Conditions
- University of Kentucky Entomology, Powderpost Beetles
- Purdue Extension, Can tree roots damage a home's foundation?
- Progressive, Does Home Insurance Cover Foundation Repairs?
Cost figures are modeled from public wage and materials data unless a line says observed. Kept is accountable for the numbers on this page, and corrections go to support@usekept.com. How we price.