The foundation evaluation or investigation is governed by the “Guidelines for the Evaluation and Repair of Residential Foundations Ver 3” (Link to Free Copy).

In general, a structural engineer will be onsite to take various measurements and document signs of distress or movement. They will need interior and exterior access at all areas. The report will be sent soon after, detailing all observations and conclusions reached.

Yes, the “Guidelines for the Evaluation and Repair of Residential Foundations Ver 3” insists the Engineer should visit the site and be in responsible charge of the investigative activities. In most instances, observing the site is necessary to inform any conclusions reached.

It is seemingly always beneficial to hire a Professional Engineer licensed specifically in the specialty of Structural Engineering. Ultimately, the degree of this benefit would depend on the experience of the other professional fields involved. Note that the typical Structural Engineer is usually involved just as heavily in other markets such as new construction, renovation, remediation and consulting. They are typically well-rounded in the design and/or analysis of new or existing structural concrete, structural wood, structural masonry, structural steel and geotechnical disciplines, all necessary to truly assess a property’s condition or potential. This can result in a “knowledge gap” during booming growth of population centers, wherein other specialties of Professional Engineers (e.g., Civil Engineers) may choose to learn, then practice in, baser structural tasks such as measuring a foundation’s levelness.

While not intended to disparage or provoke a misleading image, consider the professional disciplines mandated by the State of Texas for a residential home, for example, to be purchased with government-backed funds, sometimes in eye-popping amounts, such as a general home inspector, a sales agent or often a buyer’s agent, an appraiser, or a mortgage originator. To get started in any of these professions, as one with a penultimate function in the release of billions of $ dollars of government-backed debt issuance to deserving homebuyers, would take about two months with online courses. A Professional Engineer licensure typically takes 6 - 8 years before one could apply.

The Structural Engineering field is unique in its overarching purpose, rather, they are the last to be able to complete their task as the actions of all other professional designers (i.e., Civil Engineer or Land Development, Architect, Geotechnical Engineer, Electrical Engineer, Mechanical Engineer, Industrial Engineer) affect the performance requirements for a structure. Additional to designing for such performance requirements, is the actual construction activity in fleshing out the resultant product for these other professional designers. It is a monumental task to oversee all of this activity, as the structure is often to be “damaged,” in essence, to facilitate the installation of all necessary infrastructure (e.g., drilling of holes through structural wood members for electrical, plumbing or HVAC).

In a juxtapose to how a butcher may see a single farm animal imagined into numerous cuts of unique tastes, a Structural Engineer composes a single structure from a wealth of individual structural elements (e.g., hundreds of various wood products connected via thousands of connectors in a single residential unit). Herein lies the crux in the answering of this question, continuing with the example of a wood-framed residential structure, that while seemingly overly redundant with an “eyesore” hodgepodge of structural elements composing a single house, every piece of wood and every nail has a literal, structural purpose that no other “nearby” piece of wood or nail can fully atone if were lost. As any reality TV show regarding “flipping” or home renovation will undoubtedly render verdict, is that it is super easy to cut into and manipulate a wood-framed structure.

The State of Texas is well known to be a business-friendly environment with a relaxed hand towards oversight or regulation. As a potential buyer or if soon-to-be entering the market, consider the following anecdotal experience. Per Texas State Law, a builder of new construction or any renovation activity (in the confines of what was installed new) has an obligation of a 1-year warranty for workmanship and a 10-year warranty covering only that which is imminently a threat to the safety of the occupants. Secondly, the building codes or establishment of a Building Official with authority in such oversight powers granted in that municipality’s ordinances, became of existence at the time such a community and leaders would so decide, and only in effect within the geographical confines of what real property is considered to be “inside” the city limits. In other words, there was a monumental growth for all municipalities represented in Dallas-Fort Worth, writ large, with many a home just years ago having been considered “outside” the city limits, or “county.” In this Firm’s experience, it was a bit of a “wild west” in the last few decades, where essentially anyone who wanted could build a structure, manipulate a structure, or DIY any project the individual was convinced could be done, especially if on-the-cheap to do so.

The benefit in hiring an experienced Structural Engineer, who has personally designed hundreds of structures, performed thousands of inspections in phased new construction (ensuring compliance), and performed multiple thousands more of forensic investigations and evaluations for existing structures and foundations of every age, location, architectural type, building material type, residential or commercial is aptly capable to inform your decision making process, with diligence. With such experience, this Structural Engineer is capable of delivering invaluable insights. They can identify tell-tale signs of potential problems lurking below the surface, having seen a thousand different circumstances in which a wood-framed structure or structural concrete foundation could be damaged. This much needed clarity serves, you, the client well, as an immediate issue can be raised of potential problems needing further investigation or prevent this potential problem spiraling into a wrong interpretation by a contractor’s salesman proposing expensive solutions that are no solution at all. The Structural Engineer can provide timely, prompt solutions and engineered drawings to facilitate a cost-conscious remedial measure that has worked a hundred times before. In our experience as a Firm, there is an underlying tension beneath the surface that such poking and prodding, discovering the truest condition of a property, will complicate the seller-buyer negotiations. However, in every transaction we can attest that we, as a Firm, have been a mediator, identifying problems that are not problems, or solving real problems that can be fixed in a value-engineered, time-tested solution. We will identify why this structural deficiency occurred in the first place, who (if anyone) is responsible, provide professional or even expert witness testimony at will, and see that this problem does not unnecessarily burden ANY of the parties involved in a real-estate transaction or builder/contractor-owner interaction.

A Professional Engineer licensure is governed by the “Texas Engineering and Land Surveying Practice Acts and Rules Concerning Practice and Licensure” (Link to State Law).

Licensure in all disciplines of engineering result in the title of Professional Engineer but a “P.E.” shall only practice in their specialty area(s) of competence or discipline, by law. Texas is a “roster state” which provides a roster to the public for purposes of verifying licensure status and the specialty for which that P.E. was certified under (Link to Roster).

A P.E. can expand into other specialty areas by completing extensive continuing education or college courses and providing proof of such in any legal proceeding. On average, it would take 5 to 16 years, assuming a minimum of 9 hrs./week availability to accomplish the quickest pace. For example, at the time of this writing, Texas has approximately 66,826 active Engineers (all disciplines), 30,080 active Civil Engineers and 6,736 active Structural Engineers.

If this is for a real estate transaction, generally the necessity for a Structural Engineer is at the behest of other professionals (e.g., general home inspector, appraiser, mortgage broker) who have raised a concern of a potential structural deficiency. The indications of such may not be so readily visible, and a Buyer may find the reasonable expense for an engineering evaluation is well worth the peace of mind.

If this is for a foundation in need of remedial measures, a Structural Engineer is required by Texas State Law for a structure that is located on expansive clay soils, regardless of whether a city permit is required or if outside of city limits. This is also true regarding the constructing, enlarging, altering, or drawing plans or specifications for said residential structure.

An engineering evaluation is required by Texas State Law to adhere to sound engineering principles and ethical standards. The Professional Engineer must be competent in all areas of structural, geotechnical, and civil engineering that apply to any unique property. If a repair contractor is proposing remedial measures for a structure located on expansive clay soils (a majority for those in the DFW metroplex), a licensed engineer (i.e., P.E.) must be involved per Texas State Law.

This is why it is likely ideal to pay for an independent engineering evaluation firstly and then proceeding to find a qualified repair contractor via a competitive bidding process. A repair contractor’s opinion operates outside of any statutory requirements/licensing and likely consists only of the particular products they sell, with no guarantee of significant expertise informing such opinions. Several repair contractors have a go-to engineer that will sign-off on a repair proposal without ever visiting the property, called a desk review or consultation as their client is the repair contractor and not the property owner, and this cost is usually included in their bid.

Yes, as is conventional wisdom to self-advocate for your health in a medical setting, so should be your attitude towards the structural condition of your property. As the occupant, possibly even unknowingly, you have mentally banked numerous data points that could underpin a scientific opinion. Existing cracks opening and closing, excess drainage collecting here or there, new cracks that simply weren’t there before, are all describing the very nature of the cyclical heave and shrinkage of expansive clay soils with Texas weather.

Consider studying available geotechnical information regarding the soil at your geographic location. The Internet Archive non-profit has free copies of old USDA Soil Surveys containing detailed maps, geological information, and even pertinent laboratory results describing the soil’s structural properties and expansive potential. Follow this link to their website, find Texas Soil Surveys, and then download the appropriate County’s Soil Survey (Link to Internet Archive).

As an opener, expansive clay soils are sometimes described as a sponge. These extremely small soil particles have an ionic attraction to water molecules and can double in size when saturated. Imagine for a moment a sponge used to wash a car, left on the driveway in the extreme heat of a Texas summer, and how it would be anemic in shape and so light the slightest breeze would send it tumbling. Now, the same sponge left in a bucket of water, so engorged with water that you almost drop it from the surprising weight of water it holds.

Expansive clay soils can shrink and swell several inches in the vertical direction. If the moisture content of all supporting soils could be maintained and constant, the structure as a whole may rise or fall, with us being none the wiser. However, a more common occurrence is for the moisture content to vary over the footprint of the foundation. This could be the result of a sloped lot with excess drainage approaching from one direction, an irrigation zone that is accidentally turned off or a zone that is excessively watering, an improperly designed gutter system with a downspout that is overloaded by excess tributary roof area, an uphill neighbor deciding to drain their pool in your direction, a side of the structure that receives direct sunlight with excessive desiccation of proximal soils, or any other number of causes.

Structures supported on expansive clay soils tend to have a dual personality, with disparate reactions to the dead heat of summer versus periods of the most substantial rainfall. The greater the variance in these two extremes, the greater the deterioration of stable, supporting soil conditions. An even more sinister anomaly is when excess moisture or drainage collects below the most interior area of the foundation, causing a seesaw effect with opposing perimeter sides undergoing variations in moisture content. This can result in accelerated fatigue of supporting soils and even result in a “global tilt” of the entire structure, usually conforming to the original slope of the land before the land was developed into building pads and parcels.

This is where the odd adage of “watering your foundation” may be ascribed to your situation. The thinking goes that if the perimeter of foundation can be sufficiently moistened to match the moisture content of soil found below the most interior of the foundation, the differential movement of foundation could be mitigated. In our experience, it is much wiser to control or improve the drainage paradigm for the lot such that excess moisture cannot accumulate below the foundation to begin with. An irrigation plan should only be to keep the grass and vegetation alive, as the competence of a robust and healthy root system is itself a soil stabilizing technique (e.g., the greenish material you may have seen sprayed onto bare soil slopes after new highway construction).

Herein, we arrive at the crux of a problematic situation becoming much worse with the supposed beneficial remedial measures offered by some repair contractors. While we largely respect the hard, laborious work of the foundation repair industry, after thousands of inspections we have concluded that nearly half of foundation repairs should instead have been a remedial drainage improvement, with a quarter of foundation repairs actually condemning the foundation to an accelerated pace of deterioration. This Firm often encounters existing structures with unnatural severity of distress, soon to discover prior, flawed foundation repair objectives such as lifting an area of foundation that had never settled in the first place, this very common among foundations presenting with a “global tilt” deflection scenario.

“Global tilt” or tilt is generally a whole structure rotation about an axis, wherein the foundation is still linear but having a uniform slope across the foundation. ASCE guidelines address this phenomenon appropriately, with generally a 1% slope described as when most occupants would notice the floor is sloped and a 2% slope considered excessive by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Best practices would warrant the foundation being lifted and stabilized as it approached a 1% slope, often in tandem with remedial drainage improvements. However, global tilt found to measure below or well below the 1% threshold is likely an indication of stability, not instability. The structure has conformed to a comfortable position, arriving at an equilibrium with the original slope of the land. Remedial measures, then, of underpinning and lifting the “low end” or downhill portion of foundation eliminates this achieved stability, and often greatly increases the probability of future failure or deficiency. The common thread is a misunderstanding or outright malpractice in applying the deflection criteria, the familiar 1 inch in 30 feet cited by an evaluator. Global tilt is a separate criterion, the aforementioned 1% slope limitation, and would present in the “Relative Elevations Survey” as a differential of several inches across the foundation (e.g., a 1% slope for a 40 ft dimension of foundation is a limiting value of 4.8 inches). Suggesting this limit is wrongly 1.33 inches is a travesty and, in the experience of this Firm, often results in severe deterioration of the structure, monetarily and actually.