Signs of a foundation problem
Doors and windows that stick or won't latch
One sticking door is usually a door problem. Several doors on the same side of the house, all going out of square the same way, is a pattern worth a phone call.
What to look for at the frame
Close the door and look at the gap along the top. On a frame that has racked, the gap is a wedge: tight at one corner and open at the other. The latch may miss the strike plate by a few millimetres, so the door only stays shut if you lift the handle. A door that swings open or closed by itself is hanging in a frame that is no longer plumb.
Windows show it differently. A double-hung sash binds halfway up, a lock no longer lines up, or a slider needs a shove. On the wall above, a crack may run diagonally from the upper corner of the opening.
Ordinary causes come first
- Humid Kansas summers swell wooden doors. They rub in July and are loose again by November.
- Hinge screws work loose and the door sags on the latch side.
- Layers of paint build up on the edges and on the stop.
- A new house settles into its framing during its first seasons.
If a door has stuck every summer for twenty years and nothing else has changed, the house is probably telling you about humidity.
When the pattern points below the floor
The signs that matter are the ones that agree with each other. Doors along one outside wall all bind at the same corner. The floor in those rooms runs downhill toward that wall. There is a crack outside in the brick near the same spot, or a gap has opened between the baseboard and the floor. A basement door frame that has gone crooked under a main-floor room with the same trouble is another match.
What gets measured
An inspector will usually check each affected frame with a level, then map floor heights through the house to find where it is low and by how much. Bring anything you have noticed about timing: after a wet spring, at the end of a dry August, since a tree came down, since a neighbour regraded.
Clay-rich upland soils occur in eastern Sedgwick County. Tell the inspector whether the problem follows dry weather or rain, and ask what evidence supports any proposed soil explanation.
Hold off on planing the door
Trimming a door to fit a crooked frame fixes this month and creates a problem later. If the foundation is lifted or stabilised, frames tend to move back toward square, and a door cut to the old shape then shows a gap. Have the cause looked at first. Carpentry is the last step.
Questions people ask
My front door only sticks after heavy rain. Is that the foundation?
It can be the door swelling, or clay under the stoop and footing taking on water. Note whether the gap at the top of the frame changes shape as well. If the frame itself moves, mention that when you call.
Will foundation repair make my doors work again?
Sometimes partly, sometimes fully, and no honest company promises it in advance. Ask what the proposal says about lifting the house versus holding it where it is, and get the answer in writing.
Ready to have it looked at?
Talk to a foundation repair company near Wichita
Call and describe what you are seeing. You will speak with an independent local company that can arrange to inspect the house and give you its findings and its price.
Foundation repair for houses
Basement walls, settling, cracks, crawl spaces and sloping floors in Wichita and nearby towns.
Call (316) 555-0119Calls may be recorded. See the referral disclosure and privacy policy.