Houses are generally pretty well built, but as any homeowner knows, they require constant care and maintenance. Properly maintained, most houses will still be standing long after we’re no longer living in them. Without that maintenance, the house you’re sitting in right now will start to deteriorate noticeably within a few decades—and might even collapse if its structural integrity is undermined.
Most of the problems you’ll encounter in your house will be repairable—it might cost a lot of money and cause a lot of inconvenience, but it can be done. But there are some signs that your house might be in so much trouble that the repair won’t be worth it—or might not even be possible. Here are seven signs your house might be completely cooked.
Increasing slope
Sloping floors aren’t uncommon in older homes—all houses “settle” as the foundation shifts and moisture levels in materials change over time, and sometimes this process results in floors that are slightly out of plumb. If it’s an older home, the slope is limited to 1-1/2 inches over 20 feet or less, and the floors are stable, it’s usually nothing to panic over, and you might be able to level them out.
But if the slope of the floors is getting noticeably worse over a relatively short period of time, that’s a sign that your house may be sinking, or experiencing foundation failure. If the slope of your floors is getting worse, it’s time to bring in a professional to inspect the foundation and the floor joists—and get ready for some bad news, because it’s a good bet this won’t be an affordable repair.
Off-kilter doors and windows
If your doors and windows no longer open, shut, or latch properly, and diagonal cracks have appeared at the corners, you might have an unrepairable house. While windows and doors that get “sticky” over time is a pretty common occurrence and likely caused by normal settling, if you can see that door and window frames are warped and visibly out of square, it probably means your house has severe foundation issues. Many foundation problems can be repaired (though it can be a pricey fix, with the high end costing about $100,000), but if your house is moving enough to noticeably warp the windows and doors, it might be too late.
Leaning house
If you’re outside your house and notice that it has a noticeable lean—that the exterior walls are obviously not square and the house looks like it’s falling over—you might be in severe trouble. This is especially true if the lean is recent—while many older homes have a slight lean (and can even become celebrated tourist sites as a result), sudden leaning indicates subsidence, which could lead to collapse or other catastrophic failure of the home’s structure.
Severe foundation cracks
Most cracks in a home’s foundation can be repaired. But if your foundation has severe cracks—wide enough to push a finger into, especially horizontal cracks—or is visibly decayed in several spots, you might be looking at a lost cause due to the high cost of making repairs combined with having to make other living arrangements until the home is safe to occupy again.
A cracked and leaning chimney
Chimneys are a crucial aspect of your home’s infrastructure. If you’re outside and notice that your chimney is cracked or noticeably leaning, it could be a sign of foundation failure. Chimneys are heavy, and they exert a lot of force onto a small area of your home’s foundation, which can cause it to fail. If the chimney is visibly separated from the rest of your house, it might even be in danger of collapsing, which can cause extensive damage.
Bulging walls
If you notice that your walls (especially in the basement or crawlspace) are no longer flat and level but have a perceptible bulge or bowing to them, don’t sleep on it—it could be a sign of severe foundation issues and possibly even imminent collapse.
A homeowner in Pennsylvania was attempting to deepen his basement when he noticed the walls bulging—and despite his frantic attempts to reinforce them, the home eventually collapsed and had to be torn down. That’s an extreme example, but bulging walls are almost always a sign of serious problems with the home’s structure, and you’re going to have to make a hard choice regarding whether yours is worth repairing.
Bouncing floors
Floors should be stiff—meaning you shouldn’t feel any noticeable bounce when you walk on them. Bouncy floors are usually signs of big problems. They can be caused by termites that have eaten away at your floor joists (which can lead to the floor’s collapse), mold and rot that have compromised the joists, or subsidence and shifting ground that has moved crucial supports away from the floor’s structure. If you feel like you’re on a trampoline every time you walk on your floors, start worrying, because it might be a sign of a problem that could leave your home unrepairable.
Luckily, if you notice danger signs early, most problems with a house can be repaired. But if you see something on this list, you’ll have to at least consider the possibility that yours is unrepairable.
