Signs of Foundation Problems: A Shreveport Checklist

Inside the house

Walk the house room by room with a notepad. Published warning-sign lists include:

• doors or windows that stick, swing on their own, or no longer latch;
• cracks that run at an angle from the corners of doors and windows;
• cabinets or countertops pulling away from the wall;
• drywall nails popping out, often several in a line;
• floors that slope, or that squeak, sag, or bounce when you walk across them.

Note the room and the date for each. A door that sticks and a crack above the same doorway are two clues pointing at one spot.

Outside the house

Then walk the outside. The same published lists include:

• cracks in exterior walls, brick, or the visible edge of a slab;
• gaps opening between window frames and the wall around them;
• siding that has cracked or warped;
• a chimney that is cracked or leaning away from the house.

While you are outside, look at where water goes: downspouts that empty against the wall, beds that slope toward the house, and low spots that hold water after rain.

Under a raised house

If the house is raised, look through the access door or a vent with a flashlight — no need to crawl in. Signs worth photographing: standing water or wet soil, wood that looks dark or soft where it meets a pier, piers that lean or no longer touch the beam, and shims that have slipped. Published guidance on raised foundations links those to settling piers, rot from moisture, and framing that has shifted.

What each sign can point to

Signs that change with the weather

The LSU AgCenter describes Louisiana’s heavy clay soils as swelling when they are wet and cracking open when they dry — the kind of movement that makes building foundations difficult. So a door that binds in one season and works fine in another is not a false alarm — it is information. Record it with the date and the weather.

Keep a log for a few weeks

1. Mark both ends of each crack in pencil and write the date beside it.
2. Photograph each crack with a coin or tape measure in the frame.
3. List the doors and windows that stick, by room.
4. Recheck every couple of weeks, and after a long dry stretch or heavy rain.

A log turns “I think it’s worse” into something a specialist can use. It also helps if you later need to talk to your carrier — see does insurance cover foundation repair.

When to call

Call when signs cluster in one part of the house, when a crack grows past its pencil marks, when a patched crack reopens, or when a door that used to work stops closing. If you are not sure whether the house is on a slab or raised, start with pier and beam vs. slab. For scale, published Shreveport ranges run $1,900 to $3,800 for minor crack repair and $2,300 to $23,900 for major repairs.