Why is my Property Uneven?

Seeing a visible tilt or lean to your property from the sidewalk is one of the most unnerving things that any homeowner can experience. By the time unevenness has become this visible, it is almost certain that the cause is foundation damage or movement of some kind. There is really no other issue that can sufficiently destabilize or shift the full structure of a property so dramatically. Of course, there can be a number of underlying causes of foundation damage.

The silty-loam soil in Northern Virginia is relatively stable and has good drainage capabilities, but in most of the state, this Pamunkey soil generally has layers of clay-based soil underneath it. This soil, by contrast, is far more reactive and expansive. As such, periods of intense rainfall and storm can lead to the clay expanding and cause the Pamunkey soil above to shift and move, leaving your home vulnerable to lateral movement or sinking. There is also the possibility of the clay soil underneath the Pamunkey soil shrinking during dry spells. When this happens, settlement is a far more likely outcome.

Subsidence is more likely to make your home look uneven from one side to the other in a semi-consistent way. This is because subsidence generally occurs when soil is loose or weak, and occurs because of the weight of the property in question. As such, subsidence does not always cause foundation cracking or fragmentation. Settlement, by contrast, is more likely to cause interior unevenness or localized sinking. Of course, fully diagnosing the causes of unevenness in your home should be left to professionals.