Structural repair decision guides

Step 1: safety. If a wall is visibly bulging or leaning, a beam or post has visibly failed, or a floor has dropped, stop using the space and get a professional out. Everything else on this page assumes the house is safe to occupy.

Step 2: active or historic? Old, stable movement in a hundred-year-old house is normal and often needs nothing. Active movement needs attention. Marking and photographing cracks over months is the cheapest way to establish which one you have, and This Old House specifically points to sudden appearance or ongoing growth as the abnormal cases.

Step 3: buy the diagnosis. Hire a licensed structural engineer who does not sell repairs. Ask for floor elevation readings, an opinion on cause, and a written scope for what the repair must achieve. That document is what makes the next step honest.

Step 4: buy the repair. Take the engineer's scope to at least three contractors. Compare method, count, depth, warranty and exclusions. Ask each one to explain, in a sentence, what problem their proposal solves. If they can't, keep looking.

How to choose

Spend on the diagnosis before the repair

The engineer is a small fraction of the repair cost and is the only step that prevents buying the wrong repair.

Refuse pressure

No legitimate structural problem requires a signature today. If a discount evaporates when the salesperson leaves your kitchen, that is a sales structure, not an engineering one.

Three bids to one scope

Bids priced against different scopes are not comparable. Give every bidder the same engineer's report.

Ask about the paperwork you keep

Engineer's report, permit records, before-and-after elevations, warranty documents. This is what you will hand a buyer years from now.

Consider doing drainage first

If the engineer thinks water is the driver, correcting grading and downspouts and re-measuring after a wet season can change the scope of the structural work you need.