Structural repair: who to call, and in what order

What is structural repair?

Structural repair covers work on the parts of a house that carry load - beams, posts, joists, headers, bearing walls and the foundation beneath them. The single thing that decides how well it goes is sequence: an independent assessment first, a written specification second, competitive bids on that specification third, and only then the work. Reversed - contractor diagnoses, contractor prices his own diagnosis - you have no way to tell whether the scope is right or the price is fair.

Signs you need structural repair

• Doors or windows that used to close and now bind, stick or drop out of square - the frame has moved around them
• A floor that is visibly out of level, dips toward the middle of a room, or bounces underfoot when someone walks past
• Cracks in drywall that reappear in the same place after being patched, particularly running diagonally from door and window corners
• Visible sagging, splitting, crushing or rot on a beam, post or joist you can see from a basement or crawl space
• Gaps opening between a wall and the ceiling, or between baseboard and floor, that were not there a year ago
• A wall you want to remove for a renovation, and no reliable answer on whether it carries anything
• Damage after an event - a tree strike, a vehicle impact, flooding, a heavy snow load or a quake
• A home inspection report that used the phrase "further evaluation by a structural engineer recommended"

Seeing something not on this list? Browse structural repair problems by symptom →

How structural repair actually works

1. 1

   Assessment - by someone who is not bidding the repair

   A licensed structural engineer visits, looks at the load path rather than the symptom, and tells you what is happening and whether it is still moving. They are paid for their time. They do not sell repairs, so "nothing needs doing yet, here is what to watch" is an answer they are free to give. A general home inspector is a different professional with a different licence - they flag concerns and refer out; they do not specify repairs.

   Watch forAn "engineer" arranged and paid for by the company that wants the contract. That is not an independent assessment, whatever the letterhead says. The independence tests are set out in full on our engineering referral page.

2. 2

   Specification - the document you hand to bidders

   The engineer produces a written report describing the condition, the cause where it can be determined, and the remedy in enough detail that a contractor can price it. Members, connections and supports are sized by the engineer, not by the crew on site. If a permit is required, this is usually also the document your building department wants, sealed.

   Watch forAccepting a verbal opinion instead of a written report. Nothing verbal can be handed to three bidders, and nothing verbal survives a dispute six months later.

3. 3

   Competitive bids on the same scope

   With a written specification, three contractors price the identical work and the numbers become comparable. Without one, three companies each diagnose a different problem, quote a different remedy, and the cheapest number is frequently the smallest scope rather than the best value.

   Watch forBids that quietly substitute a different method than the one specified. If a bidder proposes a change, that change goes back to the engineer before you sign, not after.

4. 4

   Permit, and the trade that does the work

   Structural alterations generally need a permit and inspection. Who performs the work depends on the element: a general contractor or framer for beams, joists and bearing walls; a foundation contractor for piers, underpinning and slab work; specialist crews for shoring and lifting. One general contractor often coordinates several of these.

   Watch forA proposal to do structural work without a permit "to save you time". The saving is illusory - unpermitted structural work surfaces at resale, and it strips you of the inspection that would have caught bad work.

5. 5

   Sign-off, and the paperwork you keep

   Have the engineer who specified the work inspect it before it is closed up and covered. Their letter, the permit final, the contract and the warranty documents together are what you hand a buyer years later. Structural work with no paperwork behind it reads to a buyer as a defect rather than a repair.

   Watch forA crew that closes up the ceiling, wall or crawl space before anyone has looked at the connections. Once it is covered, verifying it costs money again.

What does structural repair cost?

Range is enormous - a single sistered joist and a whole-house underpinning are the same category and nowhere near the same number. Budget the engineer's assessment separately and first; it is a small fraction of any repair and it is what makes the repair quotes comparable.

See the full structural repair cost guide - by material, size and region →

If the number is the problem, here are the ways people pay for it →