Foundation Inspection Checklist

A standard home inspection covers structural components including the foundation and framing, but home inspectors are not required to provide engineering analysis or offer opinions on structural adequacy under the ASHI Standards of Practice. The checklist below goes deeper than a pre-sale walk-through and separates what you can check yourself from what needs professional follow-up.

Exterior Checklist

• Walk full perimeter, photograph any cracks visible in brick, block, or siding
• Note location and severity of stair-step cracks (always near corners)
• Check separation between home and chimney, porch, attached garage
• Inspect window and door exterior trim for gaps
• Note grading: does soil slope away from foundation or toward it?
• Check downspouts: discharging away from foundation, or near it?
• Look for efflorescence (white powder deposits) on foundation walls

Interior Checklist

• Test every interior door for sticking, especially in older sections
• Look for drywall cracks at corners of door and window frames
• Use a 4-foot level on the floor in each room, note any floor slope
• Roll a marble across each room floor as a quick slope check
• Check window function: do all windows open and close smoothly?
• Inspect ceiling for cracks in upper-floor rooms
• Note any musty smell or visible mold

Basement Checklist

• Inspect all four basement walls for cracks (note width, direction, displacement)
• Use a 4-foot level vertically against each wall to check for bowing
• Look for water staining at wall-floor joints
• Check for efflorescence on basement walls
• Note location and condition of any sump pump
• Check that floor drain is clear and functional
• Inspect any visible portions of the structural members above

Crawl Space Checklist

• Inspect every visible masonry pier for tilt, cracking, settlement
• Check wood beams for rot at pier contact points and beam ends
• Look for joist sag (visible deflection from below)
• Check vapor barrier integrity (sealed seams, no large tears)
• Note any standing water or damp soil
• Test humidity if a sensor is available (target under 60 percent)
• Look for pest activity (droppings, gnaw marks on wood)

Chattanooga-Specific Inspection Priorities

The general checklist applies to all homes, but Chattanooga’s combination of slope, rainfall above 52 inches a year, and older housing stock makes certain inspection points unusually important here.

Crawl-space inspection is non-optional

Given Chattanooga’s high crawl-space prevalence (especially in Signal Mountain, Lookout Mountain, North Shore, and the historic districts), any complete inspection requires crawl-space access. Inspections that skip the crawl on the assumption that everything looks fine from above miss the majority of structural issues these homes actually have. Sagging joists, settled masonry piers, beam rot at pier contacts, and vapor-barrier failure all hide below the floor. If access is the obstacle, request a professional inspection rather than skipping the crawl.

Hillside drainage check matters more

On sloped Chattanooga lots, exterior drainage assessment isn’t just gutters and downspouts. Inspect: where does upslope runoff enter the property, where does it exit, does any neighbor’s downspout discharge onto your lot, are there drainage ditches that have silted up, does the exterior grading slope away from the foundation on all sides. Hillside drainage problems compound more quickly than flat-lot drainage issues because gravity adds force.

Older-home basement priorities

Pre-1960 basements in North Shore, Highland Park, and the historic districts often have masonry block walls that show damage patterns different from poured concrete. Look for: horizontal mortar-joint cracks at mid-wall height (driven by hydrostatic pressure), vertical mortar cracks at corners (settlement), white efflorescence deposits (moisture moving through), and parge-coating failure (water intrusion behind the wall surface).