Crawl Space & Foundation Repair in Durham, NC

Durham Homes and What Is Under Them

Durham has some of the oldest housing we work on. The neighborhoods close to downtown and around the universities include many homes from the first half of the twentieth century, often on brick piers or low crawl spaces with limited access. Further out, mid-century ranch houses fill much of the city, and South Durham — 27713, our busiest Durham ZIP — is largely newer subdivisions built as the area around Research Triangle Park grew.

In the older houses, the problems are usually structural and long-running: piers that have settled, framing that has been wet for decades, and earlier repairs that were done with whatever was at hand. Low clearance makes these crawl spaces harder to work in and easier to neglect, so damage is often further along by the time anyone looks.

Common Problems We See in Durham

• Settled brick piers and support columns, leaving floors out of level
• Rotted sill plates and band joists at the perimeter of older homes
• Termite damage in framing that has stayed damp — see termite damage repair
• Cracks in foundation walls and interior walls, and the question of which ones matter
• Humid, vented crawl spaces in the newer South Durham subdivisions

Wall cracks deserve a calm look before anyone panics. Many are cosmetic; some are a sign the house is still moving. Telling them apart is a matter of where they are, which way they run and whether they are changing, and that is what our wall crack assessment checks.