My house seems like it is sinking in one corner; windows and doors started slanting this winter. Is this a thing and can I fix it?

Yes, that is a real thing, and yes, we fix it. A corner that drops while windows and doors start to stick or slant is settlement. The footing under that corner is sinking into soft soil. We stabilize and often lift the corner with helical or push piers, and pier work runs $2,700 per pier for the first three, then $2,200 per pier after that depending on how many piers your corner needs and how deep we have to go.

Here is what is happening down there. Your foundation sits on soil. When the house was built, the crew dug a hole, poured the footings, then put the dirt back. That dirt that went back is called disturbed backfill. It is looser than the ground around it, it drains slowly, and it holds water. Over time it can compress. When one corner sits on soft fill that keeps settling, that corner drops. The frame is rigid, so the whole corner racks. That is why your windows and doors started to slant. They are still square. The opening around them is not.

Why this winter? New Hampshire frost. When wet ground freezes it heaves, and when it thaws it drops. Freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw, all season. That cycle works a weak corner loose fast. A lot of folks first notice it in late winter. A door that closed fine in October now scrapes the jamb. A window that needs a shove. A crack stepping up the drywall near that corner.

How we look at it

The free inspection is where we figure out the real cause. We are not guessing from photos. We check whether the corner has actually dropped, how much, and whether it is still moving. We look at the foundation wall, the footing area, the sill, the floor framing inside, and the soil situation around that corner. We give you a written estimate and a quote within 24 hours.

Not every slanting door means a sinking corner. Sometimes a door sticks because of humidity, or a settled interior post, not the outside footing. We will tell you if that is what we find. You do not need pier work if your corner has not moved.

The fixes

When a corner has truly settled, the usual answer is piers. Helical piers screw down through the soft fill to firm ground or bedrock and carry the corner there instead of on the mush. Push piers do a similar job by driving down to load-bearing strata. We bracket them to your footing, then we can often lift the corner back toward where it belongs. We self-perform this work with our own crew. Helical piers carry a 25-year engineered warranty. See helical piers and structural and foundation repair.

If the trouble is a sagging interior, not the outside footing, the fix is floor support: new lally columns or power posts under the beam to take the bounce and sag out of the floor. That is a 10-year warranty. See supplemental support.

If your sill or main beam has rotted where the framing meets the foundation, that gets fixed with sill and beam replacement before any lift. A soft sill cannot carry a lift. See sill replacement.

If the corner movement also cracked or bowed the foundation wall, we handle that with crack injection or carbon-fiber straps. Crack repair runs $1,000 to $3,000 and carbon-fiber straps run $850 each, both with their own warranties. See foundation repair.

What drives the price is how many piers, how deep we have to go to hit firm ground, access around that corner, and whether the sill or wall needs work first. That is why we price it after we see it.

One thing we will not sell you: a full new foundation when a repair will do. We do foundation repair, not new builds. If a corner can be piered and lifted, that is far less money and disruption than tearing anything out.

Will insurance pay for it?

Usually not. Standard homeowner policies generally exclude earth movement and settling. The Insurance Information Institute (iii.org) is a good neutral place to read what a typical policy covers before you call your agent. Financing is available through Hearth, subject to approval. We make nothing on it.

A settling corner does not fix itself, and it gets more expensive the longer the frame racks. Catching it now, while it is one sticky door, beats catching it after the wall cracks.

Ready to know what is really going on under that corner? Call us at 603-610-1770 or book your free inspection. We will give you a clear read and a written quote within 24 hours. Backed by the 603 guarantee!

Related questions

Is a cracked foundation wall the same as a sinking corner? Not always. A wall can crack from shrinkage or frost pressure without the corner dropping. A sinking corner is a footing problem. We check both at the inspection. Crack repair runs $1,000 to $3,000.

Do I need piers or just floor support? Piers are for an outside corner or footing that has settled into the soil. Floor support is for a sagging beam or bouncy floor inside. The cause decides it, and that is what the free inspection finds. Floor support runs $1,300 to $2,500.

Can you lift the corner back, or just stop it? Often we can lift it back toward level with the piers, not only halt it. How far depends on how long it has been settling and the condition of the framing. We tell you what is realistic before we start.

My basement also gets wet in that corner. Is that related? It can be. Wet backfill that settles is the same soil that can push water in at the floor wall joint. If you have both, we look at drainage too. Our basement waterproofing is separate work, the Forever Dry System, and runs $3,000 to $30,000.