This is the bottom side of a hillside foundation that doesn't seem to have... a foundation.

Sorry for the blurry photo but this post and pier were sitting on very loose soil and I felt it was crazy enough to share.

I don't think much needs to be said about this one...

This is a deck system we inspected with some serious wood rot present.
The elements have taken a toll on this deck and it's crying out for help. Just take a look at that rot on the right.

Whoever originally built this foundation used steel cable as their supplement for reinforced steel bar.
I guess it's better than nothing.

A nice stroll on the beach and you'll discover this floating concrete stairway. It isn't necessarily compromising the structure but it should be demolished and a new one should be put in place for the homeowner. Especially on such a beautiful home on the beach!

We do a lot of inspections on oceanfront homes and this is what we usually come across - serious rot from rough saltwater conditions. In fact, we’re doing a repair job right now on an oceanfront home in Malibu and we are replacing tons of wooden framing with galvanized steel, which is specially treated for marine construction.

Pipe and board can be a great solution for stabilizing a hillside area, but after a certain height it becomes unable to withstand the pressure from whatever it's holding back. This is called a "surcharge" and is the result of compression from a structure causing the earth to move outwards, pushing back whatever wall or barrier is in the way.

At least these people didn't have to hire a separate termite inspector to know that they have a bad termite infestation!

It's not alright if you can see the light... through the foundation that is.

Another hellish crawl with exposed wiring, pools of mud/sewage and loose insulation everywhere.

A large girder sitting on dirt with no other connections or bracing near the end.

We noticed this parallam beam had some pretty significant rot near its connection point with one of the columns. We opened it up and discovered that most of the other wood framing in the area had been comprised and was rotting.
This is also why there has been a newer ordinance set in place for the inspection and repair of wooden decks and balconies on multi-story structures. It will quite literally save lives.

This was a home that had a small CMU wall collapse in their basement. Luckily it wasn't supporting much besides a few posts and some dirt. Mark, one of our Senior Structural Assessors, can be seen in the back checking out the damage. He has been with the company for almost 20 years!

I really hope he doesn't give into the pier pressure and jump off...

This is a massive concrete retaining wall/foundation crack we inspected on an early 1900s home in LA.
When I say massive, I mean this thing was massive!
This is Brad and he is one of the company's Senior Structural Assessors. Brad is about 6 feet tall. I hope this gives you a good perspective on how large the wall and crack are!

This was an interesting "retaining wall" system we inspected this week. The walls ranged from 6-12 feet high and were clearly needing some extensive work. A complete demo and rebuild are going to be the proper solution for this one. Unfortunately, no heavy machinery could make it in as the space is super tight and close to the home. Most of it would have to be done with hand tools. Another severe crack could be found on a portion of the wall just on the side of the home.

Portions of the staircase were sunken down and cracked through the middle.
These massive cracks were all over the place and really showed the extent of the damage, even without the other areas collapsing around it.

We were doing some exploratory work on part of a home that needed structural reinforcement and we drilled into the drywall to see what was behind it. We were not expecting to see 4 layers of plywood and drywall! It’s like a carpenter sandwich!

Who wants to take a guess at whether or not this is a cosmetic crack or not?

This large, 14-foot masonry wall cracked and began leaning over. The 2x12 you see was the owner’s attempt at shoring up the wall.

This retaining wall has seen better days.

Another scary post and pier next to an internal foundation wall that is cracking and settling. Also, a large cutout section of the foundation can be seen to the left. This was done to provide easy access to the other side...

Now, when the dirt looks more stable than the concrete, you know there's an issue.

Sorry kiddos, no playing in the side yard!

We've done tons of repairs like this on oceanfront properties, but this one may take the cake.

This is a sinkhole that opened up directly underneath the foundation of this home.
It went down pretty far and completely undermined that area of the concrete foundation.

Another landslide occurred this week due to the recent rainstorms. Fortunately, our company falls under the “essentials” list during all this Covid-19 stuff and we’re still able to help people!
When constant flows of water pour into one area, either from leaking pipes or rain, it cause a subsidence in the soil and that’s why the pressure gets exerted downwards and causes the landslide.

Upon inspection of this residential home, a large crack was discovered to be running right through the middle of the home's slab foundation.

And finally, some very bad dry rot on a number of joists under the house. If the floor boards got this bad, somebody could easily step and fall through the flooring.

We will be proposing a new concrete wall to put in place of the old one.

The hillside is eroding right out from underneath this property. The footings on the retaining wall, concrete walkway and even the piles to the left are all exposed.

No jumping on the front porch, kids!

This is a cracked and settled concrete slab foundation. You don't need a level to see the slope difference here.
Plenty of severe cracks can be found throughout the property. Slabs generally need to be replaced when found to be in this condition.

Many old river rock walls were surrounding this property. This wasn't even the worst of the cracking.

We inspected this property after a general inspector said the foundation was in good shape. This was just after they poked their head through the crawlspace access. We crawled the whole thing (like you are supposed to) and found a very large horizontal crack in the foundation which was displaced and quite severe.

This is a large crack on a concrete porch. The porch is now almost completely separated from the house and is pulling away.

This is a very old river rock foundation which needs a sister foundation installed next to it or a full replacement.
These are similar to brick foundations but are usually in worse shape.

Some more brick piers supported by load bearing dirt.

I don't even know what to call this other than a nightmare. As pure as one can be.

This is a displaced concrete retaining wall. It seems the bottom part had already been patched over or formed over/filled. The wall moved anyway.

The steel door was so heavy that a concrete counterweight was added through a double pulley system to make it easier to open.

This foundation almost entirely deteriorated and most areas of the sill plate were resting on dirt.

A CMU wall in need of a replacement!

This is more rotting wood members on an oceanfront property we're working on in Malibu, CA.

This is a large landslide that happened in the back of a home in the Sherman Oaks area of Los Angeles County.
In the past 2 months, there have been tons of heavy rainstorms in LA. As the rain saturates the soil more and more, it seeps down to what is called the slip or shear plane. The slip or shear plane is the point at which the soil becomes too heavy and slips away from the rest of the hill. Unfortunately, another home was below and took some damage from the slide.
Landslides are so unpredictable and can cause millions in damage and put people in harm's way. Luckily nobody was injured and there wasn't much damage other than some broken windows in the house below.
The pool area on the property seemed stable enough for now but it's still at risk of failing in the future if nothing is done.
Landslides can be prevented but data on soil and other geological info will have to be known before the proper precautions can take place. Even then, they can still occur with seismic movement or heavy saturation from rainstorms or leaks.

This is one of the most hazardous circuit breakers you can possibly have in your home. It is a notorious fire-starter and although they aren't used anymore, they are still found to be active in many homes.