Bothell Foundation Repair takes calls from Lynnwood, in Snohomish County, for cracked foundation walls, water at the footing, sloping floors and crawlspace framing, and starts with the cause.
Lynnwood is the larger of the two Snohomish County cities on our list, with about 40,000 people. The housing: 53 percent built before 1980, 40 percent in the 1960s and 70s, median year 1979, and about 49 percent one-unit.
Four steel piers under a corner that sticks windows
Example project
Home
House in Lynnwood with a concrete block foundation wall
Original request
Windows on one corner that have begun to stick
Dug-out strip
Beside the wall, with a steel plate and concrete pad at each pier
Piers
Four steel columns, each with a bracket under the floor beam
Not included
Window repair and any engineer’s design
Cost
$11,500
In this example, the owners of a house in Lynnwood find the windows on one corner have begun to stick. Below them, the house stands on a concrete block foundation wall.
A crack in a Lynnwood foundation wall can be read the same way as anywhere: fine and steady, or tapering and growing. The page on foundation crack repair sets out the difference.
Foundation drainage
Water against the footing is the cause behind several other problems, which is why the page on foundation drainage starts with downspouts and grade before drains.
Foundation settlement and piering
A sloping floor or a gap at a door in Lynnwood can mean the footing has dropped. Piers and the limits HUD lists are on the foundation settlement and piering page.
Crawlspace post and beam repair
Under a floor that bounces, the crawlspace is where the cause is traced, and the page on crawlspace post and beam repair describes how.
Homes and foundations here
Of Lynnwood homes, 40 percent come from the 1960s and 70s, which makes that decade pair the biggest group. Another 2 percent are older than 1950, about 27 percent date from 1980 to 1999 and about 20 percent from 2000 on. Median owner-occupied value: $686,900.
With fewer than half of homes in one-unit buildings, foundation questions here can come from townhouses and condominiums as well as houses. In a building with shared walls, an association may have a say in work on a shared foundation, so ask first.
Permits and rules to check
Lynnwood has its own building and planning departments, and they are the place to ask whether foundation work needs a permit. What it exempts and what hazard areas it maps are the city’s to say.
State rules frame this. Geologically hazardous areas count as critical areas under RCW 36.70A.030, and WAC 365-190-120 says building in them must be avoided when technology cannot reduce risks to acceptable levels. Whether your address is in one is for the city to say, and the DNR Geologic Information Portal has a Natural Hazards view to look at first.
Give the Lynnwood address and the type of home, house, townhouse or condominium, plus a few lines on what you have seen. We'll get back to you soon with an estimate or any questions we have. Estimates are free and there's no obligation.
