Guidelines for Diagnosing Heave Subsidence and Settlement – SUMMARY

Page Summary

• Heave is upward foundation movement linked to moisture gain in expansive clay soils, subsidence is downward movement linked to moisture loss, and settlement is downward movement linked to loads exceeding soil bearing capacity.
• Diagnosis depends on movement direction confirmed by measured elevations plus field evidence, including crack patterns, drainage and moisture conditions, vegetation influence, and plumbing leak history.
• A documentation driven investigation with targeted testing and monitoring supports repair decisions that match the movement mechanism and reduces repeat damage risk.

Foundation movement in Arizona rarely has a single cause, and it rarely announces itself with just one symptom. A tile crack, a sticking door, or a sloped floor is usually the visible result of changes below the slab, around the perimeter beams, or along load paths that have been slowly evolving for months or years. In the Phoenix metro, where expansive soils, irrigation patterns, and sharp wet to dry cycles can influence ground behavior, an accurate diagnosis matters as much as the repair. Diagnosing Heave Subsidence and Settlement means identifying which direction the structure moved, why the supporting soil changed, and what evidence supports that conclusion before selecting any stabilization approach.

At Concrete Repairman LLC, our diagnostic mindset is simple and practical: confirm movement direction first, then match the site evidence to the most likely movement mechanism. Heave, subsidence, and settlement are not interchangeable terms. Each has different drivers, different field indicators, and different long term expectations for performance and recurrence risk.

Which Way Is It Moving?

Guidelines for Diagnosing Heave, Subsidence and Settlement

Ron Kelm, P.E. | Nicole Wylie, P.E. | Forensic Engineers Inc. | Houston TX | www.forensicengineersinc.com

SUMMARY

1. The three common foundation movement types requiring foundation repair in the Houston area are heave (up), subsidence (down), and settlement (down).
2. All three movement types in the Houston area are commonly misdiagnosed. A forensic engineer performing a Level C investigation and implementing foundation monitoring can minimize misdiagnosis.
3. Heave is the most difficult movement type to mitigate, while settlement is the simplest to diagnose and mitigate.
4. At least a dozen symptoms are common for each type of foundation movement to help the forensic engineer identify the movement type. Regardless, when heave is present, there will be an available moisture source nearby; when subsidence is present, there will be mature trees or other large vegetation nearby; and when settlement is present, the ultimate shear strength of the clay supporting a slab-on grade at the grade beam bearing level will be below 0.5 TSF.
5. Remedial foundation work varies depending on the type of foundation movement present: Unless monitoring shows the movement has stopped, heave repairs often do not work and are usually not warranted by repair contractors unless the entire foundation can be lifted above the soil’s potential upward movement elevation; subsidence repairs work for a period but are often difficult to maintain because offending trees are not removed or heavily pruned regularly; and settlement repairs have the best chance for no call-backs from a warranty standpoint. However, settlement occurs rarely in Houston than in heave and subsidence.
6. Forensic engineers need to be aware that other types of foundation movement may not fit the symptoms of the three common movement types described in this paper. Two examples given in this paper are active fault slippage and root heave.