Free tool
How much is your basement actually at risk?
Most homeowners find out their ground is a problem after the crack or the flood, not before. Enter your city and we will pull what the public data says about the five things that put water and pressure on a foundation, and tell you straight where you stand.
What goes into the score
Five signals, each from a cited public dataset. Any one of them running high is enough to be worth an inspection.
- Expansive clay
USDA soil-survey shrink-swell ratings. Clay that swells and shrinks with the seasons is the number-one cause of foundation cracks.
- Drainage
USDA hydrologic soil groups. Slow-draining ground holds rain against the foundation instead of letting it soak away.
- Water table
USDA depth-to-water-table data. Where groundwater rises to basement depth, it presses on the floor and walls year-round.
- Out-of-zone flooding
FEMA flood-insurance claims. In many areas most basement flooding happens outside the mapped high-risk zone, where owners assume they are safe.
- Freeze-thaw
ERA5 climate reanalysis. Repeated freezing and thawing works at any crack that lets water in, widening it every winter.
This reads the odds for your area from survey and claims data. Soil and groundwater vary lot to lot, so treat a high score as a reason to get your own ground looked at, not a diagnosis.