Does my lifted skylight need a professional inspection?
It is difficult to determine if a professional is needed because you cannot tell from an initial inspection if lifted areas around a skylight have always looked that way. This leaves first-time homeowners stuck between ignoring something important and overthinking every seasonal change as an emergency.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Crawling into the attic to check for dryness after heavy rain storms
- 2Using a soaker hose daily around the foundation slab during dry periods
- 3Monitoring crack size and length through seasonal weather changes before calling a professional
- 4Patching cosmetic drywall cracks and painting over them
- 5Adjusting door latches and frames when movement occurs
- 6Hiring an independent structural engineer to track foundation elevation measurements over time
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Saw the things around the skylight that look lifted, but we cant tell from initial inspection if they've always looked like this.”source ↗
“I’m in Plano, TX and trying to figure out whether I’m overthinking some cracking in my house or if I should have the foundation looked at again.”source ↗
“Is it realistic for a properly repaired foundation to have some cracks and door issues that come and go with the seasons, without actually needing another repair?”source ↗
“This is our first home and I’m trying not to turn every drywall crack into a foundation emergency, but also don’t want to ignore something important.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 3Does this concrete crack need immediate repair?
- 6Should I buy a house with conflicting roof damage reports?
- 39How to tell if a damaged roof needs replacing before winter
- 4Last-minute home repair flagged by inspector before closing
- 2How to tell if roof hail damage is serious enough to fix
- 44How to tell if a new roof was installed correctly