Talk through your wall

What to have to hand

1. The address, and roughly how many linear feet of wall there is.
2. Photographs. The face of the wall, the cap, and the ground behind it. If there is a depression in the yard, photograph that too — it is frequently the most informative picture. A shot sighted along the length of the cap is worth more than it sounds, because a wall built straight that is no longer straight has moved.
3. What you have noticed, and when. New cracking, joints that have opened, settlement, a lean that was not there last year. Rate matters as much as state.

What happens next

An inspection, and it needs to include the part below the waterline. What is visible from the cap is a fraction of the structure, and the conditions that decide how long a wall has left — panel deterioration, joint separation, scour at the toe, the state of the anchoring — are all out of sight.

Until that is settled, a figure tells you nothing. On this structure the honest range of proposals for the same wall runs from joint sealing to full replacement, and which one is right is a finding rather than an opinion.

If you are buying

This is the best time to call. A seawall is a major structure, it is expensive to replace, its condition is largely invisible, and a standard home inspection does not establish it. Buyers scrutinize roofs carefully and accept seawalls on the basis of a glance from the dock.

It is also worth asking for the permit history on any seawall work done to the property, and noticing whether the neighboring walls have been rebuilt recently — walls built together age together.

Request a callback

Send the address and what the wall is doing. We will call you back.