STLStructural
(314) 834-5853 Request a visit

St. Louis structural engineer

Worried about your house? Get a straight answer.

A licensed structural engineer looks at the crack, the wall, or the request from your lender, and tells you plainly what it means and what to do next. Nothing to sell you but the answer.

  • Licensed Professional Engineer in Missouri and Illinois
  • Independent: we do not sell repairs
  • A written, signed report you can hand to anyone

Rather talk it through? Call (314) 834-5853.

Tell us what is going on

It takes a minute. A licensed engineer reads it and calls you back within one business day.

No obligation. We confirm the scope and the fee with you before any visit is booked.

7 states
Where lender and manufactured-home reports are issued
1 business day
To reply with the scope and the fee
Signed
A written report from a licensed Professional Engineer
Independent
The engineer has nothing to sell you either way

Where to start

Start from your situation

Most people arrive with one of four problems. Pick yours to see what the engineer looks at and what you get.

A tape measure held along a horizontal crack in a block basement wall

Something cracked, bowed, or moved

A foundation crack, a leaning basement wall, a floor that slopes.

Foundation and basement walls A new beam and temporary shoring where a wall was removed

I want to take out a wall

Find out if it is load-bearing and get the beam design.

Load-bearing wall removal Buyers and an inspector looking at a brick bungalow from the front walk

I am buying a house

The home inspection mentioned the structure, and the clock is running.

Inspection before you buy A manufactured home on a permanent foundation with skirting

My lender asked for an engineering report

An FHA or HUD condition, often on a manufactured home.

FHA and HUD foundation inspection

Reading the signs

How to read a crack

The direction of a crack says more than its length. These are the three patterns we are asked about most in St. Louis basements.

Often minor Vertical hairline Usually shrinkage in poured concrete. Common, and often only needs sealing against water.
Have it looked at Stair-step Follows the mortar joints in block or brick. One part of the wall is settling or lifting relative to the rest.
Call an engineer Horizontal, wall bowed in Soil is pushing the wall inward. The crack usually sits near mid-height, where the wall bends most.

More detail in Foundation cracks: which ones matter and what a bowing basement wall means. A drawing is not a diagnosis, so if yours looks like the second or third, have it looked at.

Services

What we help with

Houses, two- and four-family flats, and other small buildings. If your question is about what holds the building up, it belongs here.

A tape measure held along a horizontal crack in a block basement wall

Foundation and basement walls

Cracks, bowing or leaning walls, settlement, and sloping floors.

 A new beam and temporary shoring where a wall was removed

Load-bearing wall removal

Find out whether a wall carries load, and get the beam design to take it out.

 Buyers and an inspector looking at a brick bungalow from the front walk

Inspection before you buy

A structural review of a house you are under contract on.

 A fallen tree across the damaged roof of a house

Damage assessment

After water, fire, a vehicle strike, a fallen tree, or a storm.

 An engineering report, seal press, and hard hat on a desk

Stamped engineer letters

The signed and sealed letter a building department, lender, or contractor asked for.

 A flashlight on a cracked rafter in an attic

Decks, additions, and roof framing

Framing reviews and designs for decks, porches, additions, and sagging roofs.

 A stair-step crack in a brick wall above a rusted window lintel

Brick and masonry

Cracked or bulging brick, failing lintels, chimneys, parapets, and cornices.

Not on the list?

Describe it and we will tell you whether we can help.

Ask us

FHA · HUD · manufactured homes

Engineering reports for loan and title files

When underwriting adds an engineering condition, the file waits until it is cleared. These reports are written for the person reviewing the file, and are issued in Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, and Indiana.

A manufactured home on a permanent foundation with skirting

FHA and HUD foundation inspection

The engineering report an FHA lender asks for on a manufactured home.

 Steel frame, block piers, and tie-down straps under a manufactured home

Manufactured home structural inspection

A sealed structural report on a manufactured home and its foundation, for any loan type.

 A block pier, footing, and anchor strap under a manufactured home

Permanent foundation certification

Certification to HUD's permanent foundation guide, for a loan file or a title conversion.

 Footing trenches with forms and rebar before the concrete pour

FHA new construction inspections

Footing, framing, and final inspections on form HUD-92051 where no local office inspects.

 Half of a manufactured home on a transport trailer beside the half already set

Moved manufactured home report

A structural integrity report on a manufactured home installed at a new site.

Loan officer or processor?

What to send, and which report answers which condition.

For lenders

The report

What you get in writing

A report is only useful if the person you hand it to can act on it. Every one we issue is written for that.

See how it works An engineer with a clipboard shining a flashlight on a cracked basement wall
  • What was observed. The condition, where it is, and photos of it.
  • The likely cause. In plain words, with the reasoning.
  • How serious it is. Repair now, monitor, or leave alone.
  • The repair scope. Specific enough that contractors bid the same work.
  • A signature and seal. From a licensed Professional Engineer, for the state the property is in.

Before you call

Guides

Straight answers to read before you call anyone.

All guides
A tape measure held along a horizontal crack in a block basement wall

Foundation cracks: which ones matter

How to tell a harmless shrinkage crack from one that signals foundation movement.

 A new beam and temporary shoring where a wall was removed

How to tell if a wall is load-bearing

Practical clues that point to a bearing wall, and why you need confirmation before touching one.

 A fallen tree across the damaged roof of a house

Structural engineer vs foundation repair company

Why an independent engineer's opinion differs from a quote from a company that sells repairs.

 Buyers and an inspector looking at a brick bungalow from the front walk

Structural inspection before buying a house

What to do when a home inspection flags structure and the clock is running.

 A manufactured home on a permanent foundation with skirting

What is a HUD engineering report?

What a HUD engineering report is, what else it is called, and who signs it.

 Steel frame, block piers, and tie-down straps under a manufactured home

FHA manufactured home foundation requirements

A plain overview of what an FHA lender needs to see for a manufactured home foundation.

 A red brick house on a limestone foundation on a St. Louis street

Missing HUD label or data plate on a manufactured home

What the HUD label and data plate are, and what to do if one is missing.

 An engineer with a clipboard shining a flashlight on a cracked basement wall

Underwriting added an engineering condition: what to send

A checklist for loan officers on what to send an engineer for an underwriting condition.

Service area

Where we work

Both sides of the river. See the full service area.

Missouri

St. Louis City, St. Louis County, St. Charles County, Jefferson County, Franklin County.

Illinois

Madison County, St. Clair County, Monroe County.

Find out what you are dealing with.

Send the address and a few details. A licensed engineer replies within one business day.

Request a visit Call (314) 834-5853