Dover homes
Cracks and leaning walls in Dover's valleys and slopes
Dover sits on chalk with Gault clay beneath, cut by steep dry valleys and built up along the seafront. Find out what that ground means for a crack or a leaning wall, and how a specialist works out whether soil movement or drainage is behind it.
What a specialist can do about ground movement
Each method suits a different kind of damage and a different type of ground. A specialist picks the one that fits the cause they find at your home.
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Subsidence Help
A specialist visits the home, records the damage and determines whether the ground, drains or tree roots are causing the movement.
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Underpinning
Where foundations need extra depth to reach stable ground, a specialist excavates sections and pours new concrete below the existing footing.
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Resin Injection
A specialist pumps expanding resin into weak or washed-out soil beneath a floor or footing to compact it and stop further sinking.
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Concrete Cracking
A specialist assesses cracked slabs, floors or drives and repairs or replaces them once the underlying cause has been addressed.
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Screw Piling
A specialist drives steel screw piles into the ground to support bay windows, porches or extensions where traditional foundations would be difficult.
Things you might be asking yourself
These are the ordinary thoughts people have when they notice a crack widening or a door sticking. They are sensible things to wonder about a house on Dover's particular ground.
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Is the crack from the chalk or the clay underneath?
Chalk is usually firm, but the Gault clay below it shrinks and swells, which often causes more movement.
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Does living in a dry valley make it worse?
Dry valleys channel water underground during heavy rain, washing fine soil away and leaving voids beneath footings.
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Could the made ground near the port be settling?
Seafront areas were often filled with rubble and spoil, which compresses over decades and causes uneven settlement.
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Will a blocked drain cause the wall to lean?
A leaking or blocked drain softens the soil around a foundation, letting one side sink faster than the other.
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How does someone actually work out the cause?
A specialist digs trial pits, takes borehole samples and checks drains until the exact reason for movement is clear.
The methods used to stabilise a home
Towns across Kent where enquiries are taken
Enquiries are accepted from anywhere in Kent. Specialist firms travel throughout the county, so the same knowledge of local geology applies whether a home stands on Weald clay, chalk or coastal sand.
If your town is not listed, send an enquiry anyway. Kent-wide coverage is standard.
Describe what you have noticed at your home
Send details of the crack, lean or stuck door. The information goes to a specialist who deals with that kind of ground movement. There is no obligation to accept any proposal they make.
- No obligation
- Free to enquire
- Local specialists