Choose one location
Check which structure, addition or site each document describes. Do not silently combine records from two properties just because their labels look similar.
A PRACTICAL HOMEOWNER WORKFLOW
Before an inspection,
organize the evidence.
A soil map is one input, not a diagnosis. Bring the site records, your dated observations and the questions that a map cannot answer.
Separate the evidence
Keep mapped soil, regional drought, your observations and professional findings distinct. A source date and an inspection date answer different questions.
Keep unanswered questions
Mark a missing record as missing. The purpose of the brief is a better conversation, not a complete-looking folder or a recommendation to buy repairs.
THE SIX-PART CHECKLIST
What to gather — and what to ask.
Original geotechnical or soil report
Confirm the site, investigation date and scope. A regional map is not a site investigation.
Foundation plans or construction records
Record which drawings exist and which building or addition they describe.
Previous repairs and warranty documents
Keep the scope, dates, exclusions and follow-up records together.
Drainage, plumbing and site-change history
Note documented incidents and work without assuming they caused a symptom.
Dated observations and photo references
Keep your observations separate from conclusions and professional findings.
Written inspection scope and questions
Ask what will be measured, what is excluded and what will remain uncertain.
Keep a short observation timeline
Use a consistent location label and date for each observation. “New to me” and “newly formed” are not the same claim. Keep an overview and a detail reference together, and describe what you can actually see rather than assigning a cause. Our notebook stores only text references to photographs, not the photographs themselves.
Ask about the scope, not just the conclusion
Ask what was inspected, what was measured, what was inferred and what could not be checked. Ask which additional records or measurements would change the assessment. A repair quotation, a regional map and a professional investigation are different products; this website does not verify the qualifications of a provider or the adequacy of a proposal.
Read the pack before sharing it
The private builder can combine one selected report and a notebook you explicitly load. When both are present, you must confirm they relate to the same location. Location identifiers and observation text are excluded by default. Enabling either option changes the preview and exports. Removing named fields is not a promise of anonymity: dates, soil descriptions and free-text notes can still reveal context.
The text and JSON downloads use the reviewed projection, not a hidden attachment of the original source file. Preparing the pack does not query providers or turn old drought data into a current reading. Keep the underlying records separately.
When a checklist is not enough
Do not delay appropriate local assistance to complete a document pack when a building has sudden changes, pronounced distortion or apparent instability. This workflow does not declare any structure safe, determine urgency from a crack measurement or replace a site-specific assessment.
Sources, scale and method
GroundShiftCheck supplies the organization workflow. For the scope of the mapped information, read the USDA SSURGO description ↗ and the U.S. Drought Monitor statistical metadata ↗. Our methodology explains the screening choices and missing-data rules.