A crack in the drywall, a floor that slopes toward the middle of the room, a door that won't latch anymore. Some of these mean nothing and some mean a lot, and you can't tell which by looking. Strut E&I sends a licensed structural engineer to inspect your house, find the cause, and put the answer in a sealed written report. We work across Greater Atlanta and the Southeast.
A Structural Engineer Home Inspection Answers a Different Question
A standard home inspection is a broad, visual survey. The inspector looks at the roof, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, appliances, and the structure, and flags anything that looks wrong. That's useful, and it's usually where the trouble starts. The report reads "evidence of settlement observed, recommend evaluation by a structural engineer," and now you need someone who can explain what that note means.
A structural engineer home inspection is narrower and deeper. We look only at the parts of the house that hold it up: the foundation, the framing, the beams and joists, the roof structure, and the load path between them. Then we answer the questions a general inspection can't:
What is causing this crack, slope, or sag?
Is it still moving, or did it stop years ago?
Is it a safety issue, a maintenance issue, or cosmetic?
What does the repair need to be, and how urgent is it?
The answers come back in a report sealed by a licensed Professional Engineer. Lenders, insurers, attorneys, and building departments treat that differently from an opinion.
When to Call a Structural Engineer to Inspect Your House
Most people call us at one of four moments.
Before You Buy
Your home inspector flagged something structural and your option period is running out. Or the house is older, sits on a slope, or has a crawlspace you'd rather not guess about. A pre-purchase structural inspection tells you what you're buying before you're committed. If you're weighing whether you need both inspections, our guide on the difference between a structural engineer and a home inspector walks through it.
When You Notice Symptoms
Stair-step cracks in brick, diagonal cracks off the corners of doors and windows, floors that slope or bounce, gaps opening between walls and ceilings, doors and windows that stick. Our list of warning signs of structural damage covers what each one usually points to. Symptoms like these are where a forensic assessment starts.
After an Event
A tree came down on the roof, a pipe flooded the crawlspace, termites were found in the sill plate, or a fire damaged part of the house. Water and pest damage in particular can weaken wood framing long before it shows from inside. For fire losses, see our dedicated fire damage structural assessment service.
Before You Renovate
If you're planning to open up a wall or build up, you need to know what you're starting with. An inspection is often the first step before load-bearing wall removal or an addition.
What We Inspect
Foundation and Crawlspace
We evaluate the slab, piers, footings, foundation walls, and crawlspace for cracking, rotation, settlement, heaving, and moisture. Clay soils across Georgia and the Carolinas shrink and swell with the seasons, and that movement shows up in foundations in predictable patterns. If the foundation is the problem, our foundation inspection and repair engineering team designs the fix.
Floor Framing
Joists, girders, beams, posts, and the connections between them. We check for undersized or over-spanned members, notched or cut joists, rot, insect damage, and missing support. Sloping and bouncy floors usually start here.
Walls and Load Path
We trace the load from the roof down to the ground and look for anywhere that path has been interrupted. Walls removed during past renovations, posts that don't land on anything solid, and headers that were never sized are common findings.
Roof and Attic Structure
Rafters, trusses, ridge, and ceiling joists. We look for sagging ridgelines, spreading walls, cut or damaged truss members, and loads the roof was never designed to carry.
Damage Assessment
Where there's water, termite, storm, or impact damage, we document how far it extends into the structure and what has to be repaired or replaced to restore capacity.
Residential Inspection vs. Commercial Property Condition Assessment
We also perform property condition assessments for commercial real estate. Those follow the ASTM E2018 standard and are built for lenders and investors doing due diligence on an apartment complex, office building, or retail center. They cover every building system and estimate replacement reserves.
A residential structural inspection is a different service for a different buyer. It's for a homeowner or homebuyer with a specific house and, usually, a specific concern. It goes deeper on structure and leaves out the rest.
Residential Structural Inspection
Commercial PCA
Typical client
Homeowner, homebuyer, real estate agent
Lender, investor, commercial buyer
Property
Single-family homes, townhomes, duplexes
Multifamily, office, retail, industrial
Scope
Structure only, in depth
All building systems, broad
Typical trigger
A crack, slope, sag, or damage event
A commercial transaction
Deliverable
Sealed engineering report with causes and repair recommendations
ASTM E2018 report with cost tables
How It Works
Call or Email: Tell us about the house and what you've noticed, and send photos if you have them. We'll confirm whether an inspection is the right next step.
Site Visit: A licensed structural engineer inspects the foundation, framing, crawlspace or basement, attic, and the specific areas of concern.
Findings on Site: We walk you through what we see before we leave, so you aren't waiting days for a first answer.
Sealed Report: You receive a written report with observations, photographs, the likely cause, and our repair recommendations, sealed by a licensed PE.
Repair Design if Needed: If repairs are required, we can design them and prepare permit-ready drawings for your contractor.
Our Google reviews keep coming back to the same few words: thorough, responsive, knowledgeable. Property inspection is the work clients mention most, and we hold a 5.0-star rating.
Strut Engineering & Investment, Inc. was founded by Emad Badiee, who holds a BS and MS in Civil-Structural Engineering from UAB, has more than 16 years of experience, and is licensed in 28 states and the District of Columbia. Every inspection is assigned a dedicated licensed structural engineer, and that engineer stays with you from the visit through the report.
Our roots are in forensic structural engineering, the work of finding out why buildings fail. A house with a problem calls for the same skill: read the evidence, find the cause, and recommend a repair that addresses the cause and not only the symptom. Our Director of Construction is a licensed Georgia General Contractor, so the repairs we recommend are ones a contractor can build.
We inspect homes across Greater Atlanta, including Marietta, Alpharetta, Decatur, and Roswell, and throughout Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, and New Jersey.
What does a structural engineer home inspection include?
A licensed structural engineer evaluates the foundation, floor framing, walls, load path, and roof structure, with extra attention on any area of concern you've noticed. You receive a sealed written report that describes what was observed, the likely cause, how serious it is, and what repair is recommended.
Is a structural engineer inspection the same as a home inspection?
No. A home inspector does a broad visual survey of every system in the house and flags concerns. A structural engineer focuses on the structure alone, determines the cause of a problem, and can specify the repair. The two are complementary, and many buyers use both.
Should I get a structural engineer to inspect a house before buying it?
It's worth it if the home inspection flagged anything structural, if the house is older or sits on a slope, if you see cracking or sloping floors, or if the home has a crawlspace with signs of moisture. Schedule the inspection inside your option or due-diligence period so the findings can still shape your decision.
How long does a structural inspection take?
The site visit for a typical single-family home usually takes one to a few hours, depending on the size of the house, crawlspace or attic access, and how many concerns there are. The sealed report generally follows within several business days. We give you a timeline when we schedule.
Do you inspect homes for insurance claims or disputes?
Yes. We assess damage after water, storm, impact, and fire events and document the cause and extent in a sealed report. When a dispute goes further, our team also provides expert witness and litigation support.
Do you inspect homes outside Atlanta?
Yes. Strut E&I is licensed across the Southeast and the Northeast, including Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. Call us with the property address and we'll confirm availability.
Schedule a Residential Structural Inspection
If something in your house doesn't look right, or you're about to buy one, get a licensed structural engineer's answer before you make the next decision.
