BACKGROUND

The foundations of buildings, which are generally made of concrete or other forms of masonry, are subject to cracking. Foundations may be slab foundations, or the walls of basements, on top of which building structures rest. Cracking may be caused by factors such as seasonal changes in temperature and humidity, exposure to ground moisture, mechanical pressure from supporting a structure built on top of the foundation, seismic activity, or other types of stresses. Often, after some number of years, the foundation cracks as a result of these stresses.

One aspect of foundation cracks is that they typically start small and then accelerate. In many cases, building owners are unaware of a crack until the crack has become severe, at which point the crack may be costly to fix, or may be irremediable.

Foundation cracks may be detected by placing one or more sensor devices in or near the foundation, and using the sensors to monitor for spatial changes in the foundation. The position of the sensors could be recorded at the time the foundation is created, or at some other point in time at which the foundation is known to be in good condition. The positions of the sensors could then be read at later points in time to determine if the sensors are moving. If the sensors indicate that different portions of the foundation are moving apart from each other, a determination may be made that a crack is developing. The sensors could have sufficient sensitivity such that a crack might be detected before it is visible.

In one example, positional sensors could be spread throughout a concrete foundation before the concrete cures, thereby providing a three-dimensional view of the concrete. In another example, sensors could be applied to a surface of a foundation (e.g., along the wall of a basement, along the top of a slab, etc.), and the positions of the sensors in the two spatial dimensions along the surface could be recorded. Additionally, such sensors could be configured with depth-sensing capability, so that the two-dimensional arrangement of the sensors could provide three-dimensional information about the position of various points in the foundation.

Information about the condition of a foundation could be used as a service to a building owner (e.g., to provide early warning of foundation problems). Or, as another example, the information could be used to assist in insurance underwriting (or issuance of warranties), in order to assess certain risks to an insured or warranted building.

This summary section is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description section. This summary section is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

