Before the Rains: A Structural Baseline for Solana Beach Buildings

Summary for owners and boards

• NOAA’s winter outlook, released October 15, 2026, says wetter-than-average conditions are most likely across the southern tier of the country, from the Southwest to the Southeast, for December through February.
• A baseline is a dated record of how the building looks before the wet season: photos, notes and a few simple measurements.
• Its value comes later. When someone reports a new crack in January, the board can check the file instead of arguing from memory.
• A baseline is a record, not a repair or a forecast. It doesn’t predict how any building will perform this winter.
• The work is mostly photography and housekeeping. A professional walk is useful where the file is thin or something already looks wrong.

Why the fall matters this year

NOAA’s outlook links the expected pattern to a very strong El Niño. In the same release, the director of the National Weather Service warned that too much precipitation on dry soil can fuel destructive flash floods and mudslides, and urged communities to plan ahead. NOAA updates its three-month outlook monthly, with the next update listed for November 19.

The Governor proclaimed a statewide emergency on September 21, 2026, to support El Niño preparedness. Our earlier post-storm checklist covers what to do after an event. This briefing is about the weeks before one.

What a baseline actually contains

A useful baseline file answers four questions about each building:

1. What cracks exist today, and how wide are they? Photograph each one with a ruler or crack card in the frame. Note the location in plain words, such as “garage, north wall, two feet from the corner.”
2. Which doors and windows bind? List any that stick, rub or won’t latch. Seasonal movement is common; the point is to know the starting condition.
3. Where does water go? Walk the site in dry weather and note downspout outlets, area drains, and any low spots against walls.
4. What has already been repaired? Gather invoices, permits and engineering letters for past work.

Date everything. A photo without a date is much less useful.

Photographing cracks so they can be compared

Small habits make photos comparable months later:

• Shoot straight on, not at an angle.
• Include a scale, like a ruler or crack-width card.
• Mark crack ends with a small pencil tick and the date. If the crack grows past the tick, that’s visible.
• Take one wide photo for location and one close-up for detail.
• Store photos in a folder per building or unit, named by date.

For slabs, garage floors and walkways, a simple sketch with arrows helps. For stucco, note whether a crack runs from a window or door corner, since those are common locations.

Drainage readiness on the site

The residential code’s drainage section, R401.3, says surface drainage is to be diverted to a storm sewer conveyance or other approved point of collection that does not create a hazard, and that lots are to be graded to drain surface water away from foundation walls. Before the season, owners and boards can check:

• Gutters clean, and downspouts connected to their outlets or splash blocks.
• Area drains clear of leaves and soil, with grates in place.
• Sump pumps tested, and alarms working where installed.
• Irrigation off or reduced as rains arrive, with no heads spraying walls.

Our drainage briefing goes deeper on the three settings in the city: bluff-top, lowland and hillside.

Bluff-top lots: added items

Bluff-top properties carry their own rules. SBMC 17.62.160 requires drainage to be directed away from the bluff edge, and it prohibits automatic irrigation within 100 feet of the bluff edge unless the system has shut-off valves and moisture sensors. Before the wet season, a bluff-top owner or board can confirm:

• Where every downspout and area drain discharges, and that none of it heads toward the bluff edge.
• Whether any irrigation remains within that zone, and what controls it has.
• The date and findings of the most recent bluff or shoreline structure report.

The Land Use Plan’s Chapter 4 includes policies on monitoring and reporting for shoreline structures. Associations with a seawall or upper-bluff structure usually have an Engineer of Record and a reporting schedule already. The baseline file should hold the latest of those reports. Our post on bluff monitoring covers what those programs track.

None of these steps changes how the bluff behaves. They make sure the building’s own water isn’t adding to the problem, and that the record is current.

Interior items worth a note

Inside, a short walk often finds:

• Hairline drywall cracks at door and window corners.
• Gaps at baseboards or along crown molding.
• Stains on ceilings below roofs, decks or balconies.
• Floors that slope or feel soft in places.

Record them, even when they seem minor. A stain photographed in October and unchanged in February tells a different story than one that’s new.

Where a professional walk adds value

Owners and boards can build most of the baseline themselves. A foundation inspection helps when:

• Cracks are wider than a coin edge, or have one side higher than the other.
• Doors that worked last year now bind.
• The building sits near a bluff edge or in a lowland area with a history of ponding.
• The association has no structural records at all.

We document what’s visible and coordinate with licensed engineers as needed where design questions come up. Our page on bluff-top foundation repair explains the added steps those sites usually involve.

Factors in a pre-season review

We don’t list prices. Scope and cost depend on:

• The number of buildings or units.
• Access to crawl spaces, garages and roofs.
• Whether a written report is needed for the board or an insurer.
• Bluff-top or lowland settings that call for added review.
• The state of existing records.

Takeaways for the minutes

1. Approve a baseline walk and photo file before the first major storm.
2. Assign one person to hold the file and the dates.
3. Confirm drainage and irrigation items, including the bluff-edge rules where they apply.
4. File the latest shoreline structure report if the association has one.
5. Decide in advance who reviews owner reports of new cracks during the season.

If your association or household wants help setting up a baseline anywhere in Solana Beach, request a Free Quote.