There is a particular kind of house on the blocks around Stratford Court. Single story, or a story and a half. A porch that has been glassed in at some point. Wood siding under several generations of paint. Inside, a floor that rises a little toward one wall, which the family has long since stopped noticing.
These houses carry much of the town’s character. They also tend to sit on foundations that were modest when they were built and have since spent decades in damp, salty air. This entry is a quiet look at what that means for an owner, particularly one who is not in residence year-round.
A neighborhood in transition overhead
This spring the City finished the Stratford Court South Utility Undergrounding District. The Del Mar Weekly of April 10, 2026 reported that 56 utility poles had been removed from Stratford Court and the adjoining streets and alleys south of 12th Street and west of Camino Del Mar. It was the second of eight undergrounding projects, and the first of full size. Stratford Court North, north of 12th Street, was named as next in line.
Undergrounding changes the look of a street. It can also touch individual lots, because each house eventually needs its service connection moved from overhead to below grade. That work typically involves a trench from the street or alley to the house, which brings digging close to a foundation that may be shallow.
What lies under these floors
Census estimates place roughly 243 of Del Mar’s housing units in the built-1939-or-earlier category, with several hundred more from the 1940s and 1950s. Many houses from that era, here and elsewhere in coastal California, were built on raised wood floors resting on short perimeter walls, with posts and piers in the interior.
When an older cottage is opened up, it is common to find:
- Perimeter footings that are shallow and narrow by present standards, sometimes of unreinforced concrete.
- Interior posts on small concrete pads or blocks, some replaced or shimmed over the years.
- Short wood cripple walls between the foundation and the floor, often without bracing.
- Sill plates that are not bolted to the foundation, or bolted sparsely.
The California Existing Building Code’s seismic retrofit guidelines identify several of these conditions, including unbraced cripple walls and inadequate sill anchorage, as structural weaknesses in older wood houses.
The damp air part
The marine layer settles over this part of town on many mornings. In a crawl space with limited ventilation, that moisture lingers. Over years, it can show up as:
- Staining or softness in wood near vents and along the sill.
- Rust on any steel hardware, from older straps to newer anchor bolts.
- Efflorescence on concrete, the white crystalline residue left as moisture moves through.
Caltrans corrosion guidance identifies chlorides as a primary driver of steel corrosion in concrete, and chlorides are carried in coastal air. In a house, the effect is usually slow and local: a rusted bolt head here, a cracked footing edge there.
Notes for an owner who is often away
Second-home owners have a particular challenge. Conditions under the floor change slowly, and changes that would be noticed by someone in residence may go unseen for months. A few habits help:
- Ask a trusted person to look under the house after significant storms and to note any standing water.
- Keep vents clear of plantings, stored items and debris.
- Keep a dated set of photographs of the crawl space, taken from the access opening, and update it yearly.
- Note the behavior of doors and windows on arrival each visit. A door that suddenly binds is worth writing down.
When the utility trench comes near
If your lot will be part of an undergrounding district, a short conversation before the service connection work begins can be worthwhile. Questions to raise with whoever is doing the work:
- How close the trench will run to the foundation, and at what depth.
- Whether it crosses below any footing or porch.
- How the soil will be compacted when the trench is backfilled.
- Whether the work will disturb any drainage lines.
A shallow footing next to an open trench is a situation that benefits from forethought. If there is any doubt, an evaluation of the foundation along the route can be arranged in advance.
The porch, the steps and the enclosed rooms
Cottages of this kind were often enlarged in small increments. A porch was enclosed to make a sunroom. A rear service porch became a laundry. A bedroom was added over what had been a side yard. Each addition may rest on its own small foundation, built at a different time and to a different standard than the original.
The seams between those pieces are where an owner is most likely to see change. A crack that runs along the line where an enclosed porch meets the main house, a step down in the floor that has grown slightly steeper, a door between old and new rooms that no longer closes cleanly. None of these is unusual in an older cottage. Their value lies in being noticed and recorded, so that a later visit can tell whether they are still moving.
Front steps and porch landings deserve a look of their own. They are often built of concrete or masonry on shallow footings, exposed to weather and salt, and they sometimes pull away from the house over the years. A widening gap between the steps and the threshold is worth writing down.
A modest record for a modest house
The most useful file for a cottage is short: a sketch of the floor plan showing which parts are original and which were added, the dates of any permits, photographs of the crawl space and porch, and notes on any repairs. It can be assembled over a single afternoon and kept with the house documents.
Repairs that suit a cottage
Older raised foundations can often be strengthened without losing the house’s character. Depending on conditions, that may mean adding foundation bolts, bracing cripple walls, replacing deteriorated sills, adding or replacing interior posts and pads, or replacing a section of perimeter footing. We coordinate with licensed engineers as needed, and any work in this part of town may involve the City’s design review and other review layers.
What shapes the scope
Scope depends on the existing footing size and condition, the extent of wood deterioration, the height and bracing of cripple walls, access under the floor, moisture conditions, and how the work fits with any utility or remodel plans. These are the questions to settle first.
Our raised foundation repair page describes how older raised floors are strengthened, and the salt-air concrete corrosion page explains what coastal air does to concrete and steel. We work throughout the City of Del Mar. To have your cottage looked at carefully, request a Free Quote.