Split-levels, ranches and newer two-stories across Kansas's second-largest city
With about 197,000 people about 12 miles from downtown Kansas City, Overland Park is the biggest city on our Kansas side, and its houses span seventy years of building.
Overland Park is really several towns in one. The north end, nearer Shawnee Mission Parkway and downtown OP, is full of 1950s and 60s ranches and split-levels, many with block or early poured walls and a half-buried lower level. The middle of the city, along Metcalf and Antioch, has 1970s and 80s homes, and south of College Boulevard and out past 135th Street the houses get newer and larger, many with full poured basements and walkouts. About seven in ten homes are owner-occupied, and median values around $350,000 mean owners here tend to call early and want a thorough explanation.
Split-levels deserve a special mention. The lower level sits partly below grade with soil against one or two walls, and those short walls are the ones that crack, bow or seep, often behind paneling or drywall. In the older north end, block walls with horizontal cracks are common. On the newer south side, it's more often settlement at a corner, seeping poured-wall cracks and sump pumps working hard. The Kansas side works on the same clay as Missouri; only the permit office is different.
What we see most in Overland Park
Split-level walls
Partly buried lower-level walls checked for cracks, bowing and seepage.
North OP block basements
Horizontal cracks braced and block walls drained.
South OP settlement
Corner settlement on newer homes stabilized with piers.
Overland Park permits
Structural work permitted through the city, not Missouri's offices.
Neighborhoods and parts of town
- Downtown Overland Park
- Along Metcalf Avenue
- Off Antioch Road
- Near 95th Street
- Along College Boulevard
- South of 135th Street
- Near Nall Avenue
- Around Corporate Woods
Services in Overland Park
Crack repair · piers · bowing walls · waterproofing · French drains · sump pumps · crawl spaces · slab lifting · free inspection
Questions from Overland Park homeowners
Are split-level homes more prone to foundation problems?
Their partly buried lower walls are the common weak point, because soil and water press on them while the rest of the house sits above grade. Those walls get our closest look.
Do you pull permits in Overland Park?
Yes, through Overland Park's own building office. Kansas-side cities each issue their own.
Is foundation repair different in Kansas than Missouri?
The soil and the methods are the same. The permit office and paperwork differ by city.
Nearby: Leawood · Lenexa · Prairie Village · the whole metro