The article deals with the problems of buildings built many years ago, in which current and major repairs were not carried out in an appropriate manner. At the same time, buildings experience various deformations, such as yield, heel, subsidence, deflections, bends, twists, distortions, horizontal displacements. The survey of residential buildings built in the 80s is described and the analysis of the results of the survey of one of these buildings is carried out. The theoretical problem of the distribution of moisture in depth and various degrees of soil moisture has been solved. The reasons for the appearance of cracks in structures and cracks between individual building elements are also determined. The survey of a 9-storey brick residential building, built in the late 80s, which is in the period of normal operation, is considered. At the same time, the considered building is operated with significant deviations from regulatory requirements. The causes of cracks in individual structures and cracks between individual elements in the building are found. The problem of the distribution of moisture in depth with local soaking is solved on the basis of a numerical method, and the character of soil moistening at different depths with different degrees of moistening and characteristics of the base soil is obtained.