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Seattle, WA
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Kenmore, WA
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Cracks...from foundation thru veneer.
[#2] Posted: 05/17/2007 - 9:39:54 PM |  |  |
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No deflection inside?
The stemwall cracked but no appreciable settling. Along came the Nisqually or something similar, rocked that baby's world for two minutes and then left. While the world was doing the rumba, the two halves of that crack were dancing too and the veneer was taken along for the ride. Betcha some of those ties popped or tried to straighten themselves out in the process.
I'd tell them that I don't have a crystal ball, so there's no way that I can ever give them a warm and fuzzy with it because I'm not an engineer and don't play one on TV. However, I'd also tell them, that if they hire an engineer to look at it, not to expect too much because most engineers will probably look at it, shrug their shoulders and say something like, "Well, it's probably okay, but there's really no way to know for certain. It might one day develop into an issue, but the only way to know for sure will be to (Egad, don't say it!) MONITOR it for a time to see what develops."
I'd tell them to have a foundation repair specialist (There're lots and lots of those around here.) epoxy the foundation and have a mason anchor the brick at the crackline and repair the mortared joints if they're uncomfortable with the step cracking. Then keep an eye on it. It won't be going anywhere for a couple of centuries. 
Most of the good foundation guys around here will took one look and be able to tell if they'll need to bring in an engineer for guidance.
ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!
Mike
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Seattle, WA
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Cracks...from foundation thru veneer.
[#3] Posted: 05/17/2007 - 9:59:23 PM | | |
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Hi Mike...
All walls (& floors) finished inside, but no "current" indications.
"It won't be going anywhere for a couple of centuries."
LOL...mind if I quote you on that?
Anyway, thanks. I agree the engineer is probably a waste of time and, aside from repairing the cracks, it's probably just fine. I did try to explain verbally, on site, that it's probably not really a structural issue at all but that I just wasn't qualified to make a definitive and final call. Too many "probably's" and I'm probably just covering my butt!
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Richard Moore
Rest Assured Inspection Services
Seattle, WA
http://www.rainspect.com
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Chicago, IL
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 Cracks...from foundation thru veneer.
[#4] Posted: 05/18/2007 - 08:05:55 AM | | |
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When everything cost a buck and a half, no one cared about this crap. Now, everything's a $million +, and all the yuppsters don't want their house "moving". We're stuck in the middle, knowing damn well nothing's significantly wrong, but yuppsters have lawyers they love to employ.
Call the engineer, and I bet you a tooth they got the thing going to China, and recommend underpinning the whole affair, to no particular benefit other than their fee's, and folks feeling "somethings been done".
I'm w/Mike & you; it's nothing, but it's gotta be talked about.
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Kurt in Chicago
"If I smell it, it goes in the report".............Phillip Smith...2012
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Chicago, IL
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Cracks...from foundation thru veneer.
[#5] Posted: 05/18/2007 - 08:32:50 AM | | |
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| Quote: Originally posted by SonOfSwamp
[quote]Originally posted by hausdok
I say: Poor man's (useful and effective) crack monitoring: Buy some glass microscope slides, put a gob of epoxy on each end of the slide, and stick the slide on the wall so it bridges the crack. Repeat at all suspicious cracks.
If the slide breaks, the wall's moving, at least a little bit.
WJ
I suggested this exact same approach to the fellows running the masonry workshop I recently attended. They heartily concurred.
Cheap, easy, almost impossible to misinterpret. The one variable that's open to subjectivity is time; how long's it take to crack, because crack it will. A day, month, year, or 5 years? And, like any defensible test, it should be rerun to (hopefully) eliminate false positives.
Which leads us back to where we're at. Houses settle and move; it's up to the individual @ the site to figure out how good or bad that movement is. Personally, I've never found engineers to be helpful at all; in fact, they usually confuse things more.
(sorry, it's just that I find most engineers to be almost completely unfamiliar w/houses & how they *learn*.)
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Kurt in Chicago
"If I smell it, it goes in the report".............Phillip Smith...2012
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Seattle, WA
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Cracks...from foundation thru veneer.
[#6] Posted: 05/18/2007 - 10:54:39 AM | | |
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| Quote: Originally posted by SonOfSwamp
....
I say: Poor man's (useful and effective) crack monitoring: Buy some glass microscope slides, put a gob of epoxy on each end of the slide, and stick the slide on the wall so it bridges the crack. Repeat at all suspicious cracks.
If the slide breaks, the wall's moving, at least a little bit.
WJ
The trouble is, while that is great advice for a sitting homeowner, the timeline doesn't work for a buyer about to make a very expensive decision. They need or want someone to tell them that it's not moving NOW and they aren't going to be the ones stuck with the huge bill in the future.
That definite assurance, of course, is likely not possible but, at the least, they can get a second opinion that their new dream home isn't about to crumble immediately.
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Richard Moore
Rest Assured Inspection Services
Seattle, WA
http://www.rainspect.com
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Kenmore, WA
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Cracks...from foundation thru veneer.
[#7] Posted: 05/18/2007 - 12:38:39 PM | | |
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| Quote: Originally posted by SonOfSwamp
I say: Poor man's (useful and effective) crack monitoring: Buy some glass microscope slides, put a gob of epoxy on each end of the slide, and stick the slide on the wall so it bridges the crack. Repeat at all suspicious cracks.
If the slide breaks, the wall's moving, at least a little bit.
WJ Quote: Originally posted by kurt
I suggested this exact same approach to the fellows running the masonry workshop I recently attended. They heartily concurred.
Cheap, easy, almost impossible to misinterpret. The one variable that's open to subjectivity is time; how long's it take to crack, because crack it will. A day, month, year, or 5 years? And, like any defensible test, it should be rerun to (hopefully) eliminate false positives.
Which leads us back to where we're at. Houses settle and move; it's up to the individual @ the site to figure out how good or bad that movement is. Personally, I've never found engineers to be helpful at all; in fact, they usually confuse things more.
(sorry, it's just that I find most engineers to be almost completely unfamiliar w/houses & how they *learn*.)
Hi,
Yeah, I agree Walter. That will be impossible to interpret, but I have to tell you, out here it would probably crack pretty soon, just as Kurt said. My method is similar. Two six-inch plastic five and dime rulers placed on either side of the crack with their 1" marks lined up stuck to a dollop of quick-set construction adhesive or epoxy.
We've got about 4-6 ft. of loamy glacial till here. sometimes it's relatively solid, sometimes it kind of acts like a water balloon. The one thing you can guaranty someone here is that their foundation will crack and experience some settling sooner or later. Hopefully, if the builder did his job and didn't build on fill or over buried organics, when it does it will settle fairly evenly.
Kurt, most of the cases that I've referred to engineers received the same kind of humina-humina response that I posted above - regardless of who it was referred to. I guess there's just something about being in shaker territory that prevents those guys from saying anything definitive. For the most part, the foundation guys who've been around for 20 - 30 years know a whole lot more about the issue than the engineers and they're smart enough to know when they need to get an engineer out to back them up.
That's why I suggested a foundation guy. He comes out, looks at the situation, gives them an estimate if he feels he can correct it without the engineer's input, but calls for an engineer if he's not confident in his assessment. That way, the buyer is looking the guy who's repaired hundreds and possibly thousands of these things straight in the eye instead of dealing with Mr. humina-humina.
Rich, if you don't know him, check out Randy Jeffers at A-Pro Foundation Repair in Bellevue. The guy is expensive as hell - about $1,000 per linear foot of foundation to be corrected, but he really knows his stuff.
OT - OF!!!
M.
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