nmccoy08

Another update - I went back to look at the house today with a friend who's a structural engineer. The steps do appear to be following the grade. Also, the tree is located close to the corner of the house (basically behind the shelves in the first picture.) It looks like the first coarse of block is on a concrete curb, and in this area, a few of the blocks have pushed inward by about 2 1/2" (scary.) The wall is definitely bowing inward at the very bottom of the wall. I've attached a picture with a metal tube that is flush against the wall at the top of the wall and the wall is pulled back from the tube by about 2" at the bottom. Click to Enlarge 92.8 KB Click to Enlarge 63.56 KB My friend recommended that the tree be removed, and that we have a steel post installed at the CMU wall under the steel beam to take the load from the steel beam. This should reduce a lot of the lateral load (no tree) and vertical load (no load from the beam.) The roof bears on the long walls of the house so if we installed a post, the only vertical load the wall should have would be from the wood framing and brick veneer from the walls above. I'm going to try and get an estimate from a tree company tomorrow and my realtor's going to try to get an estimate on the post. Here's a picture of the first course of block that has pulled away from the curb below: Click to Enlarge 42.55 KB This is really the worst place at the corner where it looks like one of the blocks is pretty loose: Download Attachment: IMG_0324.JPG 336.44 KB Thanks everyone for the advice!

Thanks for the advise. One other thing I just realized by counting bricks and blocks....it appears as if the step cracks are following the grade. which seems a little odd.

Ok, thanks so much for the advice. Just out of curiousity, everything I've read about horizontal cracks says they pretty much mean structural failure for fairly long cracks. Are these not really horizontally long enough to be really troublesome? I know this is all subjective - just trying to figure out if this should be hindering me from buying this house. Thanks again!

Wow, thanks for the quick response! No cracks in the basement floor slab anywhere. The tree is actually directly behind the CMU wall with the cracks (other side of left wall in 1st picture.)

Hi everyone! I just got a home inspection done on a foreclosure that we're under contract with. I'm concerned because one of the basement walls has multiple stair-step cracks and some horizontal cracks in the CMU. There are also some blocks that have vertical cracks that split the block. The house was built in 1973, brick veneer with CMU in the basement. The joists run parallel to the wall with the cracks (it's the short side of the house.) It looks as though there may be some very minimal movement inward of some of the blocks. Also, the brick veneer on the exterior perpandicular wall is cracking close to the corner (can be seen in the picture of the tree.) There's a really huge tree way too close to the wall, which the inspector noted would be the reason for the cracks. Does it seem like there are foundation issues that are causing the cracks? Any information would be very greatly appreciated! I really love the house, but these cracks are making me VERY nervous! I've highlighted where I think I remember the cracks being in red in 2 of the photos. Click to Enlarge 37.93 KB Click to Enlarge 36.11 KB Click to Enlarge 39.64 KB Click to Enlarge 109.45 KB Click to Enlarge 47.35 KB