Foundation Wall Mess

[TRAK.Structural]

Went out to do a residential evaluation today and it ended up being a cluster of issues. Lots of stuff going on based on the visuals. Needing some opinions on what items in this list warrant addressing and what can just be monitored. See my sketch for issue numbers corresponding to the list below:

1. 1/8" wide vetical crack, wider at the top. surface water drainage around the back corner looked problematic.
2. 3/8" wide vertical crack, mostly consistent crack width. downhill side of block has displaced vertically down, sill plate above slightly distorted and not in full contact with block.
3. 1/4" wide vertical crack, wider at the top. face of wall on the right side of the crack is offset towards the crawl space from the face on the left side of the crack
4. Hairline vertical crack almost full wall height
5. 0.05" vertical crack, face of wall on the right side is offset towards the crawl space from the face on the left side of the crack
6. 0.035" vertical crack at top of wall, only in top portion of wall, crack is wider at the top.
7. 1/8" vertical crack. Occurs at wall step and directly under floor girder point load
8 and 9. 3/16" stepped cracks, mostly consistent width, framing is slightly distorted and sill plate not in full contact with block.

I'm concerned about the cracks in the wall that separate the garage from the crawl space. The offset in the face of the wall at several locations leads me to believe that the soil supporting the garage slab is the driver and pushing this wall downhill. However I saw no evidence of horizontal/flexural cracks in this wall.

Initially I was thinking that the cracks around the perimeter walls were mostly just shrinkage cracks due to their constant width, but the magnitude of the cracks has me thinking maybe something else is at play. Additionally this displacement has distorted the wood framing above and I haven't wrapped my head around how big of an issue that is.

Any thoughts here?

 

[jerseyshore]

From my very brief look, I'd say that the back, and specifically back left of the house is settling significantly. Probably because of the downhill movement as you mentioned.

Looks like a bit of a weird crawlspace in the back and by your photos it seems like the grade in there slopes as well. Sloping crawlspace grade like that asking for trouble, especially here because it's supposed to be holding up that garage wall.

This seems like a classic helical pile underpinning repair. Access, even from the inside seems pretty easy.

 

[TRAK.Structural]

From my very brief look, I'd say that the back, and specifically back left of the house is settling significantly. Probably because of the downhill movement as you mentioned.

Looks like a bit of a weird crawlspace in the back and by your photos it seems like the grade in there slopes as well. Sloping crawlspace grade like that asking for trouble, especially here because it's supposed to be holding up that garage wall.

This seems like a classic helical pile underpinning repair. Access, even from the inside seems pretty easy.

I definitely think there is some amount of settlement, but I'm also wondering if the back of this house is sliding down the hill as well?? The width of the vertical wall cracks in the side walls has me thinking.

The vertical cracks on the wall separating the garage from the crawl space are still a little confusing for me. I'm not sure on the mechanism, potentially it has to do with sequencing of the original construction. Regardless I think this wall may need some kind of horizontal bracing to keep the retained soil under the garage slab from pushing it down.

 

[SWComposites]

nah, the house couldn't possibly be sliding down the slope. have we seen this one before? looks familiar for some reason.

 

[TRAK.Structural]

nah, the house couldn't possibly be sliding down the slope. have we seen this one before? looks familiar for some reason.

Can't tell if that's sarcasm or not.

Not a repeat post from me.

 

[SWComposites]

sorry forgot the /sarc tag.

 

[ANE91]

How are the doors sitting in their frames? Stuck? Rubbing? Have the owners needed to shave down the doors to get them to operate? Is there evidence of latch travel on the doors’ striker plates? Do the windows stick? What’s the soil? Hand auger + USGS website can tell you a lot. Are the owners aware of any plumbing leaks?

Cracks alone won’t tell you the whole story.

 

[TRAK.Structural]

How are the doors sitting in their frames? Stuck? Rubbing? Have the owners needed to shave down the doors to get them to operate? Is there evidence of latch travel on the doors’ striker plates? Do the windows stick? What’s the soil? Hand auger + USGS website can tell you a lot. Are the owners aware of any plumbing leaks?

Cracks alone won’t tell you the whole story.

I walked around the entire interior of the home, doors and window operation seemed fine. No signs of drywall cracking anywhere which I was surprised about.

I don't have any history on the property, I'm working for someone who is considering purchasing this home.

 

[MintJulep]

All the green corrosion on what I guess is the HVAC piping doesn't say anything good about whoever installed it.

The other piping and wiring that's visible just looks sloppy.

I'd say there will be non stop problems with this house due to crap construction.

 

[jerseyshore]

I definitely think there is some amount of settlement, but I'm also wondering if the back of this house is sliding down the hill as well?? The width of the vertical wall cracks in the side walls has me thinking.

The vertical cracks on the wall separating the garage from the crawl space are still a little confusing for me. I'm not sure on the mechanism, potentially it has to do with sequencing of the original construction. Regardless I think this wall may need some kind of horizontal bracing to keep the retained soil under the garage slab from pushing it down.

Okay didn't realize it was that steep of a slope. Bizarre setup to have that much crawlspace in the back and not actual finished space.
Sure looks like the whole back of the house could be moving downhill. Probably need helical piles + reinforcing the garage wall.

 

[XR250]

The cracks at the perimeter are likely settlement related. The cracks around the garage foundation are likely backfill pressure related. I see this alot. Has the garage slab settled or is there a gap between the slab and rear garage foundation wall?

 

[TRAK.Structural]

The cracks at the perimeter are likely settlement related. The cracks around the garage foundation are likely backfill pressure related. I see this alot. Has the garage slab settled or is there a gap between the slab and rear garage foundation wall?

Hard to tell if the garage slab has displaced downward from its original position. I took some level readings near the retaining wall and the slab is still pitched towards the garage opening. There is gapping between the edge of the slab and the face of the retaining wall.

Any guess as to why the cracks are vertical at the retaining wall? I would have expected horizontal/flexural cracking. Maybe something about the girders framing into that wall that makes it want to span horizontally?

 

[Greenalleycat]

Can you get a Zip level or a laser and map out the floors?
Get a standard builders level and check the walls out too?

This would be my starting point - we now do this for basically all existing house work that we get involved in
Too many jobs get derailed by old houses being way out of level etc cause cost blowouts
Also unresolved earthquake damage is a fucker and you're best to pick that up at the start - levels are the fastest way that we know to get this info

 

[XR250]

Any guess as to why the cracks are vertical at the retaining wall? I would have expected horizontal/flexural cracking. Maybe something about the girders framing into that wall that makes it want to span horizontally?

Possibly. They may also have backfilled the garage prior to framing - in which case it would be spanning horizontal a long ways.

 

[JoshPlumSE]

Do you have drawings that show what kind of reinforcement is in that way? Also, do you know when the house was built?

The construction looks a little sloppy to me. I'd want to know who built the house and if there might be something in the drawings to explain the behavior we're seeing.

 

[TRAK.Structural]

Possibly. They may also have backfilled the garage prior to framing - in which case it would be spanning horizontal a long ways.

Yep, that's definitely possible.

 

[TRAK.Structural]

Do you have drawings that show what kind of reinforcement is in that way? Also, do you know when the house was built?

The construction looks a little sloppy to me. I'd want to know who built the house and if there might be something in the drawings to explain the behavior we're seeing.

No drawings available. I'd guess the house is about 20 years old.