Chris L Bailey
05-24-2018, 10:39 AM
Hello everyone,
We are under contract to buy a home that was renovated and extended in Maryland in 2015.
Inspection report noted multiple horizontal cracks in the stucco that is on the new, extended part of the house.
There was no accessible crawl space to this new section of the house, either through the basement or on the sides of the house.
There is a bit of a vertical crack where the extension joins the original part of the house.
There is no internal cracking around windows or walls to be noted, nor any indication of previous repair.
Inspector could not confirm the cause of the cracks but suspects that drainage issues plus settling with the new part of the house cause the stucco to crack along the concrete or cinder block seams.
Inspector recommends drilling a hole in either the floor or through the basement wall to evaluate the condition of the slab, wall and crawlspace. The cracks are very minor in width but we are unsure (especially in light of the lack of a crawlspace) how to proceed.
1) Do we request a structural engineer or additional tests?
2) Do we request credit for the cost of adding crawlspace access? Perhaps with an eye towards conditioning the space?
3) Can we proceed or is this enough to walk away from the purchase?
Any advice or feedback would be greatly appreciated. We're just looking for input as no one is sure how to proceed.
Thank you
Chris
We are under contract to buy a home that was renovated and extended in Maryland in 2015.
Inspection report noted multiple horizontal cracks in the stucco that is on the new, extended part of the house.
There was no accessible crawl space to this new section of the house, either through the basement or on the sides of the house.
There is a bit of a vertical crack where the extension joins the original part of the house.
There is no internal cracking around windows or walls to be noted, nor any indication of previous repair.
Inspector could not confirm the cause of the cracks but suspects that drainage issues plus settling with the new part of the house cause the stucco to crack along the concrete or cinder block seams.
Inspector recommends drilling a hole in either the floor or through the basement wall to evaluate the condition of the slab, wall and crawlspace. The cracks are very minor in width but we are unsure (especially in light of the lack of a crawlspace) how to proceed.
1) Do we request a structural engineer or additional tests?
2) Do we request credit for the cost of adding crawlspace access? Perhaps with an eye towards conditioning the space?
3) Can we proceed or is this enough to walk away from the purchase?
Any advice or feedback would be greatly appreciated. We're just looking for input as no one is sure how to proceed.
Thank you
Chris