Greg Frazier
08-20-2008, 05:37 PM
I'd love to know what is going on here. This is a 1970-ish home with large horizontal cracks in different areas. Some had been repaired. When I was inspecting the front door I realized that the walls were brick veneer over siding. The wall in back did not reach as high as the soffits and left uneven gaps at the wall-soffit junctions. I couldn't tell if the soffit was not horizontal or if the brick wall wasn't. Only one section of wall was out of plumb- picture #1.
Pic 1 - rear corner. 1/4" horizontal gap. The wall below the crack has moved outward between 1/16 & 1/8". The large thick mortar repair below the crack was movable at the end, i.e. no bearing on the bricks above it. The window lintel is rusted and the window has sagged out of plumb on the right side. You can't see this part of the wall on the inside of the basement because of a decorative brick wall constructed in the basement.
Pic 2 - House rear. Large horizontal crack above the addition. No signs of wall movement below it but much is concealed by the addition.
Pic 3 - Garage lintel. The lintel behind the cracked/loose mortar does not bear on the bricks except at the end of the lintel. There is a visible gap beneath the lintel. No addtional settling signs on the wall below.
Pic 4 - Front picture window. Gap has formed below the trim and at the side of the window. It appears that the wall has shifted to the right and down. The concrete porch conceals the wall below and paneling inside the house conceals the interior.
Pic 5 - Rear wall. Gap at soffit-wall junction.
Pic 6 - Soffit vents. Aren't these in the wrong place? There aren't any on the lower edges. Also, the ridge vents were fakes.
Concrete block walls inside the basement were mostly concealed. The visible portions showed typical hairline step cracking in a couple of spots.
Do I recommend a structural engineer?
Pic 1 - rear corner. 1/4" horizontal gap. The wall below the crack has moved outward between 1/16 & 1/8". The large thick mortar repair below the crack was movable at the end, i.e. no bearing on the bricks above it. The window lintel is rusted and the window has sagged out of plumb on the right side. You can't see this part of the wall on the inside of the basement because of a decorative brick wall constructed in the basement.
Pic 2 - House rear. Large horizontal crack above the addition. No signs of wall movement below it but much is concealed by the addition.
Pic 3 - Garage lintel. The lintel behind the cracked/loose mortar does not bear on the bricks except at the end of the lintel. There is a visible gap beneath the lintel. No addtional settling signs on the wall below.
Pic 4 - Front picture window. Gap has formed below the trim and at the side of the window. It appears that the wall has shifted to the right and down. The concrete porch conceals the wall below and paneling inside the house conceals the interior.
Pic 5 - Rear wall. Gap at soffit-wall junction.
Pic 6 - Soffit vents. Aren't these in the wrong place? There aren't any on the lower edges. Also, the ridge vents were fakes.
Concrete block walls inside the basement were mostly concealed. The visible portions showed typical hairline step cracking in a couple of spots.
Do I recommend a structural engineer?