Home Foundation Cracks?

Question

I am interested in buying a home with a few cracks in the foundation. How big of an issue is this, and how large of a crack is considered serious? One particular crack is about a centimeter thick. When is the foundation too far gone to be repaired?

Answer 1

That's a rather large crack, and may indicate that the foundation doesn't have any reinforcing steel in the concrete, or is built on unstable soil. Furthermore, if the foundation has opened up by a centimeter, there should be a corresponding crack in the house if the house is properly anchored to the foundation. This is a structural concern that I wouldn't attempt to answer in this forum. You should hire a licensed structural engineer to evaluate the situation. A few dollars spent today could prevent a big headache in the future.

Answer 2

I would advise that you have the home inspected, to protect yourself.

At the very least, ask a company that repairs this kind of damage to come out and give you an estimate. You can do an online search for "mud jacking" businesses to locate one in your area. They can correct all kinds of concrete problems, from slabs to foundations. Take the time to look at some of those sites that come up in the Yahoo Search, theyve got some nice 'before/after' pics, and good explanations of how they go about making repairs.

A foundation crack is an indication that there is something wrong, and it needs to be resolved. Foundations that are not repaired will eventually lead to damage in the structure of the home, and then will cost even more to fix, later.

Oh, by the way, if you identify problems now, before you purchase the home, you may be able to get the cost of the repair knocked off the sale price of the home, and perhaps, even get the repair included with the financing, and such.

Good Luck

Answer 3

Well it is not too far to be gone but you might want to invest in an estimate before buying the house to see what the real cost of the house will be. Yeah, if you buy it you will want it repaired asap so it gets done and doesn't have the chance to get worse while you forget about it. If it gets worse it will cost more not to mention inflation driving the price up over time. Good luck.

Answer 4

This kind of cracks called common cracks mean foundation is Brock at that point cause of that crack it's move up in to structure and may rip structure in point is danger investment
repair of this damage will cost lot of money (soil erosion under the build is cuse of damage).Check angel of roof if has bow building structure is in serios danger.

Answer 5

The concrete contractor that did the paintings for my living house makes use of the motto: "concrete is gonna crack, yet ain't no one gonna scouse borrow it". He thinks this is humorous (i do no longer), yet he's staggering with regards to the cracks. in spite of the shown fact that, I did call him back two times to get rid of and replace the comparable section at our front step that replaced into sinking. there is not any longer an exclusion in his "crack" motto approximately sinking. damaging workmanship could desire to be compensated, yet a cracking concrete is regularly occurring, unhappy to assert. examine your place guarantee, besides. seek for suggestion from with an excellent construction contractor and get bids for maintenance. be certain the device of drainage on your place (does it have a drain pipe around the backside of the commencing place (the footing) that empties right into a sump, and does it have a sump pump or a gravity drain?). There are some very reliable approaches of waterproofing foundations (see hyperlink). this is conceivable to patch a leaking crack from the interior, in spite of the shown fact that it is going to in all risk leak somehwere else in case you do. this is plenty extra in all risk to be a good patch no count number if this is complete from the exterior (demands excavation). rapid fixes are no longer properly worth it. Get a good restore it is subsidized up by using a guaranty (2 years or longer). Even then there will be maintenance and maintenance necessary in some situations. in any different case, you will constantly have a soggy basement.

Answer 6

in addion to a home inspection, you might try to find out what type of soil you have under the house. some clay soils have high srink/swell ratios that can pose contiual problems for a foundation.