This home has a brick veneer crack on the left side that is ¼ inch wide at the top but 1/16 inch lower down. Then the crack shifts over and disappears. I know brick veneer isn’t structural, I just have some concerns that the footer has dropped slightly (see below). The floor inside is carpeted. The window above the crack functions smoothly but there is a tapered crack in the caulk on the back side.
There is a much smaller brick veneer crack on the right side of the home that is the same distance from the corner. This is why I’m concerned. On this side, there is a basement garage and there are no corresponding cracks in the floor.
A renovation contractor has looked at this and doesn’t see a cause for concern. Any thoughts from the forum before I make a recommendation? Foundation contractor or structural engineer?
Possibly the metal lintel over the basement window has corroded, expanded, and caused the cracking. I’ve seen this condition many times, but I don’t ever recall seeing it on a basement window.
Of course another possibility would be settlement on one end or the other.
The brick veneer is in contact with the soil. Around here, expansive and/or freezing soil heaves up, pushing on the brick… Yada yada yada…
Since I don’t know where you are located or the soil conditions in your area, I can only speculate.
Keep in mind that on a standard foundation with a basement, the basement floor and garage floor would likely be free floating and may not have cracking in the event the foundation itself has settled, especially if the slabs have reinforcement such as rebar.
Were you able to see the foundation wall itself in the areas where the cracking brick was located?
I think minor settling. The crack indicates that the mortar was mixed too strong. The stress broke the brick instead of staying in the weaker mortar and mortar joints. No going back to remix the mortar.
Unless the foundation shows something worse, it looks like a cosmetic repair.
I find that many/most houses with brick veneer do not have a thermal expansion/contraction joint installed. Brick work is supposed to have a vertical expansion joint every 25 feet at a minimum. If you don’t have an expansion joint, a vertical crack typically forms somewhere in the middle of the wall often at the corner of a penetration (like a window). If there isn’t some degree of unlevelness at the interior associated with the crack. And if they don’t have any thermal expansion joints installed in the brick veneer… then I would call this a thermal expansion crack… and not related to a foundation settlement problem.
Doesn’t look to be the most major case of settlement but settlement of any kind isn’t anything to take lightly. All it takes is an overzealous foundation contractor to come behind you and you’ll be calling your E/O provider.
In Oregon where I’ve done most of my inspecting we have pretty crappy soil and I saw lots of settlement. At least in comparison to here in Maui where everything is lava rock and settlement is very rare. I write up any crack like that in some manner since it falls outside of the basic test of, “is it performing as intended?” Doing a lot of research during my lawsuit I found that most engineers, etc. say anything that a dime can fit in is larger than “typical,” so that’s the bar I use. Here’s the comment I use and modify - you’d want to change it to fit your situation on veneer rather than foundation:
Fractures that are larger in size than typical shrinkage or “hairline” cracks were found in the foundation at the xxx. Cracks of this size could indicate unstable soil under the foundation, excessive settlement/movement of the foundation or other structural concerns. A less serious concern with cracks is the potential for water and pest intrusion. Further contractor or engineer evaluation is recommended to evaluate for structural stability of the house and for sealing/repair of the cracked foundation.
Looks like typical foundation movement that we see here in slab foundations on expansive clay soils. Either the ends have settled or the middle has heaved. Did you sight down the mortar lines? Were there corresponding drywall cracks or other movement indicators inside. Definite movement that “I” would not want to pay for so I would be putting them on notice and recommend the appropriate specialist depending on other clues I found.
