Did a recent inspection for one of our country’s finest. He serves for us so lets see what we can do to help him out. Home was built about a year ago and when I did their 11 month warranty inspection the front porch had a very visible crack right dab down the middle of it. Client states builder admits no support such as footers was ever put in place before pouring the concrete and as a result he has changed his procedures to add for such support. Several attempts to repair the crack but all have failed so far. Crack keeps reappearing. What he is looking for is possible solutions for repair before making the decision to simply tear off the existing porch and having it built as it should be. Any help would be greatly appreciated. See pics below.
Sounds like the builder is going to be pouring him a new front porch. My advise to him is to find a good real estate lawyer.
I would not allow this builder to install metal piers unless the foundation company guarantees that when the house settles it will not cause cracking somewhere else in the house’s foundation. If they do, I would read that guarantee closely.
In AZ licensed contractors are required by law to replace any exterior concrete with a crack wide enough to place a dime in, for the first two years of ownership.
In 70% of Missouri (where I presume this house was built), a third grade class can construct a ten story hotel as a class project … and no one will ever inspect it until after the Fire Marshall removes the bodies.
Quite simply, it has no support, and needs support, which (apparently) the builder realized post-construction.
Foundations/footings (not footers) can be added “after-the-fact” or the porch can be removed and rebuilt properly. This seems like a “no-brainer.” Am I missing something?
It does absolutely no good to “repair” the crack when you haven’t repaired the problem that is causing the crack.
I can’t believe that they did not pour a frost wall and/or footing pier support for those columns.
That size crack is not excessive, but with no support for those columns, it just will not get any better in the future.
James, I see it all the time on homes with foundations.
Concrete cracks, will crack and does crack. The crack shown in the pic is not alarming, but due to no foundation support will get much worse because of the lack of.
That new of a crack would get me concerned even with the proper supports. Ever since contractors starting using limestone for aggregate instead of creek gravel, cracking of concrete started to be a common thing. I can take you to some of the work that was done by my old construction company 20-30 years ago, not a crack one. I was taught how to do things by old timers who actually knew somewhat what they were doing.
The crack will considerably bigger, Dan, make my words. I bet within five years the front porch posts will be pulled away from the rafters because the ground will settle big time.
I see several newer houses a year where whole corners drop off of foundations and the buyers always say it just started with a small crack within 10 years. Sad but true.
That is the only good thing about Missouri home builders, they keep us Missouri inspectors busy. If it was not for most of the contractors not knowing what they are doing and the state of Missouri allowing this, I would have to make less money by doing Realtor referred home inspection. Huck!
That is the only good thing about Missouri home builders, they keep us Missouri inspectors busy. If it was not for most of the contractors not knowing what they are doing and the state of Missouri allowing this, I would have to make less money by doing Realtor referred home inspection. Huck!
That crack in and of itself does not “appear” to be a big deal. But if the builder admitted he did not install a footer that extends below the frost line it most likely will get worse with time & very well may result in structural issues.
I can’t speak for MO but in OH, most if not all Builders have a 1 year warranty for all defects & a 10 year warranty for all structural defects on new construction - granted the Builder is still in business.
If the Builder won’t make the proper repairs or is trying to get by on the cheap, I would recommend that buyer contact an attorney.
