Hope everyone can load this image. I inspected this home in April 2004. Luckily I took a picture of the area and it proves that this crack was not there at the time of my inspection. This house was built in 2002. This crack apparently appeared within the last 5-6 months. The persons wanting to buy the house had another inspection done this week and this crack shows up. The crack is 1/16" wide. The inspector told the prospective home buyers that it would cost $2,500.00 and they are going nuts. Thoughts please......
Originally Posted By: psabados This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Charles
A little more info please. Where on the house is this crack? Does the crack run from the foundation to the roofline or soffit area? What kind of foundation? Crawl, slab, full basement? CMU or concrete? Whats the condition of the foundation?
Originally Posted By: wcampbell This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Just wondering, Do you have the other photo where the crack does not show up? Also, Why would you be taking a pic of an area that has no problem such as a crack?
Originally Posted By: charper This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Well William.
There was a 2nd ground rod sticking from the ground exactly where the crack is now. I took a picture of this extra un-needed ground rod. I sure am glad that I did. It may have saved my butt. The crack itself runs from the bottom of the brick about 1/3 the way up the wall. It is fairly straight, but only 1/16" of an inch thick.
Originally Posted By: jonofrey This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
charper wrote:
The persons wanting to buy the house had another inspection done this week and this crack shows up. The crack is 1/16" wide. The inspector told the prospective home buyers that it would cost $2,500.00 and they are going nuts. Thoughts please......
Charlie
So your prior clients are selling their house to a new buyer only five months after your inspection? Hmmm..
Your inspection only indicates conditions during the date and time of the inspection. A lot can happen in five months. With or without a prior picture showing no crack during your inspection you have a good argument. Your inspection agreement should address the issue. Circle the applicable clause and fax it to them.
Originally Posted By: Craig Shap This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
First of all I beleive you have covered your butt by mentioning this area in your report…“Good Job”. Secondly The inspector is actually providing the cost of such an extensive repair - How is he to assume what the other determining factors are behind the brick veneer. Sounds like he going to a great extent to cover his butt by scaring the home buyer/seller…
I am on your side on this issue...I beleive your inspection agreement and previuos report stands for itself..."You took a picture at that point in time." Good Luck!
Originally Posted By: Blaine Wiley This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
I see a 1/16" crack with no differential separation or lifiting. It looks to be a normal settlement crack that should be monitored. $2500? I want some of what that guy is smoking!!
Originally Posted By: dedwards This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
I agree with Blaine. This new inspector sound like an alarmist type. First off I am betting this is a brick “veneer” wall. That means the bricks are little more than “siding”. They do not support squat. They are not load bearing but as you can see they are subject to settling and developing a vertical crack. The only thing holding the wall up are probably metal brick ties. It is extremely rare to find a true “brick” home today. It would cost a dang fortune to build one. I would check inside the home at the same location and see if there are any tranfer cracks inside on the drywall and/or ceiling. I would never presume to quote the price of a fix either. I don’t let contractors set my prices therefore I don’t try to set theirs. I routinely see these types of cracks especially on spec homes and recommend what someone else has already stated. Patch it and keep an eye on it for further problems.
Originally Posted By: dcarroll This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
I agree with all of the comments above. It just doesn’t look that serious to me. One thing I did notice is that the first picture does not include the area of the crack. It is just a little left of the crack. Is there another picture that should be there?
How is he to assume what the other determining factors are behind the brick veneer. Sounds like he going to a great extent to cover his butt by scaring the home buyer/seller…