This week I inspected a house that settled in one corner 1-inch. The house is two story on a walkout basement foundation. For new inspectors these photos provide some evidence of the settlement:
This photo shows a buckling or twisting of the drywall tape in the 2nd floor bonus room over the end of the house that settled.
These photos in the walkout end of the basement shows diagonal drywall cracks at the top left corner and bottom right corner. (this window is directly below the previous window)
The source of the settlement were these two downspouts previously drained next to the foundation wall. Due to poor grading the water drained along the foundation wall over a long period of time. (This is the current photo after underground drainpipes were attached)
The first picture reminded me of an attic apartment I had many years ago where masking tape was used on the drywall joints instead of paper tape w/ joint compound. Amateur finish work for sure. Thanks for sharing Randy.
Nice find and glad you connected the “dots” related to the downspouts. It’s a common issue in our region. My clients are shocked when I tell them how much water gets deposited through a downspout. I use 1” of rainfall … square feet x .623 gallons, so if half of the roof was 800 sq’ and deposited into one downspout, aprox 500 gallons of water would be dumped into that area. I also point out old terra cotta underground drain pipes when excess moisture is observed or cracking.
Only one time did I inspect a home with diagonal cracks over doors and windows that wasn’t related to water or foundation movement. Turns out the builder didn’t double joist under interior walls in the basement, causing movement in the interior structure without affecting the exterior structure or foundation.
I often see wrinkled corner paper in garages, but inside the house on the other side of the same wall…nothing. Did someone do a great repair job on the inside and not bother in the garage? Or is something else going on that I just don’t understand? Usually, since it is in the garage, my clients don’t do any follow-up despite my report of evidence of structural movement.
