Hello everyone I am just starting the structural course!
I did my structural essay on a cracks in slab on grade. In the photo attached is a missing piece of concrete against the base board. It’s roughly about a quarter of and inch missing. I did a further interior inspection of the surrounding walls. I did not find any cracks on the sheetrock. I would note the crack in the photo in my inspection report. I did find it fairly difficult to tell if the cracks could indicate further structural issues. The home is only 3 years old so I would say from inspecting the entire structure it appears to be in good shape.
I decided to do my research assignment on safe rooms. I live in southern Louisiana. Safe rooms are not very common in the area I am from. The article about safe rooms interest me because of the amount of hurricanes and tornadoes we sometimes get. I believe safe rooms would help protect a lot of families from tornadoes. I learned that safe rooms have been around for a very long time. I could not find any negative reasons not to have a safe room.
During my structural inspection I noticed cracking on the garage floor. Closer inspection i noted that the edges of the cracks were rounded and much of the crack was filled with debri and dust from the garage. Further inspection of the garage noted no other signs of structural issues. The cracking of the garage slab appears to be old and not necessarily indicitive of structural issues. I will photograph the cracking and not it in the report but not as a structural problem.
During this lesson Caissons were discussed and the reasons for having them constructed correctly specifically where a structure may be at risk of future movement. Here is just a breif introduction to caissons.
A caisson foundation also called as pier foundation. It is a prefabricated hollow box or cylinder sunk into the ground to some desired depth and then filled with concrete thus forming a foundation.
Caisson foundations are similar in form to pile foundations, but are installed using a different method. It is used when soil of adequate bearing strength is found below surface layers of weak materials such as fill or peat. It is a form of deep foundation which are constructed above ground level, then sunk to the required level by excavating or dredging material from within the caisson.The foundation system of and the soils beneath the building prevent the complex from moving vertically. When a load is placed on soil, most soils settle. This creates a problem when the building settles but the utilities do not. Even more critical than settlement is differential settlement. This occurs when parts of your building settle at different rates, resulting in cracks, some of which may affect the structural integrity of the building. Conversely, in some rare instances soils may swell, pushing your building upwards and resulting in similar problems. Therefore, the foundation system must work in tandem with the soils to support the building.
I’ve taken a picture of a retaining wall thats also suporting a covered poarch area . Inspector 0bserved no signs of cracking or other signs of soil movement. Inspector notes evoresents indicating possible moisture passing through CMU wall. Recommen
d montering this condition.
I chose the Balloon Framing ilustration from the galery. This helps me understand the different types of wall framing baloon vrs platform framing. Balloon is considered old school allthough plumbers and electricians perfer it for ease of there chase runs. It is this required method in multi floor cathredale ceiling areas of a home.
This is an illustration of rafters in the attic. Notice there is no ridge board in this older home. Also should not the location of what is meant to serve as collar ties. To allow for some usuable attic space the homeowner/builder chose to raise the ties.
Cantilevered floors are allow 25% of the length of the stringer. You see this on split level and customs. Good way to keep additional moisture away from foundation.
In this photo you can see the rot and decay of the fascia at the roof perimeter. This rot could possibly be allowing water intrusion into the structure. Issue should be evaluated by a licensed professional.
I research the article Home Inspection Reports: What to Expect. It was a good article on the differences in practices between earlier years and the modern day home inspection. It explains how newer technologies and established standards of practices have changed the inspection industry.
I studied the Structural issues for Home Inspectors course and learned about the houses foundation and how everything should go together to make one. As you can see in the picture I took the pavers don’t have enough support under them which is why it fell through. The foundation underneath should be right under instead of wide open space. This causes a liability and also a defect as it can be harmful to people playing around the pool.
I studied Buying a Foreclosure and some of the things I learned is that they are sold at public auctions 10 to 25% off market value. You shouldn’t buy a foreclosure without seeing it in person first. Make sure before you buy any home that it has been inspected by an Internachi professional. Another way these homes are sold is by a REO (Real Estate-Owned) transaction.
In this image taken on the front driveway of a residential building you can see multiple cracks that have been repaired. Normally, cracks in poured foundtion or slabs that are fairly unifirmed in widtth are caused by shrinkage. Due to the crack being repaird it is difficult to report on the width of each crack. Shrinkage cracks may allow water entry below the slab that will cause futher damage in time of freezing weather.
I will be covering the garage inspection for my essay. During the garage inspection the inspector should be mindful of the same components associated with the garage as with the home. Focusing primarily on the truss style roof in multiple garage found across our nation the inspector should be mindful of multiple things. With roof trusses the inspector should take not of altered trusses and truss connections that are not typical building construction practices. If trussed are found to be altered by anyone other that an engineer this should be noted in the report. Trusses can not be altered in anyway. Trusses are designed with a specific purpose and all components associated with the installation of the trusses are important. Inspection of the hangers and the connection point should be inspected for missing nails, nails backing out, and inadequate spacing.
Research exercise
Library article reviewed:
Mudjacking
by Nick Gromicko
Mudjacking is the process of injecting a mud slurry under concrete slabs through drilled holes to fill in voids that raise the portion of a slab that has sunken. Per the article, this process is commonly half the cost of full concrete replacement.
In a formal role, I approved and witnessed the use of a similar technique that used injected A/B high density foam. At issue was a pre and post concrete panel in a coin-pay lane on a tolled roadway. Both panels had embedded loops for traffic detection. Replacement of the panel could be tens of thousands of dollars. In this case, it was determined the builders had left out dowel rods between panels and sub-base had washed away near opening between panels. The condition had become a driving hazard and potential failure of embedded loops. The low cost fix was to use high pressure foam injection to get the two slabs back to level and to drill new dowels between panels. This was done and a success. In this case, the cost was about 1/10th of replacement.
Writing Assignment:
Inspected: Home built in 1978 (39 yrs). Built on solid ground-level concrete slab with parameter footing (common for the time and location).
Note: Area has high clay content in soil. Area has had 3 years of severe drought and recently had 5" of rainfall. Also, this location is within 10 miles of two earthquake epicenters greater than 4.0.
Evidence of movement in the slab can be seen. Picture 1 is a horizontal crack, ~1/8" or less, present on the North kitchen wall. Exterior slab view of this location cannot be seen for a installed ground-level deck.
Picture 2 is an L-shaped North/South and East/West running crack near the center most portion of the living room ceiling.
Picture 3 is of the living room ceiling where a vertical crack, ~1/8" or less, on the Southern wall were it meets the base of the 45 degree angled slope to the ceiling. Crack is in the center most portion of the Southern wall. External view of slab on this location cannot be seen for enclosed deck on exterior wall.
Picture 4 is of the exterior slab view of horizontal crack on the West side of the house. No cracks seen on the interior drywall of this crack. No further cracks witnessed on the visible portions of the slab around the house.
Inspection Essay:
This home’s two-car garage slab showed substantial cracking. Slab movement is not uncommon due to the construction and lack of reinforcement. Although slab cracking is not direct evidence of structural issues, cracking in slabs should be taken into consideration while inspecting the structural integrity of a home, knowing that it may contribute, as well as, bring understanding into structural issues that may be present in the home.
Research Essay:
“A Garage Inspection” -
This particular article was a surprising article. This article was chosen in order to gain greater knowledge relating to inspecting garages. The information provided was great in detail, concerning truss defects; however, the article was limited concerning general “garage” inspection details. Nevertheless, the article closed with the acknowledgement that “all electrical receptacles in garages must be GFCI-protected, without exception.”
“Trust your Gut” is a great reminder to us. Any Realtor advising against an inspection on a foreclosure (or neglecting to recommend that one be performed) is ignoring the likelihood that, long before the previous owners stopped making mortgage payments, they deferred required maintenance tasks Any time youre going to buy a lemon it is important to know how much sugar you’re going to need to make it taste good.