Inspection & Writing Assignment:
Picture of 18 inch tile over what is believed to be a poured pad. At one time it was an exterior wall, opened up and an addition added to the back of the house. Recommended further investigation by a qualified contractor.
Inspection & Writing Assignment:
Cracks… In the foundation are not always as bad as they look, but they should be repaired by a professional. In the picture loaded wit h this article you will see vertical cracking from the corner of a window in the basement. These cracks can be found often in basements and are not usually signs of structural compromise. On this inspection there were a lot of signs of movement and settling in the home, interior door and window cracks, doors out of square and cracking at each window in the basement, Sometimes the sum of many equals a lot, with this I had a foundation specialist/engineering firm come in and give their opinion with my findings. They also felt there was movement but the structure was not compromised. I dont often refer out this second opinion but the home was built on a hill with many retaining walls that have failed in the past and all of the interior signs of settling and movement i had a gut feeling that their might have been something hiding. Fresh parged foundation on the exterior and a half finished basement obscured view of walls. 6 months later we inspected a home that was two doors down from this one and found out later that their was a structural compromise in this home, the engineer had not see because of the finished walls and fresh parging. Sometimes the sum of many signs equal a greater outcome.
Research & Writing Assignment:
Structural Design Basics of Residential Construction for the Home Inspector was a very good article referencing many different building designs and how and why they are built the way they are, The different designs and how they effect and effected codes in the past. This article is a must read for all home inspectors.
Research & Writing Assignment:
Evaluating Structural Framing: When inspecting structural components of a building, I will have to decide whether something is a defect or just poor quality work, whether its dangerous and needs immediate correction or whether it will last and be safe.
It is also important to evaluate buildings in the context of the time in which they were originally built. Old construction will be different than new construction and that doesn’t necessarily mean it is defective.
Look for signs of failure such as sagging, unevenness, or cracking of the interior and exterior wall coverings.
Make sure your client knows if you can’t see it, you can’t inspect it, and you accept no responsibility for confirming its condition.
Inspection & Writing Assignment:
Water Damage to Foundation
Ensuring all downspouts from gutters are directed at least 2 or three feet away from foundation could avoid damage over time. In the supplied photo, erosion from the foundation wall below the bricks exposes the wall much more than its design intended. Cracking or other water damage is quite possible and at risk here.
Inspection & Writing Assignment:
The picture provided is only one of three cracks in a block [outside] wall in a garage. In this lesson I learned of different types of cracks and what each could possibly tell about any structural issues. The lesson spoke of “V” cracks and how they indicate heaving. The cracks are on both sides of the upper corners of a window running up to the top and are step cracks. The picture is of a fairly sizable (+/- 1/8") vertical crack running down the bottom center of the same window down to the floor/slab. Is this technically a “V” crack? On the other side of this garage wall, outside, there is a concrete patio. While there is some settlement cracking in the patio, there doesn’t appear to be any major movement. I’m wondering if the crack in the wall should be written up as something to have further evaluated by a qualified contractor or if is just a somewhat larger settlement crack.
Inspection & Writing Assignment:
This pitcher is of a interior door (the master bedroom). Their is a vertical crack almost in the center of the door frame. With this picture shown and evidence collected from other parts of the house. I come to the conclusion that their is some structural movement, and should be further investigate by a professional.
Research & Writing Assignment:
Structural Foundations
There are several structural foundations which comprise slab on grade; foundation wall system containing basements and crawl spaces; piers, pilings and post supports, as well as variations of each. These are intended to be engineered to the conditions of the environment and constraints of the subject building site. In all cases, the inspector needs to observe the circumstances, conditions and appearance of existing structural foundations, while identifying which method of foundation has been used.
Research & Writing Assignment:
I looked at the illustration of the placement on collar ties. This course touch on the some and how the help with rafter uplift. I was looking at the placement of the collar tie which is 1/3 from the ridge board on the upper side and 1/3 above the ceiling joist. I i just notice how they help with rafter uplift by tying the rafter together.
Research & Writing Assignment:
I chose the article titled “Evaluating Structural Framing”. In this article I learned about the load path of a structure, as well as identifying if a defect was built in to the structure or if it occurred after building and is due to possible soil movement. Also, the article mentioned that when you see cracks above doors that it may be the result of floor framing movement, and that diagonal cracks at doors and windows could indicate soil movement and possible foundation problems, which I found interesting.
Research & Writing Assignment:
Foundation issues can make or break a client’s overall thoughts on a property. Understanding different types of cracking may help to explain visible issues in foundation walls. A horizontal crack may be due to the builder backfilling before the concrete is cured, or that backfill having large rocks in it. Horizontal cracking show signs of pressure from the outside like the backfill, but could also be due to tree roots that have found their way to the foundation wall.
Inspection & Writing Assignment:
This diagonal crack visible on the interior of a poured concrete foundation wall is uniform in size. At one time this crack may have let some water in. It has since been sealed and there are no visual signs of the seal pulling away from the concrete. This type of crack does not constitute a structural defect.
Inspection & Writing Assignment:
In this photo the Parging on the exterior of the foundation was observed to be hairline cracked vertically. Additionally, it extends into the first course of bricks and the crack continues along the mortar joint. This could be a sign of settlement. The house was built in 1923. The previous homeowner attempted to patch the Parging with some kind of caulking, and it doesn’t appear to have re-cracked. Recommended to monitor this crack for additional growth / extension.
Research & Writing Assignment:
I chose to comment on the “Capillary Break” photo from the Gallery. In my experience, it is far too common to encounter such a phenomenon as a capillary break on older, masonry homes. The result is staining and efflorescence beneath window ledges without them. In addition, the mortar fails prematurely as a result of the water intrusion.
Inspection & Writing Assignment:
This image is of the front door entry way. Door functions properly open and close’s fine and seals nice and tight. Door knobs and deadbolt line up like they should and function properly. Noticed that the door threshold was a little loose. Not an issue, something to keep an eye on.
Inspection & Writing Assignment:
The crack in the drywall does not look too bad at first glance. However, there were multiple cracks like this one throughout the house and some the expanded the entire length of a load bearing wall. There is indication of the foundation separating down the middle of the house as the entire floor was cracked and raised on one side.
Research & Writing Assignment:
The video and article was about measuring roof slope and pitch. The video also mentioned that slope and pitch are not the same. I learned that slope is the incline of the roof expressed as a ratio of the vertical rise to the horizontal run and pitch is the roof expressed as a fraction derived by dividing the rise by the span distance from outside one wall top plate to another. There are also mobile device’s to make it easier to measure.
Inspection & Writing Assignment:
Here you can see some minor cracks over a doorway. Usually cracks over doorways and windows can be attributed to the expansion and contraction of the framing. However, if the cracks follow a spider vein pattern it could mean there is some moisture intrusion behind the plaster.
Research & Writing Assignment:
Expansive soils are fine, clay-based soils that expand in volume when exposed to water. This can wreak havoc on foundations if certain building methods aren’t used. One way is to rest the foundation on piers that extend down to where the soil is stable and to create sacrificial voids in the walls to accommodate the heaving soil.
Research & Writing Assignment:
Tensile stresses that cause cracks in newly poured concrete slabs is common place. Both moisture and temperature differences in the bottom portion of the slab vs the upper portion of the slab causes the tensile stress. Different factors influence the concrete to cause the cracks. Thermal cracking is caused by differences in the temperature between the bottom surface and the top surface of the concrete. Plastic cracking occurs when the water content evaporates from the surface of the concrete faster than the moisture from the bottom surface replaces the evaporated moisture. Shrinkage cracking is when concrete mixed with more water than dry components and there is a difference in evaporation rates from the surface and the bottom of the concrete.
