Good morning everybody I’m on an inspection today with a concrete block construction and there’s a series of vertical cracks that have been filled in with flexible sealant but there are quite a few across the course of the building.
Wondering what people’s thoughts are on the severity of the cracks and what this could be leading to. It is a slab on grade build and circa 1974.
What is your location?
I would like to see a view of the house from a distance, however, those cracks alone do not concern me in an older structure. At the conclusion of the inspection, if there are no other foundation/structure issues found, I would document the cracks and suggest they be monitored , with verbiage describing how there was no evidence of other issues near this wall etc…" I would also add, “…the client has the option of obtaining a second opinion…” Sometimes during an inspection, I will ask the client’s agent to ask the listing agent about the age of an issue. If the seller claims the cracks occurred in 1987, I would put that in the report…“per the seller , the cracks ocurred in 1987…”.
Seeing cracks and lighting hair on fire is what clients do. We have to contextualize the crack. How is the wall performing? Is it straight when you lean your noggin (or a straightedge) against it and sight down the wall? The crack was filled - has the crack opened again - if so it gets a special mention. Can you make an educated guess (weathering) as to how long the fill has been there (in reference to the prior point)? Are blocks displaced - e.g. did a car run into the wall?
The crack in the pic runs from bottom to top and looks like the bottom has opened up a bit more since being filled - that would get a mention. I’d say I don’t know what happened or what it will do, but here’s what I see and here are my comments on surrounding grading, downspouts and other stuff that relates to how walls remain standing.
How long is that wall? Long masonry walls typically have expansion/contraction joints every 25 to 30 feet, if not mother nature will create the joint in the form of a crack.
Thanks all for the replies. This is located in coastal British Columbia.
The wall was approximated 80ft long and what I suspect after further investigation is that these are due to expansion and contraction and the freeze/thaw cycle. The cracks did not continue through the slab and after seeing no evidence of movement on the interior, I do not beleive they are of concern.
Comment will be to monitor and patch as needed. Should movement be evident, further investigation will be required.
I appreciate the responses!
Suspect: Missing control joint/s. Control joints are required every 1 1/2 the height of the wall not to exceed 25 feet. From IIBEC: control joint spacing in the CMU portion of the veneer has been successful at 12 ft. on-center, while the expansion joints in the clay brick can be 24 ft. on-center.
