Five months ago we bought this 20 year old high ranch style house. We had the house inspected by a home inspector who came highly recommended. The previous owner denied any problem with the foundation in a Real Estate Declaration. Two vertical cracks in the foundation (one window) were apparent as well as a small crack in the ceiling on first floor across the archway and 2 vertical cracks in the drywall surrounding the supporting beam in the basement. The ceiling crack was explained by “looks like some step on the ceiling from the attic”. The cracks in the foundation could not be conclusive. Shortly after we moved in we became aware that a new housing development 2 blocks away when the blasting into the rock shaked the house. It felt like an earthquake tremor and traveled from the back of the house to the front. The development is in the front of the house 2 blocks away. Special note that there is a rock quarry much further away that is behind the house. The two foundation cracks were repaired before we had leaks in the basement in the fall with hydrolyc ciment and a rubber membrane. It was hand dug and we saw that the soil is composed of rather large rock and some clay. The foundation guy said there were French drains present. No specific backfill noted. We have door problems as well as well new deeper and superficial cracking noise emanating from the floor. The 2 bathroom doors would not stay closed. We found that really strange that a family would not attend to this! The front entrance door has popped open by itself at different times (almost ghost like : ) )and then it became hard to lock… The crack in the ceiling is getting worse. The crack in the ceiling is in an "arch" which run along the same line of the support beam (under the floor). It spans 7 feet and does not have frame. The building inspector claims that none of the inside walls are support walls upstairs. He also claims that this is a well built house. We have growing cracking sounds that we no longer attribute to heating in winter. We found, while my husband (telephone installer) installed a new phone line, that there is a badly twisted 2X10 joist pulling away from the other 2 paralleled ones (trio). I find it hard to accept that problems started only when we moved in. Please advise as best you can and hopefully we can find some peace of mind. Please be as technical as you want as I have a background in construction. Thank you very much. Monique

Monique,
All I need to say is that you need to hire a residential structural engineer. No doubt with your background you know why.

Dear Steve:
For the last 12 years since we built our home we never had any problems with water or leaks in our basement. Now that we have to put our home up for sale in this difficult time, there is a potential buyer who expressed a great concern of our unfinished basement where he saw 2 hairline cracks on the floor. The basement is as dry as it can be. We think that is natural to have thin cracks from foundation settling soon after building was complete. We must address this concern which is the least thing we were worried about until now. Please give us your professional advice. Thank you. Tina

Dear Steve,

We bought our home 1 1/2 years ago and when we first moved in we noticed a crack in the mortar on the side of the house. Our builder came out and inspected and had his brick layer come and repair the crack, it a brick veneer home. A year later the crack has returned and is much larger, and now the bricks are cracking along with a crack in the foundation that goes below the dirt line. I have also noticed a puddle of water in the yard near the crack and believe that their is a leak in our water line that might be saturating the clay we live on allowing the garage side of the house to sink. We are begining to have tile in the home crack and we cannot dead bolt the garage door any longer becasue its not ligning up. The builder has come out to inspect 3 weeks ago and said he would send his foundation guy to look at but have not seen or heard from either. Were a little lost on what we need to do, any advice? Thanks

Tina,
Steve was fired because he was goofing around. My answer will have to do. Small cracks in a concrete slab like that are normal. Go read all of my past columns about Concrete Cracks to understand why they happen. Tell this buyer to pound salt.

Nick,
Steve was fired for impersonating an expert. My advice: The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

My next door neighbor had his swimming pool demolished this week. I was away from my home from the start of the demolition through the majority of the process, but did manage to arrive to my house for the tail end (15-30 minutes) of the demolition. During the time I was home, I felt the house shaking with each bang of the machinery and noticed my chandelier shaking. I really did not think much of it at the time, except that I was relieved when it was over that my chandelier had not fallen. But a neighbor of mine has expressed concerns that her house was also shaking and that what if their demolition caused cracks in ours and her foundations. Is this something that we should be worried about? Thanks for your time!

Palmar,
I would not be overly concerned. And without pre-demolition inspection reports by a third party, how do you think you can prove the cracks were not there before the pool came out?

I recently purchased a 6 year old home,and as spring has sprung i have found a crack in my basement foundation,running from the bottom of the basement window to the slab and a small amount of water has dripped in.I have considered exposing the exterior portion of the foundation,and applying a 650 self-adheisive membrane the total length of the crack to below the slab pocket.My concern is whether the tar based coating on the exterior and interior will be compatable with my intended plan,and if there is an easier way to make this problem dissapear.Also if this is possible would it benefit me if i also used the membrane on the interior vertical crack.

i have developed cracks in two of my foundation walls. a new road is going in about a mile from my home. they have been blasting rock for quite a while now. i first noticed the cracks about a month ago and they are spreading rapidly. my house is setting on limestone rock. could these cracks be caused by theyre blasting.