Five Tips to Quickly Recognize Serious Home Structural Problems
Home Inspection Tips from the Field - Scott Home Inspection
Five tips to quickly recognize serious structural problems
Serious structural problems in houses are not very common, but when they occur they can be difficult & costly to repair. These tips won't turn you into a home inspector, but it will give you some of the common indicators of structural concerns. In these cases, a structural engineer should be called out to investigate further and provide a professional opinion.
Tip 1 - Leaning House
Take a macro-look at the home from across the street - is the house obviously tilting or leaning, or one edge of the home separating?
Tip 2 - Exterior Walls & Entries
Look for areas of wall separation greater than ½" in size
Check the Chimney area well - is the chimney separating from the home?
Tip 3 - Doors & Windows
Do doors and windows open freely? Look for cracks around the edges of windows and doors, and for sagging lintels on brick homes.
Tip 4 -Floors & Walls
Are there drywall cracks > ¼" in size? Are there uneven floors near corners?
Tip 5 - Basement Foundation Crack
Look for significant cracks both inside and outside on the foundation, particularly near corners, around windows, and any cracks that run the full length vertically or a considerable length horizontally.
Summary
• Tip1 - Is the house obviously leaning?
• Tip 2 - Are there large external cracks?
• Tip 3 - Are doors & windows sticking?
• Tip 4 - Are walls cracked or floors uneven?
• Tip 5 - Are there basement cracks present?
Any of these may indicate a structural issue that should be inspected or reviewed by a structural engineer. Structural concerns when selling or purchasing a home are the most costly items you can be faced with. Look closely at these areas, or ask you home inspector to focus on these areas in a separate walk through of the home. If you aren't sure about something you see, have a structural engineer look at it. The cost of an inspection will be well worth the peace of mind in knowing the severity and extent of the concern.
Published by George Scott
Scott Home Inspection - A Colorado Professional Home Inspection company serving Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, Greeley and surrounding areas, including Radon testing, Mold inspector. View profile
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7 Comments
Post a CommentI have discovered internal wall cracks that run down the wall from the main beam on both sides of the room. The cracks are about 1/4" wide, the main beam is where an extention has been added to the existing house. Is this something I should get a structural engineer to have a look at?
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We are contemplating buying a property but we are worried as the side wall has obviously bowed in the past and has been tied in. The property has also been underpinned in the past and restrengthened by the present owners. We can get the house at a very good price (still sky high though as it is in London) but I am very nervous at buying a property that has a bowed wall, has been underpinned and also has a large common tree in the street close to the house. There is evidence that the roots have pushed up the pavement and may possibly be the cause of cracks to the front garden wall. Any opinions or advice gratefully received.
hi ,I am in the process of purchasing a home,at first glance things looked fine,but in fact they were not.upon my home inspection the front of the foundation was leaning in at the front of the house.I called an enginer in to look at it he did say that a repair was necessary.i had called in a structural contractor his estimate was to install pileasters in to support the wall.His estimate was about 14k.homeowners called in contractors and the range they received was from 22 hundred dollars to about 6k. It is a block foundation my contractor showed us that it does go horrizontally across the wall which is about 40 feet. homeowners contractors do not agree with this thy say that it is just contained in the left part of the wall.To me from looking at it i do believr it is the whole wall that needs repair. Also in the front there are two large trees one about 7 feet off and the other one is about 12 feet off.My question to you is that do you think the trees have anything to do with this pro
we excavated some soil from our back garden about 4 years ago to make the garden level, it was previously sloping away from the house, and to build a deck. We have recently noticed many cracks appearing in the house, including some hairline step cracking in the exterior back wall adjacent to the garden. Is it possible that the removal of soil has caused this and if so can we remedy it by putting soil back?
Thanks Carol
Gary: Keep in mind the most common reason for foundation movement is swelling soils. You may be in a region that has soils that swell and exert extreme forces on the foundation. If the backfill was not compacted well this can also happen. My advice is to hire a structural engineer to review the situation. Most structural guys will come out for a relatively small fee, and diagnose the cause of the problem. Hope this helps. George Scott.
My home is a single story 2100 sqaure foot single family dwelling. I suspect I have a serious structural issue with this house. The roof has clay tiles that wiegh about 10lbs per square foot. the house has Stucco siding all over. It is a seven year old home (built in 1999). It has many cracks and many of these cracks are recent. Though they are not 1/2" they are very close, in fact there are a few (3-4) that may be 1/2". I've been told by the builder (recently) that they are settling cracks. The term settling cracks is very UNSETTLING. I do not beleive that after 7 yrs my house is still settling. What I do beleive is first, this house was not built with the best quality of wood (an opinion) but most important it was built on soil that is destroying this house (Again an opinion). Although I live on flat land it appears as though my home is being pushed in a direction. That direction is from the rear of the home to the front of the home (pushed north). This pushing is translating to t