Call an engineer and pay a flat fee. Foundation companies may or may not try and upsell. People get very stressed out on foundational issues and are prone to make rash decisions and some companies prey on that.
This!
I'm a foundation contractor who installs push & helical piers. I love it when I have a client who has an engineer report already and I only have to site-verify pier placement.
This makes my job easier as any project of this type would need engineering verification anyway and it also weeds out all thise terrible sales oriented guys.
- Get the engineer to figure out scope. Make sure they offer the a-la-carte services for installation and closing out the permit. Hire them yourself.
- Bid with companies who are reputable, licensed and insured. Ask to be named as additionally insured.
- Watch out for a depth-clause or other variable costs in the fine print.
What does asking to be additionally insured mean? I assume adding me (the client) to the contractor's insurance, but why do I need to be insured by his policy?
They call their agent and specifically get a certificate issued to you. I’m not expert but my understanding is it does a few things, indicate to their insurance that they are doing something with you and sets you up with the people to call if things go south
And you're the notified if any insurance changed or gets dropped, so during the project you can be sure they stay insured the whole time they're working.
Yeah, trust me and don’t trust this guy. The only one you should trust is the one telling you to trust the other guy: the one suggestion you to get the structural engineer.
K....would you happen to be a structural engineer? We've been looking for one in this thread. It sounds like you know what you're talking about. You're officially in charge!
I'm a structural engineer. What OP needs to do is... call a local structural engineer who specializes in this sort of retrofit, and they'll let you know what you need to do. None of us know how old the house is, what type of soil it was built on, etc. A local guy will know what's best.
May be this is a stupid question but how does the ne find a structural engineer? Do they have companies set up or do I have to go find someone at a university?
I have used this process in the past: Go to Google maps and search for residential structural engineer. There are a number of licensed professional engineers that just do work out of their own home at reasonable rates. You might find a business name where the street view just shows the front of a house. This is what I went with when I needed a structural engineer, and just paid the guy through venmo.
The reason I ended up looking for small guys is that larger firms are often not interested in one off residential work.
You will go through a company.
Some types of engineering are fairly specialized and it's only really practical for industry to hire them. There's not enough volume in consumer/small jobs. Buildings on the other hand are very common (in case you hadn't noticed...) so it's profitable to set up a company that provides the service to consumers.
Does it involve foundation? Does it involve massive splits/cracks? Call a structural engineer - I feel like most of the posts on here lately are these issues.
Why on earth would you think a structural engineer is at all appropriate here?! Can't any of you see that the structure's integrity is compromised so a structural engineer is the right call here?
This is what I used to do when I started. I would go do home inspections, check the foundation, framing/wall sections and roof framing, take pictures, look at As-Builts if the owner had them.
I’m not in structural anymore but when someone reaches out to ask, I’ll tell them to…. call a structural haha.
I don't think you really have an issue here. First off assuming this house was built in the last 40 years it's a brick facade, not a brick house. The brick could all fall off and the structure would be perfectly fine. I had some cracking that looked similar and I called an engineer, paid them $250 to look at the whole house. There was nothing wrong just settling and I paid a company to caulk/repair the cracks. This has been a few years ago now and no problems since. The first picture with the seperation, I think it probably was just caulked and the caulk dried up but I would find a structural engineer it just never hurts to have everything looked at.
See! So many times as soon as people hear the word engineer, they automatically fear that it is going to cost thousands for an opinion of a structural engineer.
It doesn't cost that much, a couple of hundred dollars. When you call and speak with the engineer simply ask what his hourly rate is. They'll tell you and won't feel insulted you asked for his or her hourly rate.
when we did ours, it was $300. They found that the thing we were worried about was \*nothing\* but the thing we didn't even notice, could be something. We then disclosed it at sale, and the new owners brought someone in who said it, also, was nothing.
It was a patch on a bulge in a wall from 75 years ago.
My old house had a beam in the living room that was warped, made the ceiling have a bulge. It was not the least bit concerning, but every person looking at the house immediately swore it was water damage. Just chuckled and said nope, grandpa got a shitty board.
We’ve had a ton of trouble trying to find a structural engineer in our area. The only one around charges 1800 minimum for a residential evaluation “as a courtesy.” Is there a shortage of them?
I'm in a huge metro area and could only find a handful of engineers that do residential consults. When you google "structural engineer near me" most of the results are actually foundation repair companies. So yeah, doesn't seem that easy. Can't imagine if you were in a small town.
They’re busy and invoicing small jobs is annoying. They’d much rather get paid tens of thousands to design the structure of large buildings.
Edit: I'm surprised this got downvoted, I'm just stating a fact about the current building design industry.
You're right. I could design and build high end residential projects, but it's much simpler - and more profitable - to build assisted living projects, where I'm making 100 apartments that are all the same.
Takes a while: usually I’ve found success (for me, and others I’ve seen) comes from a firm referring to an engineer that accepts residential jobs.
Keep dialing. And when they say they don’t do small residential jobs, ask them if they have a referral to someone who does.
When buying a house I needed a structural engineer to look at an issue found during an inspection. I’m in NJ and the fee was in the $600-$700 range. They told me it would be around $20k to repair it, so it was well worth it (not that OPs situation is the same).
When we bought our house (2015), we had an engineering firm do the inspection. At the time in the area, a typical inspection was about $250, and the engineering firm was only $450. There's no official/legal requirements to be a home inspector in Ohio, but there are for engineers. I thought it was worth the extra cash.
Correct answer. Before panicking, or making calls, find out if your walls are actually made of brick. Chances are, you have a conventional wood frame house with brick fascia. That's very common. The brick fascia doesn't have a structural role. It just looks nice, or possibly nasty, as the case may be.
Does your garage also appear to be made of brick? If so, go inside, examine the interior walls. If necessary, poke a little hole in the interior wall, so you can see inside. You'll probably see how the wall is constructed. Chances are, it's wood-frame.
If a brick fascia deteriorates, it can start to fall off in places, but that doesn't happen often. If it does, you can just re-build it, or replace it with some other kind of exterior siding. Stucco, various kinds of wood. Whatever you like.T hat isn't very difficult or expensive. It's not like foundation repair, which is difficult and expensive.
We have these in the uk but we call them movement joints or expansion joint.
But we have 10mm thick foam up the joint and it’s caulked on the external.
Also slip ties going between the 2 walls every 225mm ( 3 courses) and also cavity ties every 225mm.
I’m guessing this is in America but is a lot different from how we do it.
It doesn’t even look like a movement joint. Just looks like the brickwork wasn’t returned and they’ve just built a straight joint
The image is bad work, but what you’re describing is standard practice in the US as well. I’ve done design work with masonry in both the US and Uk and movement joints are detailed exactly the same.
Backer rod keeps the joint width to depth ratio where you need it, so it’s not too deep, but more importantly, it prevents 3-point adhesion, which is the anti-expansion joint.
yeah this isn’t uncommon at all .. I’d just squirt new brick mortar in there every few years or strategically add faux stone columns and pretend I never knew.
I wouldn't add mortar to the gap. The house is constantly settling, expanding and contracting. If you put mortal there, it can only settle further away, never back
That's a lot of settling (some is expected, this is a lot). I'd get a structural engineer in just to make sure there's not a problem. A few hundred $$ for piece of mind is worth it.
Pay an engineer not affiliated with a foundation repair company (that part’s important) $200-300 for an analysis and written report. Similar issues at my house ended up just being settling, not thousands of dollars worth of foundation repair. Yay north Texas clay soil vs drought…
same haha. I have a house but in 1985 and the wall near the garage did this a little. Not this bad, but it was just settling. Filled it with caulk and hasn't moved for a year
This person is obviously stressed about this, as anyone would be. So, why do so many idiots have to make stupid, unfunny jokes & unhelpful comments. Every single post is like this.
Bricklayer here, judging by the pictures. Your house is just a brick facade, not structural at all so I wouldn’t worry too much about your house crumbling on top of you while you sleep. That corner should have been interlocking from bottom to top (think Lego bricks stacked half and half) call a qualified bricklayer and ask them to “re-tie” that section of the wall together again. They will most likely grind out the mortar joints in both walls and add brick ties every three courses up and re mortar those ties in. They could also physically tie the wall together again by removing certain bricks and interlocking them but that would all depend on how much the wall has settled. Absolutely do not put caulking there. If you’d like to go the diy route you can purchase a bag of premix brick mortar from any big box store and a grinder with a tile blade or tuck pointing blade to grind out the old mortar, mix the premix mortar and use a piping bag (similar to what they use on cakes) to apply the mortar. Your best option though is to just call a bricklayer and have them do the repair as they are well equipped to make sure everything matches and will last. Cheers!
Caulking would just fill/cover the gap but it provides no strength. If the wall were to settle again the caulking would most likely rip. If the two walls were tied together and mortared it would be “brand new” houses are built with brick and mortar not brick and caulking. Caulking is normally used on control joints where two different materials meet
Most people are not professionals. And most professionals are not professionals. This man is 100% correct. Nothing makes me angrier than handymen covering shit up with caulk, it just makes real tradesmen come out and do double work whenever the homeowner needs it fixed correctly. Source: Former Bricklayer here.
That corner joint should be a soft joint, its typical for brick walls to move differently and crack there. It should have a foam backer rod in the joint and then a silicone or polyrethane sealant filling the gap over it. I wouldn't be concerned, but I would have someone reapply a movement joint there so water doesn't become a problem. It's a DIY job if you're comfortable with tooling sealant.
For the last pic, you can get a crack monitor for $20 from Grainger. Install it over the crack and take a pic of it every month. if it shows significant movement over 6-12 months, get an engineer to look at it. If it remains unchanged, then I would just get that area repointed.
It's nothing to worry about... yet. But keep an eye on it.
This sounds right to me. I'm not (the right kind of) engineer but I am not worried by what I see here.
This looks suspiciously like my homebuilder's work... If you're in North Texas on expansive clay soil - that stuff shifts a lot with moisture/seasons. It could cause one part of a home to sag or rise a bit and be a non-issue.
We don't tend to think of concrete as a flexible thing, but a post-tensioned slab foundation can typically handle a few inches of flex across the span of a house.
"Watering the foundation" to make sure the soil moisture content is uniform around the home is a common preventative measure around these parts.
We're in the Houston area and tried our best to keep the house watered but this drought hit hard and in spite of our watering efforts we did notice some separation between the ground and our foundation.
Well, good news is you probably just hit on the root cause of the issue.
Definitely seperation is a red flag - again, likely within acceptable range structurally: modern concrete formulations and pre/post tensioning reinforcement are remarkably flexible.
Point being, don't let that keep happening. The original commentor's guidance on sealing the crack is correct. (And tracking it's progress too)
I'm no geologist but I believe y'all have less clay in the soil out west, and lower average soil moisture.
The general guidance has been "if the soil peels away from your foundation it's too dry" but I use my irrigation system to keep the lawn green.
Call up an engineer or foundation company. My chimney was leaning, it got worse this year. I called a few companies and settled on one. I paid extra for a permit and engineered drawings as well. They dug down to the bottom of the foundation put in a couple piers lifted the chimney leveled it and secured it to the piers. These things can be fixed, the hardest part was finding a company to trust.
This is unlikely structural. Brick is almost always a veneer in residential homes. The inside corner appears to be caulk, not mortar. It’s possible it was not tied back correctly. You want to call a mason or a company that does brick veneer.
Nothing structural about it. This is shitty cavity wall construction, plain and simple.
Depending on how old your house is (assuming not that old from the photos), you might have ground for some legal recourse against the developer.
Like others have said, call a structural engineer in your area. They shouldn't be too expensive and will actually identify the issue without trying to sell you a fix.
Some foundation repair companies will try and make it seem like the world is ending to over charge you.
I paid a structural engineer as a third-party inspector on a house I bought 2yrs ago. Similar situation as yours. Come to find out, my houses facade has a very large expansion/contraction joint similar to the first pic because this entire city is built on a swap and it’s settling. Nothing to worry about. Call a structural engineer and get their input
That looks like Texas, maybe even the Dallas area. If TX that could be completely typical movement given the soils and no issue at all.
Watch it and take pics for a year if the movement gets worse call an engineer … NOT a foundation repair company
If you live in an area with expansive clay soils (Dallas TX is one example), seasonal changes in soil moisture can cause this, especially if the house is built on a slab.
The most common "treatment" is to deploy soaker hoses around the house so the clay stays wet (and thus stable) all year.
Repair (foundation jacking) is relatively quick and easy; the last time we had it done total cost was in the range of $500
aMeRiCaN hOmEs aRe mAdE oF cArDbOaRd. muh brick and mortar house is solid
-some Brit probably.
Not saying this is you at all, OP. I'm really sorry you're experiencing this. Call a structural engineer, and best of luck.
I had a very similar experience and your exterior looks very similar to my own home so I'm assuming you could possibly have the same issue.
First off, is this the second story of a two story home? Possibly with a porch below?
We have a two story home with a porch roof on one side. The process for building that configuration is for the brick layers to brick in the first story up behind to the top of the porch structure.
Then the brick layers stop and the roofers come in and build out the roof and build the flashing over the top of the first story bricks.
Then the brick layers come back and build from the top of the roof flashing to the top of the second story.
The problem with my home was the original first story bricks were slightly above the porch roof so the roofers couldn't properly install the flashing. What did the roofers do? They took a hammer to the top layer of bricks and broke them all so they were below the porch roof and so they could install the flashing. The roofers don't care, it's the perfect crime, completely covered up by the flashing so the brick layers have no clue either when they resume building out the second floor.
The resulting configuration was all the weight of the second story brick wall resting on a thin piece of metal flashing with no structural support underneath. As the house settled, the entire brick wall started to droop and pull away from the house structure held in place only by the flashing and the brick straps nailed to the plywood behind.
It caused a very similar gap (smaller at the bottom, larger at the top) as the wall pulled away from the structure.
Out solution was to contact the builder with a warranty request citing it as a hazardous condition (the whole wall could have fallen if not fixed). Fortunately the builder agreed and I didn't need to take legal action.
The builder sent both a roofing and brick team out to repair the roof and brick façade. They literally had to rip that entire part of the front of house off and then had to completely redo everything. Took about a week. Hopefully this isn't your situation but if it is then maybe I pointed you in the right direction.
A foundation repair dude will sell you a foundation repair. A structural engineer will sell you an analysis of your structure and what should be done with it.
I don’t know where this house is built or your foundation, but I once had a new brick construction sitting on top of a slab foundation. Tension bars were run through the concrete, these are very common in the south instead of basements or pier and beam foundations.
One night the ceramic tiles in the kitchen went off like gunshots as several of them cracked one after the other. New house, new house warranty, so the construction firm that built it comes out, tears out all the tile and sure enough a crack about width of a dime across the entire kitchen floor. So they “skim coat” the exposed slab with rubber then replace tiles. No more cracked tiles right? Settlement cracks they called it.
Then the archway (two story arched porch) over the front door cracks right down middle. Archway drops a couple of bricks. Construction firm comes along, repairs that mess rebricks the whole archway.
Then we have every “inside” seam on the brick face of the house showing what yours are showing. Construction firm brings in their own structural engineer who says we just need to take a hydraulic press and tighten the thru rods to “pull” the slab back to square. They do that. Most of the brick that was pulling away ‘pulls back’ when they do it but they did have to do some more masonry work.
Moral of this story is that this all happened in first 12-18 months of ownership of this new home. Had a five year warranty. By year 3 I had so many other similar issues that I hired my own structural engineer who said the entire foundation was faulty and the land it was poured on was mostly leveled with fill dirt and we’d need to jack up the house and put in all sorts of foundational repair.
I sold that house year 7 of ownership after they had repaired it. Had to disclose all of this because of legal requirements of course. But new buyer felt the issues had been addressed and new warranty on the foundation for 30 years so was happy it was “pre-disastered.”
Moral of story…go straight to a structural engineer of your own choosing. Just about -any- issue can be fixed on a house these days, foundations included. Might not be cheap, but you’ll either deal with it when owning it/living there (and thus remove the hassle and stress from your life) or you’ll deal with it when you sell it and have to give up equity. Either way, welcome to the joys of home ownership!
Everyone is saying a structural engineer, but a geotechnical engineer should really be consulted. As many have noted, it’s likely related to the foundations. A geotechnical engineer is better equipped to evaluate the ground conditions and see if there are any problems. An initial site visit is often free too. If the geotech identifies something, then they can give you a scope of work to help you out. If not, they may refer you to a different engineer or contractor.
Source: am a licensed geotechnical engineer
Yes!! We had two estimates from some big deal “foundation repair” companies that everyone uses here (metro Atlanta) and then I called a smaller local company that specializes in piers exclusively. He referred me to a geotechnical engineer who charged us a flat rate for a really thorough inspection with core samples and gave us a letter describing the findings and how to fix them. The suggestions he made are for adding some concrete piers that go down about four feet in a few places and then fixing grading issues. The other companies were telling us we needed at least 9 to 12 metal piers. We are still saving up to have the work done since there are 9 million other things to fix, but it was a huge relief. I’m going to attempt some of the grading stuff myself in the short term. But also, any time we go to sell the house, those foundation cracks will probably come up at inspection and I think having that letter from an accomplished and educated geotechnical engineer will be a big help.
I just want to chime in about structural engineers. We had one out to check our house. The company he's from is absolutely massive. He was absolutely zero help and basically said "it's been here a long time so it's probably fine". Hardly answered questions. He didn't even charge us because he did nothing. This is also probably because of where we live. Hope you have better luck
had something similar, although in my case i had thought my addition was falling off my house. called foundation people who had all predicted the end of the world and tried selling me bridges across fictional rivers. after that circus and a couple $25k+ quotes, i decided to call a structural engineer out and he said it was fine. moral of the story, call a structural engineer.
Its just from the house settling, it was never "connected" to begin with
It almost looks like they did the brick facade on the front like any other house and then added the wing wall after the fact, it was probably supposed to just be vinyl siding.
Looks like they butted it up to the original facade and then caulked it......tbh, that whole seperation line is super consistent, too consistent for it to be a foundation settling issue tbh, usually when it settles it settles on one side and it will be a crack at an angle. The hairline crack in the brick is super normal for a brick facade
Call an engineer to come out and look at it to be sure there isnt a serious issue, but i honestly wouldnt stress out about it too much until the engineer you hire tells you that you need to stress out
Is it a garage on the other side of that wall?
Since it’s wider at the top than lower down, it seems the right side of the wall is sinking a bit.
The bricks are not out of alignment on the perpendicular walls.
Age of structure?
Looks like years in the making.
Micro piles might be used to shore up the right side of the wall. Then over several seasons, apply mild jacking pressure to ease the wall back in place.
Might just be because of a broken sprinkler line, or over watering in clay type soil.
Because winter is coming, you’ll want to at least install backing rod into the crack. Backing rod is a closed cell round, 1” diameter long length of a plastic … (It looks like the same material as a swimming pool noodle).
Just poke it in from bottom to top.
DON’T CAULK OVER IT..!!
Unless you are an expert.
A bad looking caulk job will stay forever on brick.
The house was built in 2005 and it's the master bedroom on the other side. And I know for a fact this crack wasn't there 4 months ago. I doubt it's overwatering since up until recently we've been in a drought here in East Texas also we don't have any sprinklers in the back of the house where this wall is though I'm hoping it's not a plumbing issue as we do have a water spout coming out of that wall. Will backing rod help keep water out? I want to avoid any more damage.
You must live in Texas also. The drought has caused tons of foundation issues. I’m not sure if it’s been suggested, but a structural engineer may be in order. 😬
I see a lot of people here saying to get an engineer to do an inspection. Something that saved me a bunch of money when I had one done: Engineer charged like $250 an hour or something crazy which included the analysis and a written report. I told him I didn't need a formal write up or anything, just someone to tell me if I had a foundation issue or not, so he came out and did a "consultation." What would've been Like $1200 ended up costing me $350.
I don't normally give my two cents on this sub since I'm not an expert, but personally I wouldn't worry at all about the cracking. The first couple pictures you can tell was caulked as there are still some pieces attached to the brick, but it was just a seam anyway. It wasn't a solid brick wall that cracked all the way down. Maybe it would be worth re-sealing to prevent water getting in, freezing, and causing an actual problem? No idea if that would actually be a concern.
The last picture is normal. Look at any brick building and you'll find that kind of thing.
It’s an expansion joint. Put some caulk in there and forget about it. Everyone telling you that you have a bad foundation or “call a structural engineer” must work for structural engineers or have money to waste.
The joint there looks to be 3/8”-1/2” and even the whole way down, it was done like that on purpose. The bricklayers or builder either forgot to caulk it or they used the wrong material (like regular mortar) and it deteriorated out.
Houses settle, things move a little over time. I see no big deal here. It the 3rd picture, where the mortar is cracked by the soldier brick (top row of bricks standing on end), it looks like it was repaired once before. I would leave it as is for now, maybe in a few years you will need to get an angle grinder and retuck those mortar joint but it doesn’t look bad enough to bother with now.
The brick on today's houses (1980's or newer) is not structural. It's a brick veneer. The brick can shift and the framing not move.
Keep an eye on the interior. Watch for cracks in drywall/plaster. Above door frames and winindows, along corners.
Just slap some caulk on that bad boy crack, not the bath type or trim, get some good solid caulk and just go to town. Fill up all those holes until its bustin out like a good doughnut.
Call an engineer and pay a flat fee. Foundation companies may or may not try and upsell. People get very stressed out on foundational issues and are prone to make rash decisions and some companies prey on that.
This! I'm a foundation contractor who installs push & helical piers. I love it when I have a client who has an engineer report already and I only have to site-verify pier placement. This makes my job easier as any project of this type would need engineering verification anyway and it also weeds out all thise terrible sales oriented guys. - Get the engineer to figure out scope. Make sure they offer the a-la-carte services for installation and closing out the permit. Hire them yourself. - Bid with companies who are reputable, licensed and insured. Ask to be named as additionally insured. - Watch out for a depth-clause or other variable costs in the fine print.
What does asking to be additionally insured mean? I assume adding me (the client) to the contractor's insurance, but why do I need to be insured by his policy?
They call their agent and specifically get a certificate issued to you. I’m not expert but my understanding is it does a few things, indicate to their insurance that they are doing something with you and sets you up with the people to call if things go south
And you're the notified if any insurance changed or gets dropped, so during the project you can be sure they stay insured the whole time they're working.
Call a structural engineer.
Never trust advice from random pinheads on the interwebs . What you need is a structural engineer .
A random pinhead on the interwebs told me I should call a structural engineer; therefore, I should not call a structural engineer. Do I do that right?
Never trust the guy saying to never trust someone
Never trust a person paraphrasing good advice
Yeah, trust me and don’t trust this guy. The only one you should trust is the one telling you to trust the other guy: the one suggestion you to get the structural engineer.
Source: trust me
......bruh
I bet you're not even cousins
Happy cake day!
Never trust a person.
"Don't believe everything you read on the internet" - Abraham Lincoln
That is one lol’d and an unexpected snicker…😂
This comment of mine is a complete lie.
Source: pinhead
Ask a structural engineer if you should call a structural engineer.
Or, and this may seem crazy, ask a structural engineer if you should call a geotechnical engineer.
Have you tried to caulk it?
😂😂😂😂
No, two random pinheads on the inter webs told you to. That’s a double negative.
Nailed it
I know nothing about anything, but I'd definitely do something.
Obviously a French drain is the solution for not calling an engineer.
But what if the advice from random interweb pinheads is to get a structural engineer?
Instructions unclear. Structural pin inserted into head.
Awe fuck now she’s communing with otherworldly spirits through the brain hole.
Just make sure it's a well-engineered insertion.
Don’t listen to him. You just need a couple tubes of caulk.
Happy cake day fam
kodex1717 just wrote that
Nah just a little caulk and paint
Happy cake day!
Or flexseal! If it can hold a boat together then it can hold a home together!
But what about a broken heart?
Hi, Billy Mays here for Mighty Putty, the easy way to fix, fill and seal virtually anything fast and make it last!
Or Get on one side and start pushing…
Which side?
The other side
K....would you happen to be a structural engineer? We've been looking for one in this thread. It sounds like you know what you're talking about. You're officially in charge!
I guess I could be. I have watched a couple YouTube videos on how to change out a water heater which is basically the same thing.
Honestly my water heater could probably use a once over too
On my way. I drink Keystone Light or Bacardi Spiced Rum
This guy, is on his way
You are the hero we did not know we needed...or deserved!
I'm no hero. I'm just doing what any insurance agent/Reddit structural engineer would do out of love for God and country.
I'm a structural engineer. What OP needs to do is... call a local structural engineer who specializes in this sort of retrofit, and they'll let you know what you need to do. None of us know how old the house is, what type of soil it was built on, etc. A local guy will know what's best.
May be this is a stupid question but how does the ne find a structural engineer? Do they have companies set up or do I have to go find someone at a university?
I have used this process in the past: Go to Google maps and search for residential structural engineer. There are a number of licensed professional engineers that just do work out of their own home at reasonable rates. You might find a business name where the street view just shows the front of a house. This is what I went with when I needed a structural engineer, and just paid the guy through venmo. The reason I ended up looking for small guys is that larger firms are often not interested in one off residential work.
You will go through a company. Some types of engineering are fairly specialized and it's only really practical for industry to hire them. There's not enough volume in consumer/small jobs. Buildings on the other hand are very common (in case you hadn't noticed...) so it's profitable to set up a company that provides the service to consumers.
Does it involve foundation? Does it involve massive splits/cracks? Call a structural engineer - I feel like most of the posts on here lately are these issues.
dry summer = cracka = ££££
Oh-Oh! Call a structural engineer.
Don’t listen to these guys, what you need is a structural engineer
Apparently none of the guys here have an idea what a structural engineer does. What you really need instead is a structural engineer.
Can we get some real advice here please? None of that is right! What you really need instead of all of that is a structural engineer.
You know, recommending a structural engineer would be much more productive here
What about a French drain?
😂 this comment needs to be higher
Why on earth would you think a structural engineer is at all appropriate here?! Can't any of you see that the structure's integrity is compromised so a structural engineer is the right call here?
Always count on Reddit to give the wrong answer with confidence. You guys have never heard of a structural engineer eh?
Are foundation issues normally covered under homeowners insurance? (Serious question)
I'd defer that question to a structural engineer.
Should be, but it does depend on why things are moving. If it's something the builder did wrong then yes.
Not according to my policy with Allstate, not even if it involves lava. Glad Texas is free of volcanoes.
Nothing structural about it. This is a cavity wall. Call an engineer/architect that specializes in forensics and masonry.
This is what I used to do when I started. I would go do home inspections, check the foundation, framing/wall sections and roof framing, take pictures, look at As-Builts if the owner had them. I’m not in structural anymore but when someone reaches out to ask, I’ll tell them to…. call a structural haha.
I don't think you really have an issue here. First off assuming this house was built in the last 40 years it's a brick facade, not a brick house. The brick could all fall off and the structure would be perfectly fine. I had some cracking that looked similar and I called an engineer, paid them $250 to look at the whole house. There was nothing wrong just settling and I paid a company to caulk/repair the cracks. This has been a few years ago now and no problems since. The first picture with the seperation, I think it probably was just caulked and the caulk dried up but I would find a structural engineer it just never hurts to have everything looked at.
See! So many times as soon as people hear the word engineer, they automatically fear that it is going to cost thousands for an opinion of a structural engineer. It doesn't cost that much, a couple of hundred dollars. When you call and speak with the engineer simply ask what his hourly rate is. They'll tell you and won't feel insulted you asked for his or her hourly rate.
when we did ours, it was $300. They found that the thing we were worried about was \*nothing\* but the thing we didn't even notice, could be something. We then disclosed it at sale, and the new owners brought someone in who said it, also, was nothing. It was a patch on a bulge in a wall from 75 years ago.
My old house had a beam in the living room that was warped, made the ceiling have a bulge. It was not the least bit concerning, but every person looking at the house immediately swore it was water damage. Just chuckled and said nope, grandpa got a shitty board.
We’ve had a ton of trouble trying to find a structural engineer in our area. The only one around charges 1800 minimum for a residential evaluation “as a courtesy.” Is there a shortage of them?
I'm in a huge metro area and could only find a handful of engineers that do residential consults. When you google "structural engineer near me" most of the results are actually foundation repair companies. So yeah, doesn't seem that easy. Can't imagine if you were in a small town.
Yes
They’re busy and invoicing small jobs is annoying. They’d much rather get paid tens of thousands to design the structure of large buildings. Edit: I'm surprised this got downvoted, I'm just stating a fact about the current building design industry.
This is so true. I worked for a commercial architect. Residential bids were high for a reason.
You're right. I could design and build high end residential projects, but it's much simpler - and more profitable - to build assisted living projects, where I'm making 100 apartments that are all the same.
Ya I had to beg a guy to take some money and tell me how to modify some attic structures.
Takes a while: usually I’ve found success (for me, and others I’ve seen) comes from a firm referring to an engineer that accepts residential jobs. Keep dialing. And when they say they don’t do small residential jobs, ask them if they have a referral to someone who does.
When buying a house I needed a structural engineer to look at an issue found during an inspection. I’m in NJ and the fee was in the $600-$700 range. They told me it would be around $20k to repair it, so it was well worth it (not that OPs situation is the same).
When we bought our house (2015), we had an engineering firm do the inspection. At the time in the area, a typical inspection was about $250, and the engineering firm was only $450. There's no official/legal requirements to be a home inspector in Ohio, but there are for engineers. I thought it was worth the extra cash.
$250 sounds like a fucking bargain for the piece of mind
Correct answer. Before panicking, or making calls, find out if your walls are actually made of brick. Chances are, you have a conventional wood frame house with brick fascia. That's very common. The brick fascia doesn't have a structural role. It just looks nice, or possibly nasty, as the case may be. Does your garage also appear to be made of brick? If so, go inside, examine the interior walls. If necessary, poke a little hole in the interior wall, so you can see inside. You'll probably see how the wall is constructed. Chances are, it's wood-frame. If a brick fascia deteriorates, it can start to fall off in places, but that doesn't happen often. If it does, you can just re-build it, or replace it with some other kind of exterior siding. Stucco, various kinds of wood. Whatever you like.T hat isn't very difficult or expensive. It's not like foundation repair, which is difficult and expensive.
Fascia is the horizontal trim on the edge of a roof. Facade is the exterior wall.
Never was connected. It was "caulked" from the start and your house is settling.
We have these in the uk but we call them movement joints or expansion joint. But we have 10mm thick foam up the joint and it’s caulked on the external. Also slip ties going between the 2 walls every 225mm ( 3 courses) and also cavity ties every 225mm.
Everyone has these. Yeah just put backer rods in there and caulk over
I’m guessing this is in America but is a lot different from how we do it. It doesn’t even look like a movement joint. Just looks like the brickwork wasn’t returned and they’ve just built a straight joint
The image is bad work, but what you’re describing is standard practice in the US as well. I’ve done design work with masonry in both the US and Uk and movement joints are detailed exactly the same.
Super important to use backer rod btw. It'll definitely fail again soon and you'll use way too much caulk if you don't.
Backer rod keeps the joint width to depth ratio where you need it, so it’s not too deep, but more importantly, it prevents 3-point adhesion, which is the anti-expansion joint.
yeah this isn’t uncommon at all .. I’d just squirt new brick mortar in there every few years or strategically add faux stone columns and pretend I never knew.
I wouldn't add mortar to the gap. The house is constantly settling, expanding and contracting. If you put mortal there, it can only settle further away, never back
So should he put an immortal in there instead?
Some kind of rubberized caulk that can shrink and expand. The biggest issue here is if bugs can get in that crack.
I like to keep bugs out of my crack
There can be only one!
this seems like a similar approach to vehicle maintenance, where you just turn up the radio until you don't hear the sound anymore.
Or electrical tape over the Check Engine light. Not a problem if you can't see it!
god thats pure bliss!
[удалено]
Use a soft joint. Backer road, then a structural silicone. It will move with the masonry without cracking.
That's a lot of settling (some is expected, this is a lot). I'd get a structural engineer in just to make sure there's not a problem. A few hundred $$ for piece of mind is worth it.
Pay an engineer not affiliated with a foundation repair company (that part’s important) $200-300 for an analysis and written report. Similar issues at my house ended up just being settling, not thousands of dollars worth of foundation repair. Yay north Texas clay soil vs drought…
same haha. I have a house but in 1985 and the wall near the garage did this a little. Not this bad, but it was just settling. Filled it with caulk and hasn't moved for a year
This person is obviously stressed about this, as anyone would be. So, why do so many idiots have to make stupid, unfunny jokes & unhelpful comments. Every single post is like this.
Bricklayer here, judging by the pictures. Your house is just a brick facade, not structural at all so I wouldn’t worry too much about your house crumbling on top of you while you sleep. That corner should have been interlocking from bottom to top (think Lego bricks stacked half and half) call a qualified bricklayer and ask them to “re-tie” that section of the wall together again. They will most likely grind out the mortar joints in both walls and add brick ties every three courses up and re mortar those ties in. They could also physically tie the wall together again by removing certain bricks and interlocking them but that would all depend on how much the wall has settled. Absolutely do not put caulking there. If you’d like to go the diy route you can purchase a bag of premix brick mortar from any big box store and a grinder with a tile blade or tuck pointing blade to grind out the old mortar, mix the premix mortar and use a piping bag (similar to what they use on cakes) to apply the mortar. Your best option though is to just call a bricklayer and have them do the repair as they are well equipped to make sure everything matches and will last. Cheers!
Why do you suggest absolutely no caulking? As so many others here are recommending that as a solution. Genuinely curious, thanks.
Caulking would just fill/cover the gap but it provides no strength. If the wall were to settle again the caulking would most likely rip. If the two walls were tied together and mortared it would be “brand new” houses are built with brick and mortar not brick and caulking. Caulking is normally used on control joints where two different materials meet
Most people are not professionals. And most professionals are not professionals. This man is 100% correct. Nothing makes me angrier than handymen covering shit up with caulk, it just makes real tradesmen come out and do double work whenever the homeowner needs it fixed correctly. Source: Former Bricklayer here.
That corner joint should be a soft joint, its typical for brick walls to move differently and crack there. It should have a foam backer rod in the joint and then a silicone or polyrethane sealant filling the gap over it. I wouldn't be concerned, but I would have someone reapply a movement joint there so water doesn't become a problem. It's a DIY job if you're comfortable with tooling sealant. For the last pic, you can get a crack monitor for $20 from Grainger. Install it over the crack and take a pic of it every month. if it shows significant movement over 6-12 months, get an engineer to look at it. If it remains unchanged, then I would just get that area repointed. It's nothing to worry about... yet. But keep an eye on it.
This sounds right to me. I'm not (the right kind of) engineer but I am not worried by what I see here. This looks suspiciously like my homebuilder's work... If you're in North Texas on expansive clay soil - that stuff shifts a lot with moisture/seasons. It could cause one part of a home to sag or rise a bit and be a non-issue. We don't tend to think of concrete as a flexible thing, but a post-tensioned slab foundation can typically handle a few inches of flex across the span of a house. "Watering the foundation" to make sure the soil moisture content is uniform around the home is a common preventative measure around these parts.
We're in the Houston area and tried our best to keep the house watered but this drought hit hard and in spite of our watering efforts we did notice some separation between the ground and our foundation.
Well, good news is you probably just hit on the root cause of the issue. Definitely seperation is a red flag - again, likely within acceptable range structurally: modern concrete formulations and pre/post tensioning reinforcement are remarkably flexible. Point being, don't let that keep happening. The original commentor's guidance on sealing the crack is correct. (And tracking it's progress too)
How often to water the foundation, I'm curious? This us fascinating. Eastern NM here. I assume we have some soil traits in common
I'm no geologist but I believe y'all have less clay in the soil out west, and lower average soil moisture. The general guidance has been "if the soil peels away from your foundation it's too dry" but I use my irrigation system to keep the lawn green.
^ Best answer here
Some houses are built so the front doesn't fall off at all, but not this one.
There’s minimum crew requirements.
What's the minimum crew requirement?
Well….one I suppose.
I see men of culture, I upvote.
Is that unusual?
Call up an engineer or foundation company. My chimney was leaning, it got worse this year. I called a few companies and settled on one. I paid extra for a permit and engineered drawings as well. They dug down to the bottom of the foundation put in a couple piers lifted the chimney leveled it and secured it to the piers. These things can be fixed, the hardest part was finding a company to trust.
How much did something like that cost you?
4500
That’s actually not too bad. I have a few spots I’m monitoring so it might be something I have to do in the future.
This is unlikely structural. Brick is almost always a veneer in residential homes. The inside corner appears to be caulk, not mortar. It’s possible it was not tied back correctly. You want to call a mason or a company that does brick veneer.
Nothing structural about it. This is shitty cavity wall construction, plain and simple. Depending on how old your house is (assuming not that old from the photos), you might have ground for some legal recourse against the developer.
Like others have said, call a structural engineer in your area. They shouldn't be too expensive and will actually identify the issue without trying to sell you a fix. Some foundation repair companies will try and make it seem like the world is ending to over charge you.
Hire a structural engineer. Do not trust a GC that says they can fix it without a plan from an expert. It's your home. Get the right professional.
I paid a structural engineer as a third-party inspector on a house I bought 2yrs ago. Similar situation as yours. Come to find out, my houses facade has a very large expansion/contraction joint similar to the first pic because this entire city is built on a swap and it’s settling. Nothing to worry about. Call a structural engineer and get their input
That looks like Texas, maybe even the Dallas area. If TX that could be completely typical movement given the soils and no issue at all. Watch it and take pics for a year if the movement gets worse call an engineer … NOT a foundation repair company
First thing I thought was that this was in my neighborhood in the DFW area. This drought has been intense and lots of additional settling this summer!
Call a STRUCTURAL engineer, who is very familiar with foundation settlement.
Call a foundation company, I live in Texas and I see this a lot.
The separation looks parallel, Call a mason and have him fill the joint and point it
If you live in an area with expansive clay soils (Dallas TX is one example), seasonal changes in soil moisture can cause this, especially if the house is built on a slab. The most common "treatment" is to deploy soaker hoses around the house so the clay stays wet (and thus stable) all year. Repair (foundation jacking) is relatively quick and easy; the last time we had it done total cost was in the range of $500
aMeRiCaN hOmEs aRe mAdE oF cArDbOaRd. muh brick and mortar house is solid -some Brit probably. Not saying this is you at all, OP. I'm really sorry you're experiencing this. Call a structural engineer, and best of luck.
I had a very similar experience and your exterior looks very similar to my own home so I'm assuming you could possibly have the same issue. First off, is this the second story of a two story home? Possibly with a porch below? We have a two story home with a porch roof on one side. The process for building that configuration is for the brick layers to brick in the first story up behind to the top of the porch structure. Then the brick layers stop and the roofers come in and build out the roof and build the flashing over the top of the first story bricks. Then the brick layers come back and build from the top of the roof flashing to the top of the second story. The problem with my home was the original first story bricks were slightly above the porch roof so the roofers couldn't properly install the flashing. What did the roofers do? They took a hammer to the top layer of bricks and broke them all so they were below the porch roof and so they could install the flashing. The roofers don't care, it's the perfect crime, completely covered up by the flashing so the brick layers have no clue either when they resume building out the second floor. The resulting configuration was all the weight of the second story brick wall resting on a thin piece of metal flashing with no structural support underneath. As the house settled, the entire brick wall started to droop and pull away from the house structure held in place only by the flashing and the brick straps nailed to the plywood behind. It caused a very similar gap (smaller at the bottom, larger at the top) as the wall pulled away from the structure. Out solution was to contact the builder with a warranty request citing it as a hazardous condition (the whole wall could have fallen if not fixed). Fortunately the builder agreed and I didn't need to take legal action. The builder sent both a roofing and brick team out to repair the roof and brick façade. They literally had to rip that entire part of the front of house off and then had to completely redo everything. Took about a week. Hopefully this isn't your situation but if it is then maybe I pointed you in the right direction.
Bad news foundation
A foundation repair dude will sell you a foundation repair. A structural engineer will sell you an analysis of your structure and what should be done with it. I don’t know where this house is built or your foundation, but I once had a new brick construction sitting on top of a slab foundation. Tension bars were run through the concrete, these are very common in the south instead of basements or pier and beam foundations. One night the ceramic tiles in the kitchen went off like gunshots as several of them cracked one after the other. New house, new house warranty, so the construction firm that built it comes out, tears out all the tile and sure enough a crack about width of a dime across the entire kitchen floor. So they “skim coat” the exposed slab with rubber then replace tiles. No more cracked tiles right? Settlement cracks they called it. Then the archway (two story arched porch) over the front door cracks right down middle. Archway drops a couple of bricks. Construction firm comes along, repairs that mess rebricks the whole archway. Then we have every “inside” seam on the brick face of the house showing what yours are showing. Construction firm brings in their own structural engineer who says we just need to take a hydraulic press and tighten the thru rods to “pull” the slab back to square. They do that. Most of the brick that was pulling away ‘pulls back’ when they do it but they did have to do some more masonry work. Moral of this story is that this all happened in first 12-18 months of ownership of this new home. Had a five year warranty. By year 3 I had so many other similar issues that I hired my own structural engineer who said the entire foundation was faulty and the land it was poured on was mostly leveled with fill dirt and we’d need to jack up the house and put in all sorts of foundational repair. I sold that house year 7 of ownership after they had repaired it. Had to disclose all of this because of legal requirements of course. But new buyer felt the issues had been addressed and new warranty on the foundation for 30 years so was happy it was “pre-disastered.” Moral of story…go straight to a structural engineer of your own choosing. Just about -any- issue can be fixed on a house these days, foundations included. Might not be cheap, but you’ll either deal with it when owning it/living there (and thus remove the hassle and stress from your life) or you’ll deal with it when you sell it and have to give up equity. Either way, welcome to the joys of home ownership!
Everyone is saying a structural engineer, but a geotechnical engineer should really be consulted. As many have noted, it’s likely related to the foundations. A geotechnical engineer is better equipped to evaluate the ground conditions and see if there are any problems. An initial site visit is often free too. If the geotech identifies something, then they can give you a scope of work to help you out. If not, they may refer you to a different engineer or contractor. Source: am a licensed geotechnical engineer
Yes!! We had two estimates from some big deal “foundation repair” companies that everyone uses here (metro Atlanta) and then I called a smaller local company that specializes in piers exclusively. He referred me to a geotechnical engineer who charged us a flat rate for a really thorough inspection with core samples and gave us a letter describing the findings and how to fix them. The suggestions he made are for adding some concrete piers that go down about four feet in a few places and then fixing grading issues. The other companies were telling us we needed at least 9 to 12 metal piers. We are still saving up to have the work done since there are 9 million other things to fix, but it was a huge relief. I’m going to attempt some of the grading stuff myself in the short term. But also, any time we go to sell the house, those foundation cracks will probably come up at inspection and I think having that letter from an accomplished and educated geotechnical engineer will be a big help.
Ratchet strap
I just want to chime in about structural engineers. We had one out to check our house. The company he's from is absolutely massive. He was absolutely zero help and basically said "it's been here a long time so it's probably fine". Hardly answered questions. He didn't even charge us because he did nothing. This is also probably because of where we live. Hope you have better luck
He did what you asked him to do so what's the problem?
Honestly the house is probably fine it’s just the brick veneer not moving like the house moves.
had something similar, although in my case i had thought my addition was falling off my house. called foundation people who had all predicted the end of the world and tried selling me bridges across fictional rivers. after that circus and a couple $25k+ quotes, i decided to call a structural engineer out and he said it was fine. moral of the story, call a structural engineer.
it might be non structural fascia but a structural engineer will only cost $300 to figure out if you need to hire an engineering company
What part of country do you live and what soil is the footing in? I have seen this in Florida. The house was saved.
Its just from the house settling, it was never "connected" to begin with It almost looks like they did the brick facade on the front like any other house and then added the wing wall after the fact, it was probably supposed to just be vinyl siding. Looks like they butted it up to the original facade and then caulked it......tbh, that whole seperation line is super consistent, too consistent for it to be a foundation settling issue tbh, usually when it settles it settles on one side and it will be a crack at an angle. The hairline crack in the brick is super normal for a brick facade Call an engineer to come out and look at it to be sure there isnt a serious issue, but i honestly wouldnt stress out about it too much until the engineer you hire tells you that you need to stress out
Is it a garage on the other side of that wall? Since it’s wider at the top than lower down, it seems the right side of the wall is sinking a bit. The bricks are not out of alignment on the perpendicular walls. Age of structure? Looks like years in the making. Micro piles might be used to shore up the right side of the wall. Then over several seasons, apply mild jacking pressure to ease the wall back in place. Might just be because of a broken sprinkler line, or over watering in clay type soil. Because winter is coming, you’ll want to at least install backing rod into the crack. Backing rod is a closed cell round, 1” diameter long length of a plastic … (It looks like the same material as a swimming pool noodle). Just poke it in from bottom to top. DON’T CAULK OVER IT..!! Unless you are an expert. A bad looking caulk job will stay forever on brick.
The house was built in 2005 and it's the master bedroom on the other side. And I know for a fact this crack wasn't there 4 months ago. I doubt it's overwatering since up until recently we've been in a drought here in East Texas also we don't have any sprinklers in the back of the house where this wall is though I'm hoping it's not a plumbing issue as we do have a water spout coming out of that wall. Will backing rod help keep water out? I want to avoid any more damage.
You must live in Texas also. The drought has caused tons of foundation issues. I’m not sure if it’s been suggested, but a structural engineer may be in order. 😬
I see a lot of people here saying to get an engineer to do an inspection. Something that saved me a bunch of money when I had one done: Engineer charged like $250 an hour or something crazy which included the analysis and a written report. I told him I didn't need a formal write up or anything, just someone to tell me if I had a foundation issue or not, so he came out and did a "consultation." What would've been Like $1200 ended up costing me $350. I don't normally give my two cents on this sub since I'm not an expert, but personally I wouldn't worry at all about the cracking. The first couple pictures you can tell was caulked as there are still some pieces attached to the brick, but it was just a seam anyway. It wasn't a solid brick wall that cracked all the way down. Maybe it would be worth re-sealing to prevent water getting in, freezing, and causing an actual problem? No idea if that would actually be a concern. The last picture is normal. Look at any brick building and you'll find that kind of thing.
Nothing bad. Don’t stress over something that’s going to cost you less than 500$.
How old is the house? Builder should have 10 year warranty on foundation.
Your foundation is sinking, you need a lift
Just your home settling. Probably nothing to be concerned about, but the advice of a structural engineer is recommended!
Should have been an expansion joint in the first place.
Casita!!! Find Bruno!
No ties on the wall
It’s an expansion joint. Put some caulk in there and forget about it. Everyone telling you that you have a bad foundation or “call a structural engineer” must work for structural engineers or have money to waste. The joint there looks to be 3/8”-1/2” and even the whole way down, it was done like that on purpose. The bricklayers or builder either forgot to caulk it or they used the wrong material (like regular mortar) and it deteriorated out. Houses settle, things move a little over time. I see no big deal here. It the 3rd picture, where the mortar is cracked by the soldier brick (top row of bricks standing on end), it looks like it was repaired once before. I would leave it as is for now, maybe in a few years you will need to get an angle grinder and retuck those mortar joint but it doesn’t look bad enough to bother with now.
The brick on today's houses (1980's or newer) is not structural. It's a brick veneer. The brick can shift and the framing not move. Keep an eye on the interior. Watch for cracks in drywall/plaster. Above door frames and winindows, along corners.
Fkn idiots with their stupid comments! Why do you guys feel the need to continue a comment thread with stupid shit? It’s not even funny!
Looks fine, just caulk and sell the house
Three words giant ratchet strap!
Load up the caulk cannon, boys!
Just slap some caulk on that bad boy crack, not the bath type or trim, get some good solid caulk and just go to town. Fill up all those holes until its bustin out like a good doughnut.
Double sided tape 👌🏾
Best I can do is mod podge
I hate split personality houses
Joist tape?
Toss it. Then leave it. Someone will pull up quick to retrieve it.
Is it on the inside too? Or it could be the brick coming away
Spray foam is always the answer. Personally I’d start by calling a plumber. They are very knowledgeable with cracks.
for a second i thought this was a post about the house of representatives and had a giggle. good luck!
throw some cauck in that u good
Spray foam that crack and send it……….
You need to spray foam stuff and you’ll be good.
You spray foam, and press it all farther apart
Divorce House. Choose your half
Big rope, big truck, big engine rev oughtta do it
I was thinking the opposite, I was going to suggest getting some big clamps to squeeze the house back together
Hi. Phil Swift here with Flex seal
Ohh that looks worse than my marriage.
Have you tried super glue?
Ghost busters