Ground settlement issues, Cracks in drywall.

[Walter Kirk]

Call for an engineers report and move on

 

[WMOORES]

I appraise an area known in FL as sinkhole alley. Google Spring Hill for sinkholes. A reasonable test for settlement is opening and closing of doors and windows. Are they "sticky" or even inoperable? Look for cracks over/under window openings. The drywall in the pics appear to be lacking the drywall tape that should be behind the joint compound. If there are any concerns call for engineers report and let them determine any issues.

 

[Tim The Enchanter]

Symmetrical vertical and horizontal shear is not, in my personal experience, typical when the damage is related to soil subsidence or expansion.

They are nearly all straight line cracks. Not the diagonal cracks that come off corners of windows and doors. And as someone noted the fireplace bricks are fine with no cracks between them in my LR photo. Stucco on the outside looked OK, and parts of the slab edge that were visible also looked OK. It's a 1962 built house.

I have doubts it's a foundation issue, but what do I know. Maybe the framing needs reinforcement. Maybe it's old earthquake cracks and no big thang. None of those things are my expertise, so that's why we have extraordinary assumptions, and a recommendation for physical inspection to see what is really going on.

 

[Mike Kennedy]

They are nearly all straight line cracks. Not the diagonal cracks that come off corners of windows and doors. And as someone noted the fireplace bricks are fine with no cracks between them in my LR photo. Stucco on the outside looked OK, and parts of the slab edge that were visible also looked OK. It's a 1962 built house.

I have doubts it's a foundation issue, but what do I know. Maybe the framing needs reinforcement. Maybe it's old earthquake cracks and no big thang. None of those things are my expertise, so that's why we have extraordinary assumptions, and a recommendation for physical inspection to see what is really going on.

It's likely these guys will know whether the subject's street / subdivision / immediate neighborhood has current / historical foundation problems

http://cafoundationworks.com/house-leveling-ventura/393-foundation-repair-in-thousand-oaks.html

(quick google search - there are others in the field locally - NOT an endorsement or opinion re the advertisers competency or results) FOR INFO ONLY

 

[Tim The Enchanter]

It's likely these guys will know whether the subject's street / subdivision / immediate neighborhood has current / historical foundation problems

[url]http://cafoundationworks.com/house-leveling-ventura/393-foundation-repair-in-thousand-oaks.html[/URL]

(quick google search - there are others in the field locally - NOT an endorsement or opinion re the advertisers competency or results) FOR INFO ONLY

I found them this online afternoon. They have some interesting info. Wonder how they would take to a request for a free inspection and estimate. Would need the owners cooperation obviously.

 

[FalconfanKen]

If the MLS listing talks about foundation problems, I would definitely call for a structural engineer to "ascertain" the exact condition of the home.

I once saw an upscale home with a giant crack across the corner of the basement floor. The corner had broken off. The homeowner told me that the builder had built on top of fill dirt and that is why it collapsed.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

I've seen at least two cracks in living room walls, vaulted ceilings on the interior wall. There was no settlement, rather the problem appeared to be related to shrinkage in the wood truss used as an end piece. The builder in one case was not only a builder but taught construction and design classes at a local university. He was baffled by the cracks in his own construction and finally decided nothing on that slab had settled and everything was level.

 

[Tim The Enchanter]

rather the problem appeared to be related to shrinkage in the wood truss used as an end piece.[/quote

]It could be something like that too. All I know for sure is there are cracks.

Anyway, time to get cracking. Err, working.