olympiamow t1_iugtw3y wrote
PNW Engineer here... 3 things garenteed in life: death, taxes, and cracking concrete. You don't have a scale in your pictures, so the following is assuming some things.
That crack is nothing to be concerned about. It looks hairline. Monitor it, make some marks and measure it. If it's changing to where you can stick a finger it or your subfloor becomes uneven, then you have an issue.
As for the groundwater, it looks like you are in a corner of your building. Check your gutters. You may have a downspout too close to the foundation. In the winter here in the PNW, I add gutter spout extensions 6 to 10 feet away from the foundations. Check your surface grade to make sure no ponding is occuring. In the grand scale of things, this amount of water is trivial. If it starts to pond under the building, you can attempt to seal it from the exterior. It looks like a 3 foot crawl space, some digging and $20 in sealer. But if I were you, I wouldn't worry about it now.
nathhad t1_iuhkck5 wrote
Non-PNW engineer here, just chiming in to say I agree with this fella. There's almost certainly an issue with drainage around the foundation, but this crack itself isn't an issue.
Steelyp t1_iuhw7fe wrote
Absolutely insane to me how important gutters are. As a first time home owner we had a bad hail storm and insurance replaced the roof. But because everyone was getting new roofs there was a lot of shortages/timing issues. Our roof went on but the gutters took another few days to get installed. Murphys Law appeared and a big rain happened and my god my entire house was full of water.
Turns out the previous renovations weren’t done very well and the water was running off the roof down into cracks and plaster and it just poured into our walls and ceilings. After a court case with the roofing company and further insurance claims it ended up being a $80k repair which turned into a $120k renovation. Fuck me gutters are important. Just one of them being directed the wrong way or clogged can cause some serious long term damage.
Ok-disaster2022 t1_iuiar5u wrote
If you watch a bunch of videos on building science it's pretty amazing how much science and engineering goes into keeping water out and preventing moisture and condensation from cause rot. The biggest thing I learned is large roof overhangs do tremendous work on extending the life of siding and reducing wear.
Steelyp t1_iuizy3p wrote
Any recommendations? Sounds interesting, I know I out 18 inch overhangs on my shed
milehighideas t1_iuioowr wrote
Had the same thing happen, they took 3 weeks to get gutters up but it never rains here, expect that week we got the biggest rainstorm in years. Roofing company had to do all the drywall and paint in three rooms. State Farm guy was furious at the roofing boss. Jake got real gangster on them.
LateralThinkerer t1_iuild09 wrote
Wait until you find out about expansive soils: https://youtu.be/SW-NoiM726U
TL;DR some soils expand/contract with water content and can cause havoc. Get some long gutter spouts.
Ivebeenfurthereven t1_iuiy77i wrote
A big restoration project I'm working on has a 2.2 mile tunnel under a big hill. By far the most difficult civil engineering challenge is the layers of soft clay it passes through.
Canals inevitably leak a bit. This type of clay expands when wet. You can imagine the resultant chaos as the entire tunnel is slowly crushed by the earth around it.
With modern engineering, there must be a way, but hydraulic forces in the soil are not to be underestimated.
thebooshyness t1_iuiwsny wrote
Wow what a nightmare that sounds like.
nibbles200 t1_iui7jfu wrote
I recently bought a house and it’s clear they have had water issues in the basement for years. They tried sealant products on the block foundation which clearly didn’t work. I very quickly identified the problem the first time it rained and all the gutters overflowed and I noticed the land sunk towards the house over the years with the water piling up against the house.
I went to clean the gutters and found they were filled solid with silt and I had to replace the down spouts because they were rock hard filled. I corrected the slope and redid the landscaping. No more standing water and the water runs away from the house at the surface.
Haven’t had any signs of water since. Clean your gutters and get the water away from the house people.
i__cant__even__ t1_iuime53 wrote
I’m a realtor and wet basements and crawl spaces poss me off, especially when a sump pump is installed to deal with excess water.
Here in the South and we get heavy rains (enough to cause flash flooding) and IMO the only correct way to protect your house is exactly what you described: take the top down approach and correct all conditions that allow water to pool. We have clay soil so that often means once you get the gutters sorted out you probably find you need drains of some sort but it’s a cheap fix compared to the damage water can do to a house over time.
I preach and preach this to my buyers and most do listen. I call myself the Gutter Evangelist. lol
speakhyroglyphically t1_iuil8wp wrote
Unicorn_puke t1_iuhqt92 wrote
To jump on this with a quote from my favourite YouTube mason - that's nothing to worry about
ThisUsernameIsTook t1_iuid3b7 wrote
Mike Holmes here: The entire house is going to have to come down. That's the shoddiest workmanship I've ever seen.
Unicorn_puke t1_iuiybd5 wrote
You got to make right, so i can make this show
cmcdevitt11 t1_iukausx wrote
That guy criticizes everybody, fuck him
GreyStoneWpg22 t1_iui1myv wrote
This is solid advice. I had same fears about our house. Couple hairline cracks, I was nervous our house was gonna implode.
Engineer asked how long the cracks had been there. Most likely 20 years...so he said hey if they get bigger call us back. If not, probably fine for another 20.
chickenmantesta t1_iui7zle wrote
I had a similar issue and my storm drains were clogged. The downspout would just pour water into the corner. Number one rule in home ownership: make sure the water is being directed away from the house. Clean the gutters and downspouts, direct the downspouts from the house, blow out the storm drains, replace your roof. None of these are crazy expensive and will save you $$ over time.
zvii t1_iuk5253 wrote
I was with you until you said replacing your roof wasn't crazy expensive. Everything else is perfect
Aegishjalmur07 t1_iuif1oy wrote
Another Engineer here and this guy is right.
The wall was almost certainly designed for the wet unit weight of the soil and with a sizeable factor of safety.
Its just bound to be annoying because of the water. Specialized concrete/epoxy products are your best bet, but they're expensive, so I wouldn't worry unless the water itself is an issue.
Helios53 t1_iuixntr wrote
This is the only answer the OP needs.
literal_garbage_man t1_iuiynjg wrote
What kind of marks should be made? Like… measurements? Any examples of how to mark a crack like this to track it over time would be helpful, if anyone has advice
olympiamow t1_iuj6oo3 wrote
It's already from top to bottom. At this point would be marking the slab with a grease pen for crack length. Measure the crack width and mark the location of the measure with a grease pen as well. Check it in a year. If nothing moved, every 3 to 5 years.
Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments