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crack in poured concrete wall

user-138267 | Posted in Construction Techniques on April 15, 2006 08:04am

House is only 2 years old with poured concrete foundation. Builder says it had rebar but state building inspector says he does not think so because he believes it would not have cracked.

This full wall vertical crack goes right through from outside of house to inside of basement.

State housing inspector says any attempt by homeowner to repair this crack with void the “new home warranty” which has another 8 years yet. However, the STATE will not pay for any repairs to this crack unless the foundation shifts!!!!

How could this crack be fixed?

Any suggestions?

I was thinking of cutting two grooves perpendicular to this crack and inserting rebar then concreting over the crack. This would stablize the foundation. Has anyone else tried this? 

 

 

 

 

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Replies

  1. brownbagg | Apr 15, 2006 08:10pm | #1

    why should the state pay, let the builder fix it, now.

    1. user-138267 | Apr 16, 2006 05:44pm | #8

      The state is supposed to force the builder to repair but if they refuse the state is supposed to pay. I don't know if they pull the builder's license in that case or not.

  2. plumbbill | Apr 15, 2006 08:14pm | #2

    Truisms of life

    we are born we pay taxes we die & concrete cracks.

    I mainly do highrise post tension type structures lots of rebar, mesh & pt cables.

    Yup cracks all over the place.

    Do you look to the government for an entitlement, or to GOD for empowerment. BDW

  3. VaTom | Apr 15, 2006 08:42pm | #3

    I've got one coming up about like that.  Truck got away from the owner and hit a corner.  Big cracks and a triangle, roughly 3'/side moved in an inch.  Clearly no rebar, but knowing the company who did the work, no surprise.

    Insurance co. paid to replace the sections of wall and footing.  Not yet excavated, but same company when they quoted my house offered no connection between wall and footing.  Not even a keyway.  Not anybody I'd hire, or recommend, but they do a lot of work here.

    I'm waiting to be told just how much the owner wants to replace.  I'll happily be an employee on this one.

    Your warranty concerns are greek to me.  I don't think I'd put much faith in your rebar holding the wall in place in your scenerio.  We'll be replacing a section of wall with rebar inserted into the middle of the existing wall. 

    PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!

  4. User avater
    rjw | Apr 15, 2006 08:58pm | #4

    There are lots of different kinds of cracks with very different implications.

    Size, position, changes in the of crack all have significance.

    You need to get on-site expert advice.


    Fighting Ignorance since 1967

    It's taking way longer than we thought

  5. timkline | Apr 15, 2006 11:36pm | #5

    rebar does not prevent cracks in concrete walls.

    you should have someone qualified look at the crack.   ( someone who knows at least that rebar does not prevent cracks. )

    many cracks of this type can be repaired with epoxy injection for a very reasonable fee.

    one example:

    http://www.everestsf.com/HTML/Injection/Injection.html

     

    carpenter in transition

  6. mike4244 | Apr 16, 2006 02:48am | #6

    As I understand your post,the crack goes entirely thru the wall.Then you could see daylight from inside. Is the crack the same width from top to bottom?Pull a line horizontally across the wall at the bottom.top,mid height.If there is a bow in the wall,the crack may have been caused by backfillng without bracing. This may be the case if the crack is about the same width. Are there any doors or windows above this wall that stick?This would indicate you may have a settlement problem.

    If the crack turns out to be non structural, you can purchase a bucket of hydraulic cement. Mix it with enough water to make a paste.Push into cracks with a narrow trowel. You need an inch or so deep on each side of the wall.You can buy this in small containers,about 2lbs if if I recall.Do a small batch at a time,this way it won't set up on you before you finish troweling in a batch.Hydraulic cement expands as it sets,usually no need for waterproofing over it.

    Forget about the rebar and concrete idea,won't do anything. Worse possible scenario, you would need to build one or more pilasters.

    mike

  7. ericicf | Apr 16, 2006 05:06am | #7

    Is the crack a "hairline" or "credit card" thickness?

    These usually appear due to your concrete shrinking as it drys out over time.

    Hairlines should not be ignored however, as water penetration may occur, and or water penetration combined with winter frost activity can start a degrade process.

    Dig up the hairline on the exterior. Dry all surfaces. Clean all surfaces. Apply a membrane primer e.g. Bakor Blueskin and apply a layer of Blueskin over the crack.Apply a drainage mat or board to the footing and rebury.

     Apply a colored silicone to the above grade crack and monitor spring and fall.

    If your crack is approaching a full 1/8 to 1/4 in you may have a structural deficiency, caused by a hairline not being attended to in proper time, or a settling of subsoils.Subsoil settlement will also give indications in other ways, such as basement floor settling, more random foundation cracking,differential in foundation top of wall.

    Whether or not rebar was used,  all concrete will crack in time.Provision for crack control, by way of sawcutting floor slabs and chamfered strips in poured walls are useful methods to give concrete room to move as it drys out.

    Concrete is organic , just like a wood stud. Cheers.

  8. user-138267 | Apr 16, 2006 05:46pm | #9

    Additional note: When the state building inspector phoned, he said "You know, I'm Italian too..." because the builder is also... needling, I guess, that as 2 Italians they would stick together! Hard to believe he'd actually say that tought.

    Then when the inspector showed up he added "Let this be a life lesson for you. Nothing is perfect and when you buy a new home you get some cracks. get used to it."

  9. Dave45 | Apr 16, 2006 06:19pm | #10

    You may not have a serious problem yet. 

    Rebar does two things for concrete:

    1. It gives concrete tensile strength.  Concrete is great at resisting compressive loads but has very poor resistance to tensile loading.  Rebar gives concrete the ability to resist tensile loads.
    2. It holds concrete together if (when?) it breaks.  In an ideal world, reinforced concrete wouldn't crack or break but this isn't an ideal world.   The most important thing is the amount of separation - and how much it opens up over time.  Cracked, reinforced, concrete isn't as strong as it should be, but it may still be adequate for the loads it carries.

    A structural engineer could tell you if you have a serious problem - or things to watch for to know if it's becoming a serious problem.

  10. jrnbj | Apr 17, 2006 06:05pm | #11

    I always wondered why, if all slabs have control joints, there is no "engineered" solution to poured foundations and crack development......

    1. experienced | Apr 17, 2006 09:21pm | #14

      Most engineered (good engineers) slabs have control joints designed in. The building codes (the minimums required) for small buildings and houses usually do not require control joints in concrete foundations. There are a set of recommended control joints (good practice rec's) for these walls:

      1) at the bottom of 1 corner of each window opening formed into the wall

      2) 10 feet from each main wall corner

      3) every 15 feet in a long horizontal wall

      4) (my own) if you have a section of wall that steps down frequently, approximately every 8-10 feet depending on the lengths of the stepped sections

      1. jrnbj | Apr 17, 2006 09:52pm | #15

        well, OK.....but if the control joint works as designed, and propagates the crack through the foundation to the outside, what about waterproofing.....

        1. experienced | Apr 17, 2006 11:02pm | #16

          Now that you.ve designed the cracks into the foundation (plus using good practices such as proper footings, pouring on undisturbed/compacted soils, etc.), 99.9% of the time, the cracks occur where you want them. Before backfilling, seal the cracks with bitumen, membrane, etc for a waterproof crack.

          1. jrnbj | Apr 17, 2006 11:19pm | #17

            Makes sense, but I've never seen control joints in a residential foundation, and always wondered why.....

  11. User avater
    bobl | Apr 17, 2006 06:39pm | #12

    depending on .....

    there are folks who repair these type things with epoxy

     

    bobl          Volo, non valeo

    Baloney detecter

    1. Isamemon | Apr 17, 2006 06:53pm | #13

      control cracks in concrete slabs are for where we would like the crack to go

      does not mean it will go there :)

  12. bustaduke | Apr 18, 2006 03:51am | #18

    Builder says it had rebar but state building inspector says he does not think so because he believes it would not have cracked.

    Tell your state inspector that he doesn't know what's he's talking about as rebar is used to hold concrete together after it cracks, all concrete cracks and that is why you us rebar, to hold it together after it cracks.

     

    busta

    1. BungalowJeff | Apr 18, 2006 04:02pm | #19

      Unless each side of the crack is moving in a different direction. There are some obvious signs when rebar is missing. No one here can tell what is really going on without seeing it firsthand....that's not a mistake, it's rustic

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