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Manic Monday pop quiz: Concrete cracks

If you leave a comment, Russel will visit your blog and comment. Good day, and welcome to class, Class.

Sorry about having to postpone class from this morning, but when Clients want you to do inspections before the sun comes up, well, you just start inside, and by the time the sun comes up, it will be time to go outside. When we all work together, a lot can be accomplished.

Our Manic Monday pop quiz for today is a little more substantive than usual. That's because I had more time to do it after postponing class this morning. See what happens when y'all accede to my demands for postponement? LOL

Recently I did inspected a La Jolla home that had concrete floors. Of course, many homes have concrete floors, but the concrete usually is covered with carpet, wood, or tile. In this one, the concrete was meant to be seen, kind of like most of the new lofts in downtown San Diego that have been built since Petco Park ("Bark Park") was completed for the San Diego Padres a few years ago.

As I walked into the kitchen these are the cracks I saw:

Kitchen floor crack

What do you think happened?

I was successful in scaring the buyer away from this property.
I asked the Client what he thought about the cracks.
The Client told me that the cracks didn't bother him.
One and three are correct.
Two and three are correct.
None of the above.

What do you think I put in my report about these cracks?

Nothing. Since you were successful in scaring the buyer away from the property, you didn't have to do a report.
Nothing since the Client told you that the cracks didn't bother him.
Your standard paragraph about common concrete cracks.

Since this house is in La Jolla, what do you think a geotechnical or structural engineer's report would say about these cracks?

If you don't like them, don't move to La Jolla.
If you don't like them, put a floor covering over them.
If you'd like me to do an engineering report, I'll provide one with about 15 pages of engineering disclaimers followed by a final paragraph that says, "Cracks. Yahooooooooo! I just made $500. Oh, by the way. Welcome to La Jolla!"

Due to the extraordinary length of our Manic Monday pop quiz today, I have not had time to create an answer sheet for you, so you'll have to leave your answers in a comment. I'll be back to grade your answers after I go out and look at some digital SLR cameras at the Ritz Camera Shop that is having a close-out sale.

Also be sure to study for our Frenetic Friday pop quiz. Previous pop quizzes for studying purposes can be accessed here.

*****

Last week's posts (they'll open in a new window)

Russel's Gardening Handbook: Jacaranda - 5/16/09
"Dear Home Inspector: Please try not to kill the deal...." - 5/16/09
"Dear Mrs. Realtor: No I won't...." - 5/16/09
Make your home dog friendly - 5/15/09
Frenetic Friday pop quiz: Chimneys - 5/15/09
WWW (Wordless Wednesday with Words): Huh? - 5/13/09
An Open Letter to the ActiveRain Powers That Be - 5/11/209
Manic Monday pop quiz: Electrical - 5/11/09
What's the point to ActiveRain points? - 5/11/09

Previous week's posts (they'll open in a new window)

SST (Speechless Sunday with Text): I have my eye on you - 5/10/09
Russel's Gardening Handbook: Lily of the Nile - 5/9/09
Americana, courtesy of Burma Shave - 5/9/09
It's all in how you market it - 5/9/09
Special closet doors for the little ones - 5/8/09
Frenetic Friday pop quiz: Would you give up your ActiveRain points? - 5/8/09
How to prevent indoor air pollution - 5/8/09
WWW (Wordless Wednesday with Words): Elevator and footsies - 5/7/09
Just exactly what is a "rain catchment basin"? - 5/6/09
What if I want to leave while the clothes are drying? - 5/5/09
Manic Monday pop quiz: Level 2 drought alert - 5/4/09

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Posted by Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector on 05/18/2009 06:11 PM

Comments (22)

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pop quiz, concrete cracks, la jolla

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22 Comments on Manic Monday pop quiz: Concrete cracks

MAY

So what are the right answers?

Hopefully the buyer walked.

Hey, Angelia.

Why would you say that? Or as Professor Doctor Sir Doctor Mr. Russel Ray might say, "Explain your answer." LOL

Ok you are hearing from an east coaster (who has visited CA several times but never lived there) but I would say they are settlement cracks which do not seem to be severe but what do I know we would see these types of things in basements not kitchens...I do like the blog and will be back to check them out again!

Hi Russel, In Kentucky, 95% of all concrete has cracks, but that's usually in the basement, or garage not in the Kitchen, I only know of maybe 2-3 homes as we call built on a slab and like you said they are usually covered with some kind of covering, I will await your answers. It wouldn't be a big deal in our area, as long as the foundation is good, but I'm not a Home Inspector

Great Post, Thanks for sharing

BARBARA

As an East coast Girl..... I could just guess.....

Too much weight on the top floor on one side of the house.
A water vein runs under the house and caused erosion under the foundation which put too much stress on one side of the house and caused it to crack
An earth quake caused the too thin foundation to crack.
The cement floor doesn't have steel re barb or enough of it.

I'm sitting on pins and needles waiting for your reply. :-)

Russell concrete floors with different aspects of color with cracks is the in thing in our area. Some folks say more cracks the better to give the flooring a more rustic look. It's difficult to have floors from concrete not to have a few cracks - check out Sam's Club next time you visit, they have concrete floors and they all have cracks. Now if you have some severe cracking then maybe you should get an engineer to take a look at the foundation.

MAY

Hey, Ginger.

What's a basement? LOL

Hey, Barbara.

The other 5% will be cracking soon....

Hey, Connie.

Are you a concrete contractor? Or your other half? Sounds like you've had some experience with things.

Hey, Carl.

When I want someone to see cracks here, I usually send them to the three- and four-story A1 Self Storage facilities. There are so many cracks in those concrete structures it's amazing.

There's a CostCo here that has such a deteriorated concrete floor that I won't go into that one anymore. Too dangerous. I did hear that someone sued Costco a while back because they tripped on the floor and had some significant medical bills.

Russel, I would imagine that the concrete was not reinforced and it is settlement cracks. How old is the home and if really old not to worry! Just my opinion.

We deal with cracks all the time. I think a good report on the whole house might help. Other than that buyer beware.

Hey, Caren.

The home was built in 1968.

Hey, Terry.

I think you've got it.

Hey, Folks.

Here are the answers:

For question one, I asked the Client what he thought about the cracks, and he told me they didn't bother him, so answer 3 was correct.

For question two, I put my standard paragraph in the report about common concrete cracks. My job is to document the condition of the property at a specific point in time, and I would be remiss in my duties if I didn't do that, regardless of what the Client thinks about any specific part of the property.

For the answer to question three, I have heard all three of those answers by geotechnical or structural engineers about these type of cracks in La Jolla. Of course, when they do the official report, it is about 15 pages of engineering disclaimers followed by a final paragraph that says, if you read between the lines, "Cracks. Yahooooooooo! I just made $500. Oh, by the way. Welcome to La Jolla!"

Not in the concrete business.....just sold a lot of new construction as a real estate agent and was in construction prior to this profession. Just a few guesses... Fun to read this blog.

I was leaving a really long comment this morning..... and I fell asleep. HAHAHAAA! I'm serious! And my laptop battery died. And now you've given the answers. *sigh* OK. Long story short, in Florida, those would probably be just typical settlement cracks unless they were in a corner and there were also a lot of cracks in the construction above that point. Also, I might be concerned if there were large tree roots under that spot. But I would still just tell the buyer to make sure their inspector paid extra attention to that area. =)

Oh BTW, I love this picture of Zoey. I just asked my cat why he doesn't do all the cool stuff that Zoey does. His response was to lay his ears back and look the other way. We have way too much cattitude around here!

Hey, Concetta.

Judging from your comment, I presume you're the Connie in comment #5.

They were good guesses.

Hey, Lisa.

Concrete (and some other mundane subjects) put me to sleep sometimes, too! LOL

I'm only through about 150 pictures of Zoey the Cool Cat, out of about 1,000, and more each day.

OCT

I've heard horror stories about La Jolla, especially after that landslide they had a couple of years ago.

DEC

I can't believe you want us to take a test about concrete cracks. I thought once you got out of school, tests were done with. LOL

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Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector

San Diego, CA

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Russel Ray, Property Consultant

Address: 7000-31 Saranac Street, La Mesa, CA, 91942-8915

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