Seeing the destruction in Japan caused by a massive earth quake a few weeks ago has made me think; what happens to a home when it's built on unstable ground. In Connecticut earth quakes aren't at all common. Yet not all the ground is necessarily solid.
While inspecting the exterior of a house on a recent afternoon, I rounded the corner to find a large fault line running through the foundation wall. It was in a common area to find foundation cracks, a window opening, except there was nothing common with this crack.
First it was as wide as a pen, and extended right down under the soil. My first thought was, that has got to leak. I later discovered it sure did. It also appeared to be due to the back half of the house settling or hinging at this point.
One thing with foundation cracks, where there is one, there is usually another on the opposite wall. I found another large crack on the opposite wall as suspected. This crack actually ran through the garage floor which was visibly hinged and settled along the crack.
The next thing to check when I see this type of cracking is the interior of the house. The odd thing was that the wall over the Grand Canyon big crack was fine. The wall in the kitchen was another story. Once again I discovered a large crack which looked like the house was settling at the back.
The basement was entirely finished, so viewing the foundation walls was impossible. What I did discover was chronic and significant water infiltration. Mold and a considerable amount of water damage was present through out the finished space.
The water infiltration could have be due to the foundation cracking or it could be the cause of the movement or perhaps a little of both. Hard for me know. What is for certain is this house is on very unstable ground.
My recommendation was to call in a structural engineer to figure out what is causing the problem and formulate a solution.
Houses make poor boats.
James Quarello
Connecticut Home Inspector
2010 - 2011 SNEC-ASHI President
NRSB #8SS0022
JRV Home Inspection Services, LLC
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