It's Atomic! It Might Nuke The Sale, But The House Is OK.

I just got back from a consult. I was called in for a second opinion for an issue to do with a garage floor. In this case I was working for the sellers. The buyers were asking for a price reduction because their inspector had identified the garage floor as being defective and in a substandard state.

I did not get to see that inspectors report, but the garage floor is cracked and heaved upward in much of its area. These are large cracks that radiate out from raised areas of the floor and only the central core area near the drain is unaffected.

It is still a functional garage in that you can drive cars in there and park them as well as store the usual collection of tools, bicycles and materials.

However as a garage floor that was sloped to a central drain, it is defective in that this function can no longer be used. This does devalue the property as that capability of the original construction has been lost.

The most likely possible causes of this upward cracking are differential settlement, frost displacement and pyrite uplifting.

The 'atomic' part of the title refers to the fact the force that causes the displacement occurs at a molecular and atom level. For this reason the forces are virtually unstoppable. 

The sale may be  nuked ( i.e. not be completed) due to unresolved disagreements about the cost of corrections. However, the home has no 'nuclear' issues or radio activity, etc.