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Cary NC Real Estate Adventures: Red clay, drought, and cracked foundations.

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Realty Arts NC Broker License #235526

We live with our famous red clay in the Raleigh-Cary, NC area.  It expands and contracts when it absorbs water or dries out.

This movement can be stressful to a home's foundation.  Masonry is meant to be rigid, not flexing and moving.

CRA-A-A-ACK!  And a beautiful home is now a beautiful question mark.  I like to take a walk around the perimeter of the home and specifically focus on finding signs of cracking.  As the agent, I prefer to point them out to my Buyers, so we can talk about them before they make an offer.  Why let something so evident pass, to be found by a home inspector?

This cracked brick foundation shows some significant soil movement.

Fine cracks can be justified as not a problem, and don't have to be a deal-breaker, but Buyers might consider consulting an engineer for advice when they see cracks that are wide enough to insert a pocket knife through the brick:

This is a fairly wide crack, and a Buyer should be cautious.

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Independent Broker/Owner, Realty Arts

130 Towerview Court,

Cary, NC

Comments(15)

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Darleen McCullen
Raleigh, NC
Broker - Raleigh, NC Real Estate

You gotta love the red clay around here!

Relating to the home that you pictured here, I'm wondering if the listing agent even saw this and mentioned it to the Seller? I would think that something this large would've been seen beforehand. Maybe the Seller saw it and will offer to reduce the price of the home.

Jan 11, 2008 02:16 PM
Mike Jaquish
Realty Arts - Cary, NC
919-880-2769 Cary, NC, Real Estate

Darleen,

The red clay gets too much press, in all reality.

Poor water management, no gutters and downspouts, and lack of surface grading to divert surface water contribute greatly to these problems.

Jan 11, 2008 02:19 PM
Darleen McCullen
Raleigh, NC
Broker - Raleigh, NC Real Estate
Most definitely water management is an issue in this area. Some home owners are not educated about how to adequately care for their homes.
Jan 11, 2008 02:29 PM
Jesse Clifton
Jesse Clifton & Associates - Fairbanks, AK
That's quite the crack.  We don't have red clay to deal with, but we do have permafrost.  Here when ice lenses recede the cavity leave behind can swallow houses whole.  One reasons soils testing is so important.
Jan 11, 2008 02:45 PM
Mike Jaquish
Realty Arts - Cary, NC
919-880-2769 Cary, NC, Real Estate

Darleen,

Right.  Grading around a house isn't maintained.  Gutters are not installed, or not properly installed or maintained, and the foundation pays the price.

Jesse and Kathy,

"Permafrost."

You make me glad all over again to be living in the SE USA.

 

Jan 11, 2008 10:56 PM
Mesa, Arizona Real Estate Mesa Arizona Realtor
Homes Arizona Real Estate LLC - Mesa, AZ
AzLadyInRed

Hi Mike: Our homes in Arizona typically get those hairline cracks due to settling (or expansive soil).  It's a great idea to walk the home..........:-)

Jan 12, 2008 10:33 AM
Mike Jaquish
Realty Arts - Cary, NC
919-880-2769 Cary, NC, Real Estate

Teri,

Right.  If it will be a deal-breaker for my client, I would rather see it than gloss over and let them invest several hundred dollars in an inspection.

Jan 12, 2008 10:53 AM
Jesse Clifton
Jesse Clifton & Associates - Fairbanks, AK

Oh, come on Mike.  This is a house that was sitting on an ice lens that receded.  The house literally sank into a hole. The funniest part; notice the REMAX sign on the front door?  I can't remember the price but I could never figure out what the daylights they were trying to sell. The land is obviously not worth much and the house, well, I won't even go there.

Click To Enlarge

Jan 12, 2008 11:51 PM
Mike Jaquish
Realty Arts - Cary, NC
919-880-2769 Cary, NC, Real Estate

Jesse and Kathy,

That's what they used to look like in Pennsylvania when the underground coal mine subsided...

Maybe the agent put the sign up before the collapse and is afraid to go back for it?

Jan 13, 2008 02:50 AM
Greg Myers
G L Myers Real Estate Services - Chapel Hill, NC
Cracks in masonry can be a very tricky thing. Some are obviously problems, as is demonstrated in the photos above, but other times they are the result of normal expansion and contraction of the materials that represent no problem.  It's always a good idea to have an inspector  with expertise make such evaluations. Don't pretend you know a crack is benign to try to make a sale happen. When an agent points out potential problems, and recommends and inspection, it builds a sense of trust in the agent's integrity.
Jan 13, 2008 04:41 AM
Mike Jaquish
Realty Arts - Cary, NC
919-880-2769 Cary, NC, Real Estate

"Don't pretend you know a crack is benign to try to make a sale happen."

Solid Gold.

Thanks, Greg.

Jan 13, 2008 04:54 AM
Eleanor Thorne
Equity Resources - Cary, NC
Advantage Lending 919-649-5058
Looks like the one on the side of my GARAGE!  Great picture - is that the new camera??
Jan 13, 2008 08:42 AM
Mike Jaquish
Realty Arts - Cary, NC
919-880-2769 Cary, NC, Real Estate

Eleanor,

Thanks!

Yes, it is the new camera.  I'm hoping for some Carolina Blue Sky this week to cruise through the 'hood, and give it a real tryout.

Jan 13, 2008 10:46 AM
Rita Taylor
None - Sanford, NC
Sanford NC Real Estate - Homes for Sale in Sanford North Carolina

Mike,

Foundation cracks are common around here - never heard of the pocketknife test before, though.  Looks like an expensive foundation repair may be in order.  I wonder why the seller didn't fix this BEFORE listing the house?

Hope you had a great holiday!

Jan 13, 2008 03:55 PM
Mike Jaquish
Realty Arts - Cary, NC
919-880-2769 Cary, NC, Real Estate

Golly, Rita...

If it was fixed, I would have to have looked harder for a photo.  :D

Good to see you back!

Jan 13, 2008 09:53 PM
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