Foundation Issue? URGENT Help Needed (Pictures Included)

[Samantha M.]

I was looking at a property here in DFW near Grand Prairie that was built in the late 1960s. The problem with the house is it has numerous cracks on the interior of the house. The seller told me they did quite a bit of foundation work not to long ago and the roof is new. I am wondering if the cracks I am seeing are mostly cosmetic at this point, or if there is greater cause for concern. Please click images to ZOOM in. I am not sure if the damage in the pictures are "scars" from before the foundation repairs.

In the above picture notice crack by fan.

In the above picture here where the ceiling meets the wall, there is a gap on this side. I assume this is due to the foundation shifting mentioned earlier?

I actually went with a friend of mine who wholesales and he was kind enough to send me back some of the pictures he took. You can see the pictures below.

[Ben R.]

Samantha,

I'd want to see the paperwork on the repairs, talk to the contractor who did the work (face to face), and probably get a structural opinion...just my .02...

[David T.]

Samantha,

Once you have structural issues on a property, unless you're getting a massive discount, I'd stay away from it.

If you are going to proceed, you'd need a report on the property from a qualified professional - if you wish to be prudent.

Structural repairs invariably will cost you big bucks.

Good luck with it!

[Brad S.]

As the others suggested, I would want to see specifics on what was done. I would also a professional opinion from a structural engineer if there are major signs of foundation shifting. In my experience, it is hard for the home buyer to get a clear answer from the structural engineer. In an ideal situation, you will monitor the cracks over a period of time to determine if active movement is happening or not. Unfortunately, you don't have that luxury.

I'm not expert, but I'm not sure if the second photo is foundation related. If this is the ceiling under the roof, this may be due to truss uplift. A common issue as trusses move in response to the weather.

[Samantha M.]

Originally posted by Brad S.:

As the others suggested, I would want to see specifics on what was done. I would also a professional opinion from a structural engineer if there are major signs of foundation shifting. In my experience, it is hard for the home buyer to get a clear answer from the structural engineer. In an ideal situation, you will monitor the cracks over a period of time to determine if active movement is happening or not. Unfortunately, you don't have that luxury.

I'm not expert, but I'm not sure if the second photo is foundation related. If this is the ceiling under the roof, this may be due to truss uplift. A common issue as trusses move in response to the weather.

Thanks for your great reply Brad. In regards to the second photo and the possibility of a truss uplift, that sounds rather involved. I suppose for such a fix roof and foundation repairs may need to be in order yes?

[Brad S.]

To my knowledge truss uplift is a common cosmetic issue. I wouldn't worry about it if that is the cause of the ceiling to wall cracks. Some good latex caulk should fix that. Active foundation movement is a whole other thing.

http://www.inspectionlibrary.com/truss.htm

[J Scott]

Keep in mind that the things you are seeing may be the result of foundation problems OR could be the result of the repairs they did. For example, if repairing the foundation required jacking up the house, it's not uncommon for the sheetrock to crack under the stress and for some of the interior trim/doors to shift a bit.

You can ask the homeowner if bulk of the cracking was caused during repairs, before or after, and that will give you some info. But, of course, getting a structural engineer out there to evaluate is the most reliable way to go. Figure $150/hour, including driving time.