[samhere]

Hi All,
I was called in to quote in this foundation repair job. The crack seen on the picture below is supporting the garage only above. I want to make sure the job gets done right and the house is over 15 years old.

My initial thought was it is not a structural crack, but looking at the chuck of concrete missing, tells me something else. I have seen cracks that are not taking off a block of concrete out with it. What is your opinion on if this is a structural crack that can be coming back or should I ask for a disclaimer ?

https://plus.google.com/photos/1129...ms/6005111691736865201?authkey=COqC65rUjeuBQg

thanks guys!

 

[CarpenterSFO]

When you say "foundation repair job", do you mean repairing the foundation, or patching the surface? What do you mean, "ask for a disclaimer"?

Is it structural? It certainly looks like the result of settling or other stresses. Will the house fall down if it isn't fixed? Houses rarely fall down. If you do a surface patch, will the crack reappear in time? I'd bet on it.

That's an odd bit of construction in that corner, with some odd siding work, at least to my eye. Was the original garage opening there?

 

[CarpenterSFO]

Another theory is that it's the original garage door opening - the line down the side is from the edge of the original side casing - and the crack is from a car v. house encounter, or excavator v. house when the remodel was done.

 

[GO Remodeling]

My guess is that the short wall is mechanically fastened to the foundation with rebar. The rebar has stressed the concrete either because it was too close to the surface or the short wall is moving/tipping.

 

[greg24k]

Like Bob said, if you do a surface patch it will crack again in no time. It looks like the footing settled, maybe because of that dirt against the wall got saturated with water and when frost hit it caused the damage,etc.

So you basically have 2 options, do this the right way, or do a band-aid job which will not do you any good and you will be called back each time the crack reappears.

Right way to fix that, is using foundation epoxy injection method and Carbon-Fiber staples, which called stitching method... but before that, that retaining wall will have to be removed, because if you repair that small portion it will not do you any good, because the water will continue to penetrate the wall cavity bellow behind that retaining wall and each time the frost hit, foundation crack will change its direction and reappear.

Good luck