Bricks, Masonry, Asphalt and Concrete - Crack in basement block wall - normal in brand new house?
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dragula07
11-17-04, 06:16 PM
Hello All,
I'm asking this question on behalf of my brother-in-law who is purchasing a house under construction in a new subdivision. Today, we were looking in the basement (full basement w/two car parking, 10' high block walls below grade) and noticed that the back wall had a crack from the top of the wall to the floor. It isn't very large but it has literally cracked thru several mortar joints and cracked a total of 6 blocks down the middle. It basically looks like a lightning bolt following a straight path to the floor. The crack isn't wide enough to slide a piece of paper into but it just seems odd that this has happened on a brand new house. I've seen this on a couple of other new houses. I assume it's from not allowing the footer to cure well before laying the block.
Is this crack normal and can we expect any future leaking? The outside has already been waterproofed and backfilled I assume before the crack happened.
We were wondering if this should be enough of a concern for him to back out of the purchase?
Thanks for any help.
I'm asking this question on behalf of my brother-in-law who is purchasing a house under construction in a new subdivision. Today, we were looking in the basement (full basement w/two car parking, 10' high block walls below grade) and noticed that the back wall had a crack from the top of the wall to the floor. It isn't very large but it has literally cracked thru several mortar joints and cracked a total of 6 blocks down the middle. It basically looks like a lightning bolt following a straight path to the floor. The crack isn't wide enough to slide a piece of paper into but it just seems odd that this has happened on a brand new house. I've seen this on a couple of other new houses. I assume it's from not allowing the footer to cure well before laying the block.
Is this crack normal and can we expect any future leaking? The outside has already been waterproofed and backfilled I assume before the crack happened.
We were wondering if this should be enough of a concern for him to back out of the purchase?
Thanks for any help.
chfite
11-17-04, 07:27 PM
In general, cracks in joints are from settling, but cracks in the blocks are structural in nature. I would be inclined to have an engineer review this before going further.
Big investment, decide in haste, repent at leisure.
Big investment, decide in haste, repent at leisure.