Small cracks rising from the front door ?

[David Nasser]

This house is Arcadia Calif. on a raised foundation built in the 50's.
The foundation looked real good....

These cracks arise from the top of the door jamb and stop. They are not
greater than 1/4 of an inch...What should be the write up/description.
The pictures are of the left and right side of front door frame.

[KEVIN WOOD]

Knowing that the crack is at the header puts this in the catagory of movement and will require a engineer to determine weight load above the door frame.
Since there is a crack at the ceiling also makes me see that the house is not settling but is twisting from lateral weight above the door frame at the load bearing wall.
Engineer needs to evaluate.

[Billy Boerner]

Engineer David. Foundation might be fine however it does appear you have a load problem (Roof structure) especially since the wall and the ceiling cracks meet IMO.

[Brian E. Kelly]

Originally Posted by dnasser

This house is Arcadia Calif. on a raised foundation built in the 50's.
The foundation looked real good....

These cracks arise from the top of the door jamb and stop. They are not
greater than 1/4 of an inch...What should be the write up/description.
The pictures are of the left and right side of front door frame.

Crack, here, needs repair.

[Billy Boerner]

Originally Posted by bkelly2

Crack, here, needs repair.

Brian no house just cracks. Theres a reason for it IMO weather it's settlement or structural. Without seeing the roof I can't really say much, however, when a crack meets from the ceiling then down the wall IMO it's more than just settlement. Would you agree? If not why?

[Jeffrey R. Jonas]

Originally Posted by bboerner

Brian no house just cracks. Theres a reason for it IMO weather it's settlement or structural. Without seeing the roof I can't really say much, however, when a crack meets from the ceiling then down the wall IMO it's more than just settlement. Would you agree? If not why?

Remember, this house is in SoCal, and the earth moves in ways many other parts of the country doesn't.

[agallatin]

Where you able to check the sill plates for there condition ?

[Kenton H. Shepard, CMI]

Since neither crack is diagonal it doesn't look like typical foundation movement. The crack on the right side of the door is smaller at the top. The crack on the left side of the door is smaller at the bottom and extends through the ceiling.

The left side crack looks like the result of heaving. Was this crack centered over the center-line of the home, or was there a hose bib directly exterior of the left side crack? It doesn't follow a header but it might run up alongside the king stud of the opening.

The right side crack looks like it might run up along the king stud of the door opening.

Since the bottom plate breaks at the doorway, if the portion of the wall to the left of the door is heaving but the portion to the right side of the door is not, because the doorway creates a break in the wall, then as the left side of the header is raised by heaving, it could create forces that twist drywall clockwise, creating a crack pattern like this.

That's my guess. Just a guess.

[Brian E. Kelly]

Originally Posted by bkelly2

Crack, here, needs repair.

Cracks noted here, recommend repair by Qualified Contractor. You can add evaluate the cracks and remedy as necessary if you really want too.

As far as becomming CSI Home Inspector, that is not for me.

He already said the foundation is fine.

My Parents 1940's California House has cracks as well. It is Normal.

Prolonged Drought causes problems as do this years heavy Rains in Cali.

[Kenton H. Shepard, CMI]

It's true, you don't have to determine the source of cracking, but I always like to try to understand it because if you understand what causes a house to react a certain way, that knowledge may spur you to look for problems in places you wouldn't normally look and possibly find problems you might otherwise have missed
Even though it may be beyond the scope, it can make you look good when you catch one that's easily missed.

[David Nasser]

Originally Posted by agallatin

Where you able to check the sill plates for there condition ?

I didnt specifically check the sill plates in that area.. I did check the Girder
and Piers in that area and they seemed ok. Everything looked square.

[Billy Boerner]

Originally Posted by dnasser

I didnt specifically check the sill plates in that area.. I did check the Girder
and Piers in that area and they seemed ok. Everything looked square.

It's my opinion from what I know you have a problem in the attic somewhere or earth quake damage however I highly doubt earth quake damage seems to me there would be more of it if that was the case.

[Jeffrey R. Jonas]

Originally Posted by bboerner

It's my opinion from what I know you have a problem in the attic somewhere or earth quake damage however I highly doubt earth quake damage seems to me there would be more of it if that was the case.

You'd be surprised Bill. I lived in SoCal for 10 years, and we got small tremors often, to the point where you didn't notice them after a while. Every now and then, you would find a new crack you never noticed before.

[Brian E. Kelly]

Originally Posted by kshepard

It's true, you don't have to determine the source of cracking, but I always like to try to understand it because if you understand what causes a house to react a certain way, that knowledge may spur you to look for problems in places you wouldn't normally look and possibly find problems you might otherwise have missed
Even though it may be beyond the scope, it can make you look good when you catch one that's easily missed.

You can not and will not ever be able to determine the cause of all the defects we encounter, especially in the short amount time we are in the home. If it becomes enough of a concern, recommend the appropriate Trade to diagnose the problem.

Houses have cracks, 50 year old Houses in California have cracks.

If there are no other visible signs of problems, IMO fix the cracks and move on.

To speculate IMO is a waste of time.

I bet the Home Owner had an Angry Spouse that slammed the door a lot, recommend Zoloft and some soft music.

[Kenton H. Shepard, CMI]

Originally Posted by bkelly2

You can not and will not ever be able to determine the cause of all the defects we encounter, especially in the short amount time we are in the home. If it becomes enough of a concern, recommend the appropriate Trade to diagnose the problem.

Houses have cracks, 50 year old Houses in California have cracks.

If there are no other visible signs of problems, IMO fix the cracks and move on.

To speculate IMO is a waste of time.

I bet the Home Owner had an Angry Spouse that slammed the door a lot, recommend Zoloft and some soft music.

I don't know Brian... Zoloft takes a long time to kick in. Can't you recommend something that takes effect almost immediately?