Crack in foundation

[lfoster]

The foundation is 2 yrs old.
Crack noticed on W side from top of foundation down the face 2/3. On top, can be seen under water heater and in return air (distance of 10'). On the far side of the house, 20-25' away, at the wall/sidewalk, a crack starts in the corner, follows the wall edge, then extends at a diagonal across sidewalk.

No noticeable cracks/separations in drywall above this area.

Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Linda

[Dale Duffy]

From your pictures they look like your typical shrinkage/settlement.

Concrete is going to crack some where without the proper control joints.

[lfoster]

Control joints ? meaning??

[rcloyd]

Linda,

Control joints are joints that are placed in the concrete slab intentionally, either by tooling them into the wet concrete, saw cutting after curing or using a pre-manufactured product such as a zip-strip. In any case, the idea is to "contol" or at least attempt to control the direction of the cracks when they occur. If control joints are omitted, the crack may go in any direction.


Hope this helps,

[Michael R. Boyett]

Those 'shrinkage' cracks are present on 95% of the slab foundations somewhere in the home. They are typically considered cosmetic unless they are 1/4" or more wide or if there is displacement, i.e. one side of the crack higher or lower than the other. You will likely get no sympathy from the builder, it's just not an issue at this point in my opinion.

[lfoster]

There are nearly always some to see in a garage floor, but when this went down the side of the foundation, too, it made me cautious.

Thanks for the info.
Linda

[rwand1]

Also remember the floor is not structural per se in that it is not carrying any load in most all cases. And usually the basement and garage floors are typically poured after the structure is up. Most shrinkage cracks tend to radiate out from columns, door openings, floor drains.

[rwand1]

Also remember the floor is not structural per se in that it is not carrying any load in most all cases. And usually the basement and garage floors are typically poured after the structure is up. Most shrinkage cracks tend to radiate out from columns, door openings, floor drains. Shrinkage also is relative to how fast the concrete drys.

[Dale Duffy]

Originally Posted by lfoster

Control joints ? meaning??

http://www.concretenetwork.com/concr...troljoints.htm

[ccbrands1]

Look like shrinkage cracks to me.

No concern unless width increases.

[ssmith3]

There are only two types of concrete.


1. Wet concrete.
2. Cracked concrete.

[David P. Valley]

Linda,

You can sit back and relax. Most floors crack.

When I find hairline cracks in concrete floors, I always recommend a Radon test.

[Michael R. Boyett]

Utopia, Tx is about 100 miles from one of the few Texas counties that has even a remote possibility of radon. That's just not something we recommend much around here. We do recommend long weekends and summer vacations at nearby Garner State Park however.
Attachment 4339

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Hi. Linda,

Ifound this information regarding slabs for the Texas area, if it helps.

My experience with slab cracks, since I personally worked with concrete all my life is that I would not be alarmed with what you saw and would just note fine line cracking in the slab was observed.

Not knowing how the slab perimeter is supported, I would have to say it is not attached to the exterior foundation.

Hope this helps.


(A) A floor over pier and beam foundation shall not deflect more than L/360 from its original construction elevations and have that movement create actual observable physical damage to the components of the home identifiable in Section 5.3 of the ASCE Guidelines.

(B) If a floor over pier and beam foundation deflects more than L/360 from its original construction elevation and the movement has created actual observable physical damage to the components of a home identifiable in Section 5.3 of the ASCE Guidelines, a third-party inspector's recommendation shall be based on applicable remedial measures as described in Section 7 of the ASCE Guidelines.

Marcel

[Robert J. OConnor]

Check out the following sites for some good information on grade slab foundations in the TX area and cracking in general (take crack widths discussed with a grain of salt, as sometimes the patten/appearance is more important that width ... )

http://www.houston-slab-foundations.info./

http://www.inspect-ny.com/structure/foundation.htm

http://www.homeinspectioncourse.com/soils.html