Major Shrinkage?

[ekartal6]

I've never seen a slab so cured.

One pic is where the garage floor meets interior wall. There is a gap close to 1/2''! Is this a crappy slab job or has it become detached from home? Beneath this crevise to the unknown is an unfinished basmement wall (crappy pic attached) that just happens to have a narrow but 4' long verical crack starting from the sill and stopping just before the basement floor. Check out the cracks above and below the basement windows. Builder decided that by applying waterproofing to the cracks, the buyer won't see them. Five year old town home - maintenance inspection for the original owner. Hey Marcel, you up?

[Doug Edwards]

Where the floor meets the interior wall sounds like a "cold joint" to me from your description. The floor was a second or subsequent "pour" of concrete. Pretty common, or at least here it is. Basement walls, you will have to ask someone who deals with them on a regular basis. The number of basements I have seen in 14 years I can count on one hand. Basements here become indoor pools or saunas due to the water table and extremely high humidity.

[Brian A. MacNeish]

Originally Posted by ekartal6

I've never seen a slab so cured.

One pic is where the garage floor meets interior wall. There is a gap close to 1/2''! Is this a crappy slab job or has it become detached from home? Beneath this crevise to the unknown is an unfinished basmement wall (crappy pic attached) that just happens to have a narrow but 4' long verical crack starting from the sill and stopping just before the basement floor. Check out the cracks above and below the basement windows. Builder decided that by applying waterproofing to the cracks, the buyer won't see them. Five year old town home - maintenance inspection for the original owner. Hey Marcel, you up?

If there is no differential movement in the wall cracks, I would only be concerned about potential water leakage from the longer wall cracks. The 1/2" crack I'd have some concerns about......It seems extreme to simply be slab shrinkage back from the wall as it dried out!

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Originally Posted by ekartal6

I've never seen a slab so cured.

One pic is where the garage floor meets interior wall. There is a gap close to 1/2''! Is this a crappy slab job or has it become detached from home? Beneath this crevise to the unknown is an unfinished basmement wall (crappy pic attached) that just happens to have a narrow but 4' long verical crack starting from the sill and stopping just before the basement floor. Check out the cracks above and below the basement windows. Builder decided that by applying waterproofing to the cracks, the buyer won't see them. Five year old town home - maintenance inspection for the original owner. Hey Marcel, you up?

Good morning Erol;

Looking at the first picture that is hard to see, it appears that a 1/2" fiber board or celotex strip was installed on the foundation to provide expansion.
This is something that is used more on commercial than residential, but seen it used every now and then.
Typically, that joint would get caulked in after the slab pour. Using this technique of expansion joint always creates a rough edge like I see around the perimeter and a sloppy finish from the concrete crew unless there is someone there to point it out.

The cracks around the area way, is obvious to me showing lack of proper reinforcement around the opening to compensate for the weakened wall caused by such a large opening.
Typically, on an opening that size, reinforcement in a u-shape would be installed under and over the openings and diagonal bars added at the corners. Horizontal bars, additional would also be added at the top of the opening.
A high slump concrete could or may be another contributing factor.

At this point, I would agree with Brian, that if differential movement is not observed, I would be more concerned with water intrusion.
I would simply defer to a foundation contractor and/or waterproofing contractor to access the situation.

Hope this helps.

Marcel


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[ekartal6]

Beneath the the large basement wall crack in a nearby corner, there were visual signs of dampness which The Tramex (a reading of 22) verified. Did I mention 3-4 minor cracks above bedroom doors on second floor? Going to have to call it out.

Thanks Erol

[msylvester]

Looks like a typical new-10 year old home. I am in very few basements on new homes that don't have lots of epoxy patches.

This one was from yesterday 1 year warranty inspection. Found about three of these that have been patched with both epoxy and hydraulic cement and still leak.
The other picture is of a metal tie-back that protrudes out of the wall by about 2".

[mthomas2]

I see these vertical cracks all the time, often radiating down from window corners or below pipes or other foundation wall penetrations and often with "epoxy" patches. I'm not usually concerned unless there is evidence of subsequent movement at the patch or other evidence of ongoing structural causes. In my area, it's common to find some seepage at such areas, often related to poor grading or downspout discharge. I just report what I see and move on.

[David A. Andersen]

It's all about what you can't see inside the concrete.

We see these cracks all the time, why?
Could it be inadequate reinforcing bar?
Likely.

[ekartal6]

I'n not too concerned with the window cracks. It's the four foot crack behind a cold joint that needs further evaluation. Thank you guys for your feedback.

[john bubber]

Originally Posted by msylvester

Looks like a typical new-10 year old home. I am in very few basements on new homes that don't have lots of epoxy patches.

This one was from yesterday 1 year warranty inspection. Found about three of these that have been patched with both epoxy and hydraulic cement and still leak.
The other picture is of a metal tie-back that protrudes out of the wall by about 2".

yes indeedy, about 50% of ALL......ALL....epoxy/urethane injections.....
.....RE-LEAK!

INCOMPETENT-WIMPY contractors/builders resort to this CHTT rather than fix the sob correctly on the........OUTSIDE!

[msylvester]

No kidding!
Lazy, Lazy, Lazy

I was hired by Remington Homes which is a large builder around here to act as a third party inspection for guess what. Epoxy filled cracks and leaking tie-back joints. What an easy job and great money.

[donquique]

I watch Holmes on Homes all the time and in one of the shows he actually had a house with a mini pool in the basement. He had to excavate the exterior of the house, add an polyurethane mixture to the wall after sealing the cracks, add a sump at the bottom with a french drain, refill the excavation rocks. Needless to say it is a very expensive job to do correctly and that is why you won't see the contractors doing it. They figure that the homeowner will give up. epoxy is an acceptable method of repair in aboveground fuel oil moats walls but I would not recommend it as an underground repair in the inside of the home.

A. Rodriguez

[ekartal6]

Yeah, these people have a problem. A kid who had a buzz going must have poured the cement.

[Robert M. Delre]

Originally Posted by ekartal6

I've never seen a slab so cured.

One pic is where the garage floor meets interior wall. There is a gap close to 1/2''! Is this a crappy slab job or has it become detached from home? Beneath this crevise to the unknown is an unfinished basmement wall (crappy pic attached) that just happens to have a narrow but 4' long verical crack starting from the sill and stopping just before the basement floor. Check out the cracks above and below the basement windows. Builder decided that by applying waterproofing to the cracks, the buyer won't see them. Five year old town home - maintenance inspection for the original owner. Hey Marcel, you up?

After pouring many hundreds of yards of concrete, My first guess would be....they poured soup....if lucky a 2" slump. Not too much you can do about it now.

[Robert M. Delre]

Remember something when it comes to anything that cures or dries to obtain a finished product whether it be concrete, joint compound or even paint....the wetter it is when it is poured or applied, the more evaporation occurs producing greater shrinkage.