foundation crack new construction
6 months ago
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crack on new concrete foundation
Comments (3)Concrete shrinks as it hydrates (especially in hot climates or if too much water was in the mix or there was no steel reinforcement). To me it looks like a concrete shrinkage crack probably because there was no reinforcement at the bottom corners of the window opening. No reinforcing is required by code so most contractors don't put it in to save themselves a few bucks. The only thing you need to do about it is to make sure the exterior foundation waterproofing can bridge small cracks (ie it should be spray-applied elastomeric waterproofing not toweled-on dampproofing). If it were a structural defect (differential settlement of the footing) it would look very different....See MoreConcrete foundation wall pushed - New Construction
Comments (22)The city inspector says" minimal standard req met" so it is fine with them. Any advice what to do next? We spoke with the field manager again and they will not poor in a new concrete wall but use epoxy and we asked to talk to his manager.He said he has to talk with him first and he will get back to us with his phone#. They have 10 years structural and 5 years leak warranty but we don't want cracked brand new house. This post was edited by adymax on Fri, Sep 20, 13 at 11:34...See MoreNew home under construction. Foundation exposed 30 inches.
Comments (21)"why don't they simply dig a bigger hole and bring in a different kind of non-clay soil that doesn't need hydration?" When you dig a hole in clay soil, you end up with a hole that holds water. We use bentonite to build earthen dams. If you put other soil in that hole, all you get is a mud hole. Such a system works better in theory than reality. "We do that all the time for septic systems up here where you have bad soil." The drain field does not have a foundation to damage. The drain field is engineered to be able to handle a specific amount of water, and can handle the occasional 1" of water at a time during the rainy season without permanent damage. If you apply this strategy to the house foundation, you need to be able to pump out all the water that comes off the roof in a hurry, before it causes damage. This can easily be 600 gallons or more. Now, where do you put that water? You can not pump it over to the neighbor's lot, and a french drain will not drain fast enough in clay soils. You could add a 1500 gallon cistern and hope you never get that 100 year rain, and that that cistern doesn't crack like the foundation you are trying to protect. Such a system of putting other soils in a clay lined hole has a lot more maintenance than just watering the foundation. If the rain gutter downspouts do not go into a splash block that extends out into the yard 6', the water will find its way back to the hole you provided. You can't begin to imagine how many houses I have had to go back to to put the splash blocks back where they belong because the owner moved them because they were in the way of mowing the lawn. Or, where they add landscape edging that blocks the water from going out into the yard instead of back to the foundation. Now, if the pump that is supposed to drain the foundation doesn't work because nobody bothered to maintain it, you end up with a bigger disaster than if you never dug a hole for the water to go into in the first place. Clay soils wreak havoc on drain tile as the very fine particles eventually filter down and clog it. Read the link below, and you will see that the best practices are to build UP, leaving the natural drainage plane intact, instead of digging down into a hole, thus the reason for that much foundation showing. http://www.foundationperformance.org/projects/fpa-sc-01-0.pdf...See Morefoundation crack on our new home :(
Comments (6)So here is the response I received from the builder....should I have concerns? "The crack in the foundation is what is called a shrinkage crack. Anytime we have walls in excess of 30 feet or so without any other intersecting walls this happens. It is not a structural concern. This crack showed up in the first month after the foundation was poured and has not had any water penetration for the duration of the build. I have had the guys repair what is visible." We are under a new home warranty for 7 years for major structural issues and I have an email conversation which indicates our concern and the builder's response. Should I just observe the crack and see what happens? The thing is I don't remember seeing this crack on previous visits and he says its been there awhile? I looked on previous pics I have of that wall but can't really zoom in enough to see if there was evidence of a crack there but I'm sure we would have noticed it if it was there previously. Just for reference...our footings were undisturbed for 6 weeks and foundation sat for about 3 weeks before framing started in mid-October....See MoreRelated Professionals
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