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We are looking to purchase a townhouse in New England. it is 10 years old. The home inspector discovered a verticle crack on an interior basement wall. There are no signs of water in the crack, or anywhere else in the basement. The crack runs most of the length of the wall. The sellers are the orig owners and are elderly. They did not know about the crack. When the inspector discovered it, it was covered by silver tape, and it looked as if some type of filling had been applied some time ago. This could have been done by the builder when the foundation was poured? Anyway, I am not sure how concerned we should be. After the inspection the sellers contacted the builder who had a contractor come in , fill the crack, and put pins in it. Is this something serious?? Should we be concerned about purchasing ?? I have attached a couple of pictures when the crack was discovered, as well as the pictures of the repair.( sideways ) Any help or advise would be appreciated. We are not sure how to proceed!
Being that the crack looks wider at the top than bottom, it would indicate that the ends of the house footer has settled. All houses eventually get cracks. For 10 years, it doesn't look that bad. If the crack goes all the way through the wall, I would be concerned about water intrusion. A sealer could fix the problem.
Your pics are too close-up to really "see" anything. So; without seeing a plan, to know exactly how the foundation is formed, the intent of the wall (assuming other than "loadbearing") there's really no way to assess the situation.
The "corrective" action that was taken was epoxy injections- those are not "pins". A crack is a crack, is a crack- that's probably 80% of all concrete. However, if it were displacing then we would be looking at other features, loads, and anomalies.
So; is there a problem? Probably not; but again without a physical inspection it's hard to say. I would inquire with the owner (now that this is a disclosure) if the "repair" was a routine action or was it the recommendation from a structural engineer (PE) with a certified/stamped letter? That will make a huge difference down the road for any subsequent buyer.
Thank you to both of you for your replys . We are looking at the property again later this week. Is there anything special we should look for when we see the crack again? Or anything to watch for in the future should we go ahead with the purchase?
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