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Hi guys, I am looking to buy this house and today I was out there lurking around - it's unoccupied - and I noticed a nice crack on the concrete slab where the addition is. This house is 19 years old and the addition was later added and I don't know when. The interesting thing is I've had this house inspected two weeks ago and this crack was not mentioned in my inspector's report. I am going to reach out and ask him if he noticed it. Below link has the pictures of this crack running across from the left side of the slab all the to other side. What do you all think?
A crack in the concrete would not occur within a two week period. Call the inspector and ask for your money back since this should have been caught and addressed in his report. This is a huge miss.
My only experience with a concrete slab that had a crack resulted in major structural damage to our house. I would get a professional out to examine the crack. Personally, I would never buy a house with a crack in the foundation unless it was examined by an engineer. A structural engineer.
We had many engineers, plumbers and attorneys involved AFTER we found out all the pipes underneath the house separated due to shoddy construction. The first sign was a crack in the foundation.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I agree with littlebebe that it could be catastrophic, but it could also be minor. The only way to find out is an engineer, but I would be skeptical of an inspector that missed it, and worry that other important flaws were missed.
"As this room is an addition over a former patio slab, the settlement and cracking is pretty normal. I did see the cracks, but did not see any ancillary cracks at the interior drywall or exterior siding that would indicate significant deflection or differential movement."
And he's right. Slab cracks happen all the time - concrete pours are designed to locate crack. That's why sidewalks have lines.
If you are worried, hire a structural engineer to come out.
"Slab cracks happen all the time "
An old guy did concrete slabs and said when he got asked........"what about any cracks in the future" ?...he would say............"I won't charge you for those cracks "..."they are free "
The problem comes when one expands the house over just a patio slab.
That patio slab most likely was not poured the same as if it was a slab for a house to be built over.
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