Big Crack!

[palmettoinspect]

This is the house I did today. It looks like the brick is pulling away from the house (just a tad). The third picture is the corner of the home just a few feet from the door in the first two pictures. You can see the trim popping off as the brick pushes against it. I would imagine the brick cannot be saved and would need to be replaced? Or could a foundation company such as Mt. Valley etc. be able to secure the brick. I think it would be just easier to replace the brick.

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[Bain]

The first question that needs to be answered is WHY is the brick shifting? Is there a foundational problem, or is the root cause something as simple as contraction and expansion of the clay soil beneath that downspout in the third photo?

The staircase in the first photo suggests the house is on a basement. Were you able to see what was going on beneath the shifting brick?

[mgbinspect]

As Bain suggests, I doubt this is merely a brick veneer problem. In order for that to be the case, the veneer would have to literally slide across the foundation surface, which isn't likely.

The gap, being as wide as it is and larger at the top than the bottom, suggests that the foundation is, most likely, separating and laying open. The reason the brick is pulling away from the structure, is because the framing, due to lateral and diagonal bracing offered by the drywall and sheathing, can't pull apart and lay open so easily - adjusting more like a parallelogram to deal with the shift. Hence, the brick veneer rides the foundation apart, while the frame twists and flexes to conform to the settling foundation. Wall ties, for brick veneer, are flexible and corrugated, which gives them considerable stretch, permitting the brick to move away. The short version - brick veneer and wood frame construction, by design, react differently to the same settlement, and that gap exempifies that difference.

Richmond, has its share of shrink/swell soil (I live in a pretty big patch of it.) and soft soils. So this is one of several common scenarios here. Foundation stabilization will, to some degree close everything back up, but they would probably elect to find a happy median between "arrested" and returned to original position.

Regardless of the cause and remedy, this goes beyond the brick veneer and a geological/structural engineer is the way to go.

[Ben H]

That gutter/downspout can't be helping anything.[:-headach Perhaps it's a green shower.

[Scottpat]

That is foundation movement or failure. The frieze board, soffit and fascia have pulled away along with the door frame. Simple call for a PE who specializes in residental foundations to take a look at provide an opine.

[Tim Maxwell]

I had one very similar to that back in the spring.

It was a show stopper along with all the other stuff I found, but that was the biggee......

[mgbinspect]

The thing that has never set well with me is that foundation stabilization typically comes with a ten year guarantee - not very assuring...

[Gibsonguy]

Do you have any more pics? That's a lot of movement without cracking. Any repointing? Any foundation cracks or repairs? I only see the large one down by the brick door sill.

[robert1966]

I agree with the foundation shifting, this is the worse I have seen at a door jam. Was there any cracks in the foundation in the same area in the rear of the home?

[palmettoinspect]

Thanks for the reply guys. Yes, the house has some major structural issues. Here are some more pictures.

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