Basement crack ? for home sale

[heelz23]

Hello,

I am currently in the process of selling our home with an inspection coming next week. We bought the house about 13 years ago and our basement has basically been the same. In the first few pics you will see some water damage due to the concrete sidewalk having dropped toward the house when we moved in. We had the concrete taken up and poured draining away from house an have had no water in basement or further damage. Same thing for the corner pic, the water from the gutter was coming out about a foot from the house, we extended it about 5 feet out and the basement has been the same. Below are some pics, please let me know if you think we will have problems with our inspection.

Guess I should add the house was built in 1979. It also looks like the horizontal cracks are level with the ground outside.

Thank you,

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[Mark P]

Take a plumb bob and hang it from the top of the foundation wall where the horizinital crack is, on the floor place a ruler under the plum bob. This is how you can measure the amount of bowing in the wall. Post what you find.

[heelz23]

Thanks Mark, I did and it looks like 0 to maybe 1/2 inch. I did not have a plum bob but took a screw and string to do it. The top of the screw pretty much was against the wall at the bottom.

[Jim Baird]

Gauge off the top of the wall with a block, hang string with weight at bottom, check distance at several points, subtracting gauge thickness...the crack does look like a bulge, doesn't it?

Another way to check slow-mo movement is to glue something brittle, like a glass lab slide, across the crack. If it breaks in time, there is movement going on.

[Jim Katen]

On the day of the inspection, leave a note on the countertop with the information in your first paragraph.

[Steven Hockstein]

Hire a home inspector for a pre-inspection.

[John Kogel]

Leave a note.

Clear junk away from the attic hatch.

Clear junk out from under all the sinks.

Clear junk away from the E panel, furnace and water heater

Clean the chimney and fireplace

Replace bad or missing lightbulbs.

[Marc]

Keep in mind that HI reports always describe two things, the house and the inspector. Sometimes it's more about the house but if you get a really bad inspector, it'll be mostly about him.

Marc

[heelz23]

Thanks for the tips guys. I know its hard to tell from pics but do you think its just normal settlement or really an issue with the walls. I have not been able to measure from the line drop back to the wall yet but this morning with just my fingers, its not like one side of the crack is sticking out like they have moved, their basically even, just cracked.

LOL Marc, I just hope I get an inspector that is about the house and everything goes well. I've tried to make it easy on him with under sinks cleaned out, access to attic, clear epanel, etc like suggested in this thread. The fireplace is clean but I have not had the chimney cleaned. I will be here when he comes so i will be sure to tell him the info in the first paragraph. I don't want to be a pest so should I tell him first thing or wait till he mentions it. I do not usually follow people around and look over their shoulders either but should I to answer any questions he has in this case?

[Marc]

It's a visual inspection so there's lots the inspector won't see. If there's something positive about the condition of the house, by all means tell him up front.

It's quite a burden for me when a seller wants to follow me around but I love it when he's onsite and is willing to answer questions as they come up during the inspection.

Marc

[mjr6550]

It is hard to judge movement from photos. The height of the wall, the thickness, soil conditions, and grading are all important. Horizontal cracks typically indicate that the wall was over-stressed at some time. It a judgement call as to whether the wall will move further or not.

[Spiegel Masonry]

Hello I am a Mason with over 30 years in the trade . Most of your cracks are in the Mortar joint and can be grounded out and then filled back in with a type s Mortar . If your bow in the wall is only 1/2 inch in 13 courses you have nothing to worry about . When building walls the specs allow a 8th of a inch out every 4 foot. As far as the cracks in the blocks themselves you can have a mason come in beat out the one side facing the basement of the block lay a soap which is a 2x8x16 inch block leave out the top block that was cut out till the next day and then fill with concrete until concrete is filled the cell and then put in the last soap. If you are still going thru the problem call me at 443-467-3385 between 6pm and 7pm Daily . I can point you in the right direction and save you a lot of money . Thanks