Vertical, diagonal, and horizontal cracks, oh my!
On a sloping lot in Finneytown Ohio, vertical, diagonal and horizontal cracks had appeared at the front foundation wall of a home. The designing engineer of Buyers Protection Group thought these cracks might be due to differential settlement. This is when the soil beneath your foundation settles unevenly and causes one section to sink lower than another. Expansive (clay) soil, soil that is inadequately compacted or prone to erosion, as well as improper drainage can all contribute to differential settlement.
The engineer measured the walls using a device of ancient origin known as a “Plumb Bob”.
A Plumb Bob
Using this tool, they discovered the wall was leaning inward up to 3/4″and appeared to have bowed inward at least 2 inches. This foundation movement had also caused the brick on the façade to overhang the foundation. See below:
Furthermore, the slab of the attached garage had cracked and there was a hollow sound under the garage floor when tapped. This is an indication of a potential void underneath. The engineer recommended that this theory be tested by drilling a small hole.
The homeowner hired Hughes Construction to stabilize the foundation per the specifications provided by the engineer. In all, we installed 31 steel angles and two steel pilasters, and injected 40 lineal feet of foundation cracks with structural epoxy. Lastly, we added 16 feet of brick angle support along the front foundation wall.
How’s your foundation doing? Do you have any areas of concern? Feel free to contact us, we are happy to help walk you through the process and take those next steps.
