(no subject)

[madbaker]

I'm vaguely concerned about our house. It's an Edwardian two-flat building, built around 1910 and moved to its current location in the '50s. It's reasonably well-built and should be so for some time.

So why are all these cracks developing in the walls and ceilings? I don't think the neighbors' books weigh that much. The side wall of the garage - which we had professionals lock together the supports - is gapping. In only 15 months!

I hope we don't have to excavate the foundation, because that's the only way we can check to see if it needs re-doing.

Comments

[patsmor.livejournal.com]

Recent tremors? There are over 300 in Northern california in the past week, which is more than generally happen. Granted, only a few were more than 2.5 mag, but it's certainly possible they can have an effect?

[albionwood.livejournal.com]

Sounds worrisone to me. I'd suspect the perfidious influence of water. Has there been any kind of work around the outside - on your or your neighbor's property - that might have changed the direction or quantity of runoff or seepage? Do you have gutters, and if so, so they freely drain away from the house? A 50-year-old foundation should not move unless something changes its environment, and usually the thing that changes is water in the soil around/beneath the footing.

I'm not following you on the "excavate the foundation" remark - you should be able to inspect the stemwall from a basement or crawlspace.

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

The house was jacked-up and moved in the '50s when they eminent domained the area to create Highway 101. Many of the houses were salvageable, so they were moved.

Bottom line, there isn't a basement/crawlspace.

[albionwood.livejournal.com]

You mean it's on a slab? I wonder how that could have been done. Usually when they move a house, they put it on a stemwall over a crawlspace or basement, because they need some space to work beneath the house. I can't quite figure out how it could be done any other way, but then contractors are ingenious creatures.

Either it's on a slab, or there's a crawlspace. Is the ground floor a concrete slab, or is it wood? If it's wood, there's a crawlspace.

Caveat

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

For truly accurate architectural information you'd have to talk to the fuzzy upstairs neighbor. That said:
Our building is two flats, one atop the other. The bottom floor is the garage, with a concrete slab. There are also stairwells next to the garage leading up, with wooden floors (presumably also over concrete).

Re: Caveat

[albionwood.livejournal.com]

Aha! So it's actually a three-story structure: garage at the bottom, with the (originally) 2-story house stacked on top?

Are the garage walls stud-frame or concrete?

What's the condition of the slab?

I'd look around the perimeter of the slab, at the base of the garage walls, for signs of moisture or settlement.

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

So saith the wife:
"The house is standing on concrete stem wall for the northern, western and southern exterior walls, the center beam that runs east to west is on a lower concrete slab. The garage floor could have been poured either at the same time of the move, or latter. Living in the City, our front "yard" is a concrete walk way, the immediate back space is also poured concrete. We have been noticing seepage from the water run-off in the back of the garage (this seems to come from under the back concrete wall). All of the inside walls of the garrage are covered, either with thick plywood (contractor installed), old wood panelling (circa 1940 or so) or metal sheeting. There is a small section of concrete in the back that "feels" hollow underneath, but without taking out a bit of the concrete there is no way of knowing if that's just the imagination playing with homeowner's fears."
Other aspects indicating shifting since we moved in: our priest-hole (small closet under the upstairs neighbors' stairs) used to close flush, but now has a triangle of open space along the top; and the door to the oubliette (outdoor storage area underneath our kitchen, behind the garage) used to close but most definitely can't now.

The walls are stud-frame.

[albionwood.livejournal.com]

Damn... we are actually heading into SF this evening, but I don't think there is any way we will have time to run over there and look at it. Next time I head down that way, I'll try to plan in a trip over to see the place. Maybe I can at least point you toward somebody who will actually be able to help.

(My guess is that the soil beneath one part of your foundation has become saturated, causing it to consolidate, making your foundation shift a little. It takes surprisingly little movement to cause the symptoms you describe.)

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

That's too bad -- it would be nice to see you. Thank you for the input!