My house is 27 years old and I have horizotal cracks all the way around. I do have a strucural eningeer coming out to evaluate. My question is if for some reason the house would need jacked up does that crack flooing (ceramic tile) and plaster?

I understand we need to find out what is causing it first but is it usually necessary to replace all the walls? There is two areas that have a slight buckle maybe 1/4 or so.I don't think replacing walls is in our budget right now. I'm heart sick because we are planning to sell our home and I'm affraid no one will buy. The cracks have been there for 20 some years and don't look like they have changed much but I never realized how serious it could be.

We have not had any water problems except just recently on one corner after days of heavy rain and my husband discovered the drain spout was clogged so I'm hoping that problem was resolved after they were cleaned.

Thank you

I doubt that your house needs to be jacked, but if it does, yes, you can expect some cracking.

If all four walls are cracked and buckled, it is likely that the cause is that the blocks forming the walls were not of sufficient thickness, or that they had insufficient steel reinforcing, for the height of soil they are retaining outside. If only two walls have bucked, I will bet that those are the walls which are parallel to your floor joists. If so, the buckling was probably caused by insufficient support for the tops of those walls; they should have been braced into the floor structure above. It is also possible that the cracks were caused by heavy construction equipment running too close to the walls, but this is less likely. An even less likely cause is tree roots growing against the walls. Cracking and bowing can also be caused by backfilling the walls before the floor is constructed above them.

It may be that the cracks are old, and that there is no current movement in your walls. The cracks should be monitored over a long period of time (a few months if possible) to check for any current movement. This can be done with a four-foot long carpenter's level. Make permanent marks on the wall exactly two feet above and below the cracks. Place the level on the crack exactly between the two marks, and against the wall below the crack. Then measure carefully the distance between the top of the level and the wall, at the top mark, and keep accurate records.

A bowing of one quarter inch is not critical unless the bowing is continuing. The engineer may suggest ways to support the walls, but my own opinion is that nothing need be done unless the wall is continuing to bow. If you can get the engineer to write a letter to you to that effect, you can show it to prospective buyers of your house, and that will perhaps ease their concerns. They may wish to get an opinion from their own engineer also. Good luck.

Richard thanks so much for your quick reply. My husband tends to think you are right on about the steel reinforcing. If it is the steel reinforcing should and can anything be done? Will that scare potential buyers?

Our floor joists run perpendicular to the bowed wall. Does that make it better or worse?

When is it neccessary to replace the entire foundation? Really don't want to jack the house we have too many tile floors counter tops ect. not too mention we have acutal plaster not dry wall and I don't want to replace/repair.

good idea I will ask the strucural engineer about writing something up to show potential buyers.

I'm a real worry wart so I always expect the worse. I had the house falling in and having to replace the entire foundation.

Thanks again

Can you determine how thick the basement walls are? What is the distance between the basement floor and the outside grade? You can get the thickness at any opening such as a basement window. If you can tell me those two numbers, we can either rule out a cause or discover the cause, I think. It is very unusual for a house foundation to have steel reinforcing if it is block, but the thickness of block must be adequate to retain the amount of earth outside the wall, or what will happen is exactly what you see happening.

I believe the blocks are 10 and 6 (we have brick veneer) and basement is probably under ground is atleast 6 or 7ft. whats strange is the did use some pilester where the garage and fireplace is but not on the wall that has the longest span.

Wíth normal soil conditions, that wall thickness should be sufficient. Do you know the general characteristics of your soil? Clay? Sand? Rocky? etc.

Another thing occurs to me: where is the horizontal crack relative to the place where the wall changes thickness from 10 to 6 inches?

I would have to say clay (I'm in Ohio) I'm not sure where the block goes from 10 to 6 but the horizontal crack is about half way up the wall. I'm not sure what the rule of thumb is of where they normaly change block size.

I am in Ohio and usually when walls are bowed and pushing in here there's a drainage issue around the foundation, allowing water to wick up in the clay, thus swelling the soil and creating hydrostatic pressure which pushes your walls. This problem will appear to stabilize for a while but often becomes progressively worse depending on the moisture content of the soil. You need to look for grading or gutter problems first. If those are ok, you've likely got a draintile problem. If your house is older than 40 years in Cleveland the draintile is probably made out Red Tile...and it is likely clogged, cracked, crushed or come apart. Carbon fiber is a good way to stabilize cinderblock walls in your case, however, this doesn't address the water problem you are going to see in the future. If you're near Cleveland Contact me on www.allexperts.com ...go to the foundation stabilization and repair section

Beware of people who say "contact me" and won't put their methods here and let them stand the test. What's the secret?

Carbon fiber might "stabilize" a wall, and it might not, but it won't address the issue that is causing the bowing, and it won't stop water leakage, insect and vermin entry, and entry of radon gas. The only real cure is to work outside to address the cause of the bowed wall and remedy it, and waterproof the wall where it needs to be waterproofed...outside where it will keep water and other stuff out of your home.

Why guess at the cause and apply expensive carbon-fiber bandaids, when you can discover the cause of the problem and remedy it forever?