Foundation issue or settling?

[ceyko]

Yeah - I can agree that is root cause.

[juiceweezl]

I also have nail holes starting to pop out of the drywall too?

Remember, load follows stiffness so if the sheathing isn't there or installed correctly, then the drywall will take load thus working fasteners loose as it moves back and forth.

[GeorgeG.]

People blame it on the foundation and soil all the time. The reality is that the house is framed poorly (quality) and non-compliant with code for wall bracing. Braced wall panels are required in Chapter 6 of the IRC (R602.10). There are a number of different methods used for bracing with the most common being a 4 feet wide piece of OSB or plywood. The purpose of the bracing is to provide stiffness in plane with the wall to resist loads from wind.

Think of it most by looking at a garage. A two car garage that sits out from the rest of the house will have a large opening in the front with very small sections on each side (the returns) to provide strength in a lateral direction. When the wind blows against the perpendicular wall, the front and the back of the garage have to provide stiffness to prevent the walls from racking. Since the doors create a large opening, those small sections of wall have to resist the forces. The minimum panel length the code allows is 4' (the OSB or plywood panel). Obviously, most garages don't have 4' returns. The code allows for narrower options, but they require special framing and large metal straps into the foundation. Without the proper panels, the walls will rack/move ever so slightly and can result in drywall cracks.

Edit: This doesn't just apply to exterior walls. When looking at the load path of a house and the load resisting elements, the rule is that "load follows stiffness." I often see problems on interior walls because the sheathing on exterior walls is so poor that load ends up transferred to interior walls when it shouldn't be there at all. That leads to cracks and shifting of the drywall.

This doesn't just apply to the garage. It applies to the entire house. Unfortunately, most framers wrap the house in cardboard like sheathing because it's cheap. It's also unfortunate that most code enforcement doesn't make them build to code. Think about all the areas in the house that are full of glass or framing offsets. That's usually where you see the problems. I teach classes on wall bracing all the time and often help builders develop layouts to be code compliant. Over 90% of the problems I see attributed to foundation/bad soil are really because the homes are poorly braced.

Any chance you have a youtube video for reference? I'm trying to grasp what you're describing here but it's not computing. Just thinking if I end up building our next house, that I'll know what to look for and could possibly bring it up with the builder before they cover it up.

[juiceweezl]

Any chance you have a youtube video for reference? I'm trying to grasp what you're describing here but it's not computing. Just thinking if I end up building our next house, that I'll know what to look for and could possibly bring it up with the builder before they cover it up.

Here's 2 pages out of one of our design guides. It will help some. Whoever designs the house should understand bracing.

http://www.strongtie.com/ftp/bulletins/T-SWPDG10/T-SWPDG10_p08-p09.pdf

Think of it like this by just looking at a stand alone garage. Let's say it's 20' x 20'. The front has 2 individual doors that are 8' wide and a 2' section in between them leaving 12" on each end adjacent to the perpendicular walls. Got it? The other 3 walls all have either two windows in the middle or one window and a regular walk through door. Remember that glass isn't structural.

Now, as the wind blows against the garage walls, it applies a force pushing against it. If the wind is blowing against a side wall, that wall will want to first crumple inward. The ceiling framing braces the top of the wall and the anchor bolts keep it from sliding at the bottom. The perpendicular side walls keep it upright and plumb -- they resist the lateral forces from the wind. That means the perpendicular walls have to be stiff and not rack.

In the example above, the side wall is supported by the back wall of the garage and the front of the garage (which has the large openings). Now, the back wall is solid with very little openings. You can put plywood or OSB sheathing there in full size sheets and provide lots of lateral resistance. The front has no wall sections whatsoever to resist the forces. The returns on the corners are very narrow and tall (they will have a tip over effect). The section in between the two doors doesn't offer much either. You have to use engineered design, engineered products, or code framing alternatives to make those narrow sections of wall stronger -- or make the openings smaller.

In a nutshell, the more openings in a wall, the less strength it has. The code requires minimum amounts of bracing that are typically achieved by 4' wide sections of OSB or plywood. If you don't have them, you need alternative methods like shearwalls.

I'll try to post more info and graphics later when I get some time to upload some stuff. I'm working on an online training course now for designers that we hope to have on our site by the end of the month.

[mstng86]

Just to piggyback on this topic. Do you guys still water your foundation regularly in the winter and fall? Or do you scale it back a bit since it is a wetter climate? Or do you even water at all?

[black2002ls]

Just to piggyback on this topic. Do you guys still water your foundation regularly in the winter and fall? Or do you scale it back a bit since it is a wetter climate? Or do you even water at all?

If yours is post tension like we build, you should be ok in the wetter climates to turn them off. Make sure they are 12-18" away from the foundation when in use. Putting them next to a post tension slab can cause it to heave if water pools in areas under the beams. You want to wet the ground in a manner so that it pushes back towards the slab

[mstng86]

If yours is post tension like we build, you should be ok in the wetter climates to turn them off. Make sure they are 12-18" away from the foundation when in use. Putting them next to a post tension slab can cause it to heave if water pools in areas under the beams. You want to wet the ground in a manner so that it pushes back towards the slab

How do you know if its post tension?

[black2002ls]

How do you know if its post tension?

Are there circles about 4 ft apart all the way around the slab? Will look like a slightly discolored concrete patch. Some may be accompanied by a nail on each side that has been cut off

[mstng86]

Are there circles about 4 ft apart all the way around the slab? Will look like a slightly discolored concrete patch. Some may be accompanied by a nail on each side that has been cut off

No, I don't have that on my slab.

[black2002ls]

No, I don't have that on my slab.

When was your home built? How much of the slab is showing? It may have been graded up past the pockets for the cables.

[mikec]

BJ, are these cracks at the sides of your house, or front, or back?

Billy (Juice), knows what he's talking about. That said, I've been to your house. If they are close to the sides it's foundation issues due to the run off between the houses. You have a bit of a 'valley' between you, especially on the east side. That will cause settling as the dirt erodes.

And his house is post tension.

[black2002ls]

BJ, are these cracks at the sides of your house, or front, or back?

Billy (Juice), knows what he's talking about. That said, I've been to your house. If they are close to the sides it's foundation issues due to the run off between the houses. You have a bit of a 'valley' between you, especially on the east side. That will cause settling as the dirt erodes.

And his house is post tension.

If the swale is cut properly it should drain away from the foundation and out of the front and/or back of the swale.

[LS1Goat]

I'm having the same problem, along with a door frame that's no longer square. That typically due to settling issues, which started for me after the drought in summer 2012. I wouldn't be too concerned, unless you start see the masonry joints outside coming apart.

[black2002ls]

I'm having the same problem, along with a door frame that's no longer square. That typically due to settling issues, which started for me after the drought in summer 2012. I wouldn't be too concerned, unless you start see the masonry joints outside coming apart.

I would be a bit concerned if your door frame is out of square. That is a pretty significant shift...

[juiceweezl]

I would be a bit concerned if your door frame is out of square. That is a pretty significant shift...

Not necessarily. Again, if there is no real bracing in the house, it wouldn't take much for this to happen -- especially if the door was close to a corner. Think of how flimsy a wall section 16' long would be before it's sheathed. You frame it on the ground and then stand it up. It'll rack like crazy if you push on it in plane if there is no sheathing or drywall on it, especially if it has openings for doors/windows. It will stiffen significantly as you put sheathing and drywall on it though. However, if you don't have enough, then the wall will rack. Aspect ratio begins to come into play then. If you look at a 12" section of wall (like at a garage return or a corner that has a door next to it), then you can have substantial movement because of the ratio. If that 12" wide section is 8' tall, then you have a 8:1 ratio. That means a 1/4" of movement at the bottom would be 2" of movement at the top. That would be significant. If it was out 1/4" at the top, then that would mean only 1/32" movement at the bottom of that wall section -- hardly a significant shift but a pain in the ass nonetheless.

Trust me, there will be a point in the next 15-20 years when class action lawsuits begin to occur. People will sue the cities and the builders (whomever they can find to sue) because of negligence in code enforcement. The building code is a MINIMUM standard, and it is extremely rare to find a house built remotely close to meeting code. When you look at cities like Allen, Frisco, McKinney, etc. that have sprawling developments going up like crazy, it's begging for a lawsuit when failures start to occur.