Structural systems

<Patio addition- This three season room was built right on top of the patio slab, which will allow it to rise and settle with the changing weather. Structures in the Chicagoland area require foundations below the 42" deep frost line. This addition has begun to damage other parts of the house with it's movement.

 VSettling post supports-  The two photos below are the same structure that is attached to the rear of a garage.  The lean-to building has settled several inches downward to the left.  The right photo shows rotting support columns that appear to be sections of telephone poles.  They do not appear to have been supported with any concrete or footings.  Dispite someones best effort to install new treated lumber, the building will continue to shift away from the garage.  Inside this addition, roof leaks were evident where it has pulled away from the garage.

V Two photos below show that the framing is significanly undersupported with undersized 2x4 posts that are spaces about 60" on center (16" is normal spacing), and a base plate that is directly on the ground (rotting) that is not supported below the frost line (which is 42" under ground in Illinois).

V The three photo's below show some significant settling of a concrete block home.  The center photo shows a significant gap between the top of the foundation and the house sill plate, in other words this part of the house is not supported by its foundation. 

V The three photos below are the same house.  Starting on the left is what I saw when I opened the sump pump lid.  Note an edge above the bottom of the sump, a gap of about six inches.  When I looked with my flashlight, this is what I saw under the lip, a huge cavity under much of the house, like a shallow crawlspace.  Water was present in the background of the center photo.  We are not engineers, but it appears that the basement floor was probably originally poured on grade, but that the ground had lowered, creating a crawlspace under the house.  The photo at the right shows that the garage floor slab has sunk six inches.

<Sheer deflection crack- This crack shows movement up and down verticle movement as about 1/4" lateral movement creating a lip or edge as you run your finger across the crack.  This happens to be near a window and doorway.  Each house opening represents a place where settling cracks are more likely to show up.  We give a free presentation on cracks if your realtor's office would like us to visit, we'd be happy too.

>Let's do the Bump-

This handy homeowner wanted to "bump out" his family room, so he constructed a bump out addition over a foundation he poured on top of the grade.  The top of the footer is visible just to the right of the bucket. This addition had settled away from the home and a half inch crack had been repaired both inside and outside more than once.

<On Crack-

Poured foundation cracks are normal, to a point.  Even a week after the foundation is poured, cracks can show up.  As concrete cures, it shrinks and cracks.  However, deflected cracks (out of plane with one another), varied (wider crack at one end), horizonal cracks, bulging, or bowing walls are concerns.  Sometimes the cracks are caused by a careless backhoe operator who bumps the foundation when backfilling.  This photo shows some deflection, some bulging and the intersection of two cracks that were very recently repaired.  Enough of a yellow flag for us to recommend further evaluation.

<Reverse bell housing crack- is typically a problem sign of unwanted settlement.  This crack was sealed with epoxy, but not injected with epoxy.  As a result, it has re-seeped and recracked.

V Below is a typical looking poured concrete foundation crack that was "repaired" by the builder.  However, the crack has re-opened, meaning that some minor settlment has continued.  When proper epoxy injection repairs are made, it adds strength back to the foundation and is usually guarenteed for life.

Selling Crack-  Most hairline cracks are due to normal settling or a tape joints poping loose.  This homeowner informed us that this crack (and several others) had been there for a long time and he tried to sell us on it being "no problem".  The floor was out of level and the structural components in the basement were sagging, improperly supported with rotting and undersized columns, unsupported floor joists plus some dry-rotting. We discribe cracks has; stess cracks (cosmetic in nature), settling cracks, structural cracks (stretching, varied, or deflected).  The structural cracks are the type to pay attention to and get further evaluation from a structural contractor or engineer.  Below are three pictures that show the basement support of this house.

Note the dry rotted girder below on the left and joists that don't go far enough to be supported by the girder on the right.

This 3x3 column in the photo to the left is supporting one end of the large girder beam in the photo above it. Note that the floor drain is rotting out the board under the 3x3.  In essence, much of the house is being supported by this 3x3 column, which was beginning to bow under the stress.  I'm surprised the floor concrete hadn't cracked yet.

It's hard to know what is going on here.  If you look closely their are 2x4's going vertically and some horizonally ending halfway through the wall.  This was a load bearing wall was in a finished garage, and out of plumb I might add.  The only thing I could figure out is that the builder (said to be a previous homeowner) must have built it with wood scraps that he pieced together.

V Engineered truss systems rely on each piece supporting the other pieces of the truss system.  When one piece is cut or broken, it can effect that truss system.  The house certainly won't fall down, but some settling may be noticable and ceiling cracks may appear. This is an easy repair and not very costly.

<"It'll hold", not-

That must have been what the framer was thinking.  This improper valley rafter is holding a lot of weight with other jack rafters running to it.  This is a new home, but before long this 2x6 will split. 

>Guss has left the building-

Everything is lined up okay here, so this might seem kinda picky.  What is missing is a gusset plate that keeps the framing from shifting out from under another framing member, which can happen with even a moderate earthquake.  Prior to the 1970's, gusset plates were made out of wood (usually plywood), today they are metal.

<Beam me up Scotty-

The main roof support beam (white wire looped around it) is not properly supported at the end over the window.  The doubled up header plate is beginning to sag and the removable type screen window could not be removed.

>Get down tonight!- Here is the underside of a cantileverd balcony.  The 2x6 joist was just toe nailed into the ledger board (probably undersized) with no joist hangers.  Even with no weight on the balcony (it was new) the joist is pulling away from the ledger board. Plus the ledger board itself was just nailed into the the brick veneer (not bolted to the framing), which could also pull away, or pull the brick veneer with it as the brick isn't structurally secured to the main framing.  This is a disaster waiting to happen.

V Joist hangers support the joists from falling.  The left deck joist hanger is undersized by two sizes and the contractor used roofing nails, that have thinner (and weaker) heads on the nails.  The right photo shows that roofing nails also rust faster and can break off, causing the joist hanger to become unstable.

V From the two photos below it appears that the joist hangers are attached to the siding (which is probably a couple inches away from some real framing).  Don't know how long the nails are so it is unknown if they really go into the house framing since it is unlikely the house framing is configured like that of the photo on the left.  The joist hangers on the left are also undersized.

<Let there be light-

Floor joists should not be notched generally, especially in the center of the joist.  Here we have notching in the center at about  2/3 of the joists' width.  Sure it hasn't fallen down, but my client asked me if he could put a hot tub on the area above.  Ya think? 

<In order to get the electric wires under the attic floor, all the ceiling joists were cut.  Because this was an older home, the ceiling joists were already undersized.  Cutting them caused some very noticable sagging in the living room, not to mention conpromized the structural integrity of the homes framing.

>Plumbers delight-

I don't know, but it seems to me that most plumbers just love to cut up framing to make way for their pipes.  But this recent plumber was much more conscientious than the previous plumber who cut a big notch out of the center of a floor joist (now abandoned).  Since the nice new plumber worked around the joist, the joist can be easily repaired.  Ah, I have some new hope for our plumbing brethern.

<The sky is falling, the sky is falling!-

Yes Chicken Little, the next big snow fall and the sky will fall just as you walk out your door.  Notice the buckling metal support bracket next to the light.  It won't be long now.

>Fun fun fun until Daddy takes the T-Bird away-

Just below the center of this photo is a split header beam.  The roof was sagging noticably and a big snow load could colapse this garage.  If the homeowner doesn't repair the garage, the nice hot rod inside could be near worthless.

<Yummy-

This home had several locations of damage like this due to termites.  I guess you could call it a pet farm, since it appeared that the homeowners did little or nothing to stop the problem that they obviously knew about. 

>We don't see a lot of termite problems in our Chicagoland area, but they are present.  Here the homeowner recently painted the foundation of the home, but the termites worked quickly to repair their transfer tubes (tunnels for traveling to the home).

We are not termite inspectors, but if we see obvious signs of damage or tubes, we will recommend further evaluation.

<This new home, not yet finished has rotting and mold development.  I borrowed this picture but will replace it soon when I can find the home I inspected last year.  Even new homes not finished can have mold and rotting.  

>"I just Forgot!"- At least that's what I hear from my kids.

However, it's not very often that we find a brand new home with a missing support column.  I was familiar with this model of home.  I double checked my tape measure and sure enough, the beam was overspanded and needed support at the location of these predrilled holes.

V Temporary jacks- are great when replacing a wall or something.  But they are not intended for permanent support, as depicted in both the photo's below.  Jacks smaller than 3" in diameter are temporary jacks and should be replaced with proper permanent jacks that have a proper footer under them.  All of these jacks were in the same house actually, carrying a lot of weight, but only anchored by resting flush on top of the 3" concrete slab floor.  Which is not a an adequate footer.  As a result the floor slab has begun to break up.

<Lend me your support-

Sometimes we find changes someone has made, like bringing in new water service whereby they have dug under the footer.  Although this area has not cracked, it is more likely now to crack because the soil has been disturbed under the footer.  Repairs are recommended here. 

>This main girder column (two concrete blocks) is not supported below the frost line, causing the home to experience seasonal settling.  The wood shims can become compressed.  Due to the cracks in the interior plaster walls, I'd say the movement had been happening for a long time.

<Signifcant water runoff from around the home has washed much of the crawlspace floor away, and has begun to deteriorate under the concrete footer for the main support column that holds up the houses main central beam.  Several things need to be done to repair the problems we found under this home and prevent the problems from coming back.

>Wood and dirt- Don't mix very well.  The natural moisture in the earth rots wood over time.  The downward pressure on the wood column sinks it further into the dirt over time.  Pictured right is a wood support column that is not supported by a footer.  In fact it looks like part of a concrete pad is laying next to it.  Whoever replaced the old column forgot to put a footer under it.

<Oh so shallow- Crawlspaces this shallow can not be adequately inspected.  Sometimes shallow crawlspaces can either have a main beam resting directly on the ground or the joists are so close to the damp earth that they rot prematurely.  Here someone had replaced, or sistered up to the older rotten wood.  Treated wood is not waterproof, it is treated to resist insects and rotting, but under the right conditions will rot.  One house in Chicago I inspected appeared to have been build right on top of the ground.  The main beam had rotted significantly and the weight of the house had crushed down the main beam.  The photo's I have of this are contained in a previous software and are not easily retreavable for this website.

<Mr. Grinch? (Rotten to the core)- well almost.  This main beam has been "repaired" a couple of times.  With sistering 2x6 (note cut out joist in forground - bottom left) and a steel I-beam under it.  What really is needed is a new steel I-beam to replace the rotten main girder beam.

>Poor slice location-  We would like to see a wall or support column here and recommended a structural engineer to look at it.  He drafted a plan for better support.

<Creative- A joist hanger is nailed into a 1x6 which is nailed to a 2x6 running parallel to the hangered joist, but not attached to the first joist.  A block of wood is wedged to hold the 1x6 from separating from the sistered joist.  Anyway, you get the idea.  The floor upstairs is soft and stringy.  Creative yes, but not safe nor effective.

>The original undersized floor joists were originally cut with a "birds mouth" type of connection to a main beam (which is prone to spliting). The center one in this photo split, so they jacked it up with a wood block, and the left one was replaced with an undersized 2x4.  At some point this part of the floor probably failed.

<This joist is not properly supported above a window frame.  Settling will probably occure and better support is advised.

>Not all problems are found in older homes.  Photo right show a main girder beam of the house being suspended with a temporary 2x4 that the top of the beam in the support pocket.

<Dust to dust-  Before portland cement was invented, masons developed their own family recipes for mortar to hold bricks and stones together.  The mortar was called daub, or in some areas called mud n' daub.  These recipes were carefully guarded secrets, and each mason had his own mixure.  Some of the daub mixures have held up over time, others have not, turning to dust such as the stone foundation wall pictured here to the left.

All the concerns above can be repaired. Although it may not have effected the buying decision, all our clients really appreciated just knowing about these concerns.  We realize you have a choice in home inspectors, we hope you make a wise choice in hiring Home Check America.  Because your peace of mind matters.