Expert: Dan Griffin - 11/26/2007

Question
I purchased a home that was never finished or occupied, as the owner ran out of money. It sat in this state for 7 years. The main portion of the house sits on a 5 foot crawl space basement which originally had a dirt floor full of water. The ground is clay and there was no drainage. The house sits on a steep hill and the grade from the hill allowed water to run right into the house with streams of water pouring all around the foundation during rain and particularly during the spring thaw. The back concrete wall was pushed in a good two inches vertically not horizontally, dead center which cracked the wall in two places. Dead center of the 32' long wall and at the outside corner at one end. If you look down the wall from end to end you can see it bows inward forming almost a v in the center. the sill plate is still on the wall but more of it is overhanging the foundation wall outside in the middle of the bow. The house was never fastened to the foundation except for four outside corners which in this case probably saved the wood framing house walls when the concrete moved. I corrected all the water issues with grading and drainage five years ago. I also poured a thick concrete floor down over a heavy poly which keeps the bottom of the foundation wall in place. The crawlspace has remained very dry since and it is also heated in winter months. I marked the vertically cracked foundation on the sill plates to watch for further movement. There has not been any in more then five years since correcting the grade and putting in drainage. I am thinking of selling the home now and I am concerned that someone else may feel that this flaw is more serious then it is. What is your take on the situation and what might an inspector say?

Answer
Totally out of my league.  I know you must disclose some issues.  I think I would have dug out the outside of the wall and pulled or pushed the footing back into line, but that was not how you addressed it.  Did you ever pin the bottom plate to the stem wall. or is it just sitting on it other than the corners?  It may still be fairly easy to push the foundation back into line, especially if you have poured a floor in  the  crawl space that you can push against.  I don't see it as a major structural issue, you have obviously stopped the future potential for damage so  you apparently have a cosmetic issue.  I would not mention it unless it comes up, but don't try to hide it.  I assume the cracks are caulked and painted.  If you are going to work with a realtor, they may be a better source of information especially about disclosures.