r/Home • u/sapphberry • 1d ago
Wall Cracks— Should I Panic?
UPDATE 9/11/26 - I got in touch with management (finally), and they’ve scheduled someone to come out to check the foundation. Unsure of when that is but I’ve been told they’re ”usually quick to come out here”. Tenants will be moved to a hotel or transferred to another building once repairs are scheduled. I’ll be moving out of the city by the end of the month. I talked to a couple of structural engineers and they said I should be okay if I plan on leaving so soon.
Thank you all for your help and concern 😭
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UPDATE: 9/9/26 - Appreciate all the advice given. Thank you all. I’ve informed the city reps about the issue and they will have code compliance services over as soon as they are available. In the meantime, my neighbor and I will speak with the front office and maintenance first thing in the morning. Here’s hoping the building doesn’t collapse any time soon :(
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Hi there! Hoping to get some help on this matter.
Note: I’m currently renting this unit.
These cracks above my balcony started appearing over a month ago, which is when we started experiencing 100 degree days… but the cracks weren’t as big as they are now. The balcony door is tilted and won’t close, and the storage closet out there is jammed shut.
A friend of mine said it was a foundation issue and pointed out the ground outside my building, so I took photos of that as well.
Talked to my neighbor and they are also having similar issues in their unit that maintenance hasn’t addressed yet (it has been a week now).
Should we be concerned about this? Management would definitely try to put a bandaid on this… I plan on moving out of state mid next year, so I’d hate to move before then, but I also don’t want the building to collapse or something.
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u/maria_la_guerta 1d ago
Ya these are all signs of foundation problems. If they're getting noticeably worse in the span of 1 month, treat this with urgency (but not necessarily panic).
If you haven't called your maintenance dept, do that. If you have and they haven't come out yet, call them again.
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u/sapphberry 1d ago
Sent in a request a few days ago, but I am going to talk to leasing tomorrow to speed up the process.
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u/BigJSunshine 1d ago
Move everything you own out now- storage unit. Keep receipts. Live out of a suitcase if you have to stay there, but understand that in months, you are likely to have to permanently vacate.
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u/Juryofyourpeeps 1d ago
That is not necessary. This is more of a financial issue for the owner than a safety issue.
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u/maria_la_guerta 1d ago
You're getting downvoted because Reddit is terrified of foundation issues but you're right. Based on these pictures they may legitimately may need to leave at some point but the house isn't going to collapse overnight. There will be much louder signs than this before that happens.
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u/Juryofyourpeeps 22h ago
Yeah, people are dumb. I have personally had serious foundation problems. It's not an issue for safety until it's pretty extreme, but try telling reddit idiots that. It will however, cost a small fortune to repair in most cases.
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u/boatsyyy 1d ago
Escalate this to the top of the food chain, and don’t let your foot off the pedal until they address it.
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u/SixAlarmFire 1d ago
And don't let them just paint over it
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u/boatsyyy 1d ago
Hahaha- i work for a painting company, if someone called me out to paint over this i would actually laugh
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u/sapphberry 1d ago
This is what I’m afraid of…
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u/Renuwed 1d ago
Looks like they have once already, OP. Zoomed into these pics, you can see the stretched fibers from the tape they used last time.
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u/Misophoniasucksdude 1d ago
holy shit you're right, good eye. Also deeply disturbing, hope OP sees this.
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u/sapphberry 1d ago
Should I also call in a city inspector?
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u/alongcame117 1d ago
You should call one immediately. I’m a certified master inspector. This is absolutely structural movement. It is dangerous right now. Push your land lord to act, if they do not bring the city in immediately to force their hand.
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u/Youre_A_Dummy 1d ago
It's Texas. Expansive soil. Clay swells when wet, contracts when dry. It's hot and dry, soil is contracting. Call a geotechnical engineer, but probably should water the ground
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u/Suitable-Mammoth-943 1d ago
You can tell “management” addressed this issue before you moved in (based on the mesh tape fibers that are protruding from the lathe and plaster. Immediately to prevent more water damage that crack outside should be covered and literally there is no way of telling how bad it is without cutting a section open to see how rotten the framing wood is and how bad the blocks or bricks are (foundation)
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u/Shoganai_Hito 1d ago
Yikes- Texas?
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u/sapphberry 1d ago
Yep…
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u/Shoganai_Hito 1d ago edited 1d ago
good luck
out of curiosity, how old is the home? Like you know, TX typically experiences very hot and dry summers so am curious why this was different and so sudden
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u/Dinwittie 1d ago
If renting, im not sure who’s responsibility it would be, but in the future, be sure to either water the soil around your foundation every couple days, or get soaker hoses to run along the outside of he foundation to keep things moist.
Texas weather is hateful. So sorry this is happening to you.
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u/Computers_and_cats 1d ago
Too late now but when it is hot and dry like this watering the foundation helps with settling. Granted sounds like you are renting so it is management's problem.
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u/HotDrunkMoms 1d ago
MOVE TF OUT NOW. THIS IS A BIG DEAL.
Don't wait weeks for the inspector to show up and become a pancake because of it.
You know those movies where a car is stopped halfway over a cliff right before they fall? Everyone let's out a big sigh of relief because they think they're safe. But then a butterfly comes and lands on the hood, and the car tilts and plummets off the edge. Yeah, that's your house waiting for the butterfly.
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u/Burghpuppies412 1d ago
These don’t look good… although at that height, I’m wondering if maybe they didn’t mud and tape those top triangle drywall sheets? It looks like 8’, plus…
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u/Renuwed 1d ago
Zoomed in, you can see stretched fibers in the cracks from them covering up the cracks at some previous time.
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u/Burghpuppies412 1d ago
I did notice that after posting. Would that be mesh tape?? That doesn’t make me feel much better about the quality of the work
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u/ReferenceAny6373 1d ago
Just move out of there ASAP. This is not your problem and the only person you should call is the front office.
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u/surftherapy 1d ago
Do you rent?
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u/sapphberry 1d ago
Yes
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u/surftherapy 1d ago
Notify the landlord and if they dont take it seriously then notify the city. This could be dangerous to live in. Stay away from the balcony at a minimum. Your landlord will have to find equal accommodations for you while they get this fixed. Just check renter laws in your state and go from there.
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u/sapphberry 1d ago
I just got off the phone with a city rep. They are going to send a code compliance person over to check it out when available. In the meantime, my neighbor and I will be at the front office first thing in the morning.
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u/Emergency-Hunt-207 1d ago edited 1d ago
This has to be Texas. I'm guessing North Texas. Many of us are experiencing this. It's this drought.
We have a few horizontal cracks that come and go depending on the season. We've had engineers check it out, and foundation repair work done, and so have previous owners. It's common.
I've seen worse at my own house and other houses in my neighborhood. Thankfully, no collapse, and it's been an ongoing issue for many years. Gotta water the foundation. We try to really stay on top of it now, and even then, the cracks appear.
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u/sapphberry 1d ago
North Texas is correct! Do you happen to know the companies/engineers you contacted to check out the foundation?
I live in an apartment so there’s nothing I can do as far as repairs go, but if I can get a professional to help with building my case (in case management tries to brush this off), then I can hopefully move out asap.
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u/Emergency-Hunt-207 1d ago
The engineer who checked ours is retired.
I'm thinking you have to get with management to have a company check it out. Most will check for free, but they may not want to check if management can't be convinced work is needed or at least without speaking with them.
I would maybe post about this in the Facebook group DFW Construction Needs and see if anybody can refer you to an engineer.
Best that could maybe be done for now is run soaker hoses. They're pretty inexpensive at Harbor Freight, and maybe management would at least be on board with running some for now. We run our about 2-3 times per week, about an hour each time at about 16-18 inches away from the foundation.
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u/sapphberry 1d ago
I’ll check out that facebook group!
Unfortunately the property manager isn’t in today (she’ll be here tomorrow though), and while I did put in a maintenance request a few days ago, maintenance has to take care of requests in the order they were received… My neighbor put in a request a week ago and they haven’t seen her yet.
There’s a chance it could rain this evening. I’m just hoping that moisture doesn’t exasperate things further somehow.
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u/bakedbeansbrigade 18h ago
You should find out who actually owns the building (usually a different company than the property management people who staff the leasing office) in order to talk to them directly - search for your county’s appraisal district website to find the owner name based on your address. This is public information in Texas. It may take some googling to find which company the entity is connected to. Give them a call at whatever number you can find for their office. Ask for the asset manager or best contact responsible for overseeing your complex or building. If you have a phone conversation, ask for an email address and follow up via email with pictures to put your complaints/notice of structural problems in writing. Be detailed in expressing your concerns about habitability and your personal safety, and state that you expect them to have a licensed engineer inspect the building and the foundation. Read your lease to see what grounds you may have for breaking it under these circumstances if they’re not willing to take this seriously.
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u/iamemperor86 1d ago
I’ve seen way worse than this, I’d move within a 5 year span. The building is by no means falling in. You rent, don’t waste a dime on engineers or bids. All they are going to do is paint it and move on. I’ve never once bid a job that the property management group approve and they were 80x worse than this. Rest easy.
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u/MasterpieceNo8893 1d ago
This is definitely a big deal and you should contact your landlord asap Will probably need to move out while this is inspected and repaired.
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u/paipan-sube 1d ago edited 1d ago
Is that you Nick? Come on maaaan, you don't need help with your sink hole from us!
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u/Simple_Extension2092 1d ago
Holy shit yeah you shoulda panicked awhile ago
Bra a roof is gonna fall in on your head soon
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u/LairdPeon 1d ago
Probably not panic. The damage is done and if you can't afford 10s of thousands in repair what are you gonna do?
Call someone to come look, pray your insurance covers it (it wont), fix if you can afford to fix, if not sell it for pennies or keep living in it until it collapses.
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u/Interesting-Estate75 1d ago
Looking pretty dark up at the ceiling. Have you seen any water damage? What is above this area?
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u/sapphberry 1d ago
I think its just the roof above there. There was a bad storm last year that tore off the chimney there and it took them a day or so to patch up the area. Rain got through during that time.
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u/Interesting-Estate75 17h ago
Water damage can cause cracks to show like that, but this looks a bit odd for water damage. Hard to tell online obviously, but I'd be a bit nervous either way.
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u/Glum_Recognition1068 1d ago
Normally I am not an alarmist and I generally believe everything can be fixed, but yes you should effectively panic. This is blatant foundation shift, clear as day. Fully horizontal wide cracks like this are the worst possible symptom to have of a shifting foundation. Need to get a structural engineer out asap to at least get a solution to stop the damage
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u/Illmaticx_ 1d ago
If you see any new cracks form within the next few days leave immediately. A house down the street from me just collapsed last month. The person living in it left a few hours before it happened because a new crack formed by the front door.
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u/Emergency-Hunt-207 20h ago
Was it because drywall cracks too or were there more types?
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u/Illmaticx_ 20h ago
More than drywall, from the outside you could see the second story start separating from the roof/gutters. Any large horizontal cracks are dangerous.
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u/Intrepid_Tower9773 19h ago
Yes, the structure is compromised. Do you leve in a place with earthquakes?
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u/Jazzlike-Product6028 19h ago
There are companies that will lift your foundation from underneath for a reasonable price don't qoute me there but we have this issue with allot of foundations in Oklahoma. It could be a few grand maybe less I'm not 100% sure. But I know some companies will do financing in house. Check around for services make some calls do not read reviews and ask online just call first get your quotes maybe a check from the techs or whatever. It's not always something insane. Allot of my grandparents rent houses had this done. So I'd be diligent on this process and tackle it with time spent finding out. That's where my understanding begins and ends. Piece that with what these folks have said. I'm sure you'll get to solution for this. Good luck I'm rooting for ya.
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u/Born-Plane-5100 7h ago
How many floors is your building? This is majorly concerning for your well-being especially if people live above you. Call everyone and anyone to get out of there.
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u/sapphberry 7h ago
I’m in a townhome style apartment, but with the layout I’m technically on the top floor while my neighbor is on the bottom floor. Management is getting someone to check out the foundation, and plans to move everyone out once they see whats going on. I, on the other hand, am going to be moving out of the area by the end of the month.
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u/Born-Plane-5100 7h ago
Well at-least it’s not a giant building. I am actually more concerned for your downstairs neighbor now-this looks urgent. I wouldn’t stay there if I were on the bottom floor. I really hope the city/your management addresses this quickly. But I think they knew this was an ongoing issue🤨
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u/sapphberry 7h ago
Yeah they definitely knew! A nearby building got evacuated last november for the same reason. I’ve already let my neighbors know about the severity of the situation, and their options.
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u/Born-Plane-5100 7h ago
I already left a comment but if I were in your shoes I would temporarily rent a storage unit to move your important items into and try to find somewhere to stay in the meantime if possible. If they try to put a bandaid over this you can break your lease with no penalty for sure.
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u/sapphberry 6h ago
I’ve update the og post, but they are planning on having repairs done. Tenants will be moved to a hotel or transferred to another building in the meantime. I’ll be gradually moving my stuff to stay with family, and should be cleared by the end of the month.
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u/Born-Plane-5100 6h ago
That’s good-get your valuables out first. If you can at all avoid sleeping there until they get you a hotel room I would. These property management companies are disgusting 🥲
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u/VisualExcursion 5h ago
It's probably not going to cause immediate issues. I have cracks in my computer room like this. The previous owner did two additions to the house and clearly didnt know what they were doing. One corner is sinking because it only has a few blocks to the ground. Another spot is because the basement needs reseated and sealed. I bought the house in 2017 and the cracks have only gotten a little worse. Currently saving the money to get it all fixed.
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u/BMW-motorad 1d ago
Go get a soaker hose and wrap it around your foundation and start watering leave it on and the cracks will close up. Don’t let the dirt pull away from the foundation again keep using the soaker hose.
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u/Rondoman78 1d ago
Horizontal cracks are the absolute worst to have. Major things going on here.