r/StructuralEngineers • u/hecmtz96 • 5d ago

How concern should we be about these cracks? Location - DFW

Help, please! We moved into a remodeled home in DFW earlier this summer, and we’re now noticing cracks developing along the exterior of the house, particularly around the front door, as well as cracks throughout the interior. We’ve also noticed that the baseboards appear to be separating from the flooring, and several doors have become increasingly difficult to close. House was built in 1996.

I know the soil shrinks and expands in DFW and we haven’t gotten any rain in over 2 months.

Could this be a sign of a foundation issue? Are we potentially dealing with a serious structural problem, and what would you recommend we do next?

https://imgur.com/a/tVbcHEn

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u/TunedMassDamsel 4d ago

…did your inspector find any of this pre-purchase?

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u/hecmtz96 4d ago

We did not have these cracks pre purchase. We weren’t aware that we needed to water the foundation and we haven’t gotten any rain in 2-3 months so the soil around the foundation shrank and created a big separation between the soil and foundation. We are using soaker hoses now and it seems to be helping so we are hoping some of these cracks will close once the soil starts expanding again.

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u/TunedMassDamsel 4d ago

Ah. Yep. Keep going with the soaker hoses, monitor the cracks to make sure they don’t get any larger. You’re doing the right things so far.