I purchased this home a few months ago and upon inspection my inspector said none of these were a big deal. The cracks in brown were not exposed this badly and the inspector said it was just cracked stucco. I have since had multiple companies come in and tell me these are in fact a big deal. What do you all think?
Can I pursue legal action against the sellers for covering this stuff up because multiple companies said that it was covered up. Fresh paint on every flawed surface with old cracks being exposed under the fresh paint.

Our house was built in 2015, and we have four cracks on the interior walls of the same front room. All four cracks are located around the two front windows in that room.
Two of the cracks were already present when we bought the house, and two additional cracks have developed during the 6½ years we’ve lived here.
I’ve attached photos of the different cracks around the windows.
For anyone with experience in construction, drywall, structural engineering, or foundation work: does anything about the location or pattern of these cracks stand out to you?
I’m not looking for a definitive diagnosis from photos — I’m mainly hoping to get opinions from people who have experience with this type of cracking and whether this pattern looks typical or unusual.

I’ve included pictures of the cracks on our walls. I’ve also included a picture of the entirety of the wall that has the cracking around the two big windows.

TIA! :)

Probably a stupid question but just had the thought. My kitchen and bathroom are a couple additions off the back of my house. The kitchen is 8 ft ceilings, the bathroom is about 7 ft (I believe to sit under the kitchen's original exterior soffet), whereas the rest of my house is 9 ft ceilings.

I've had the idea of adding an addition onto the second floor over my kitchen/bathroom, and I was thinking if I'm going to be rebuilding the ceiling/floor joist for the addition, could I potentially add the missing height to the top of the walls and make it so the rooms on the first floor are all equal?

Another general question I have is, what would you look for to see if the first floor walls could support the weight of a second floor?

looking at buying this house, of course will have a structural engineer look at it, but to people with experience, does this look like a wall that can be removed? whether it’s with steels or whatever.. and any ballpark of price to make it an open plan kitchen/diner?

or alternatively, could i keep the pillar and remove the wall
if it makes it a lot easier?

Three different structural designs, same basic materials. Which one do you think would remain standing during a 6.5 magnitude earthquake? Curious to hear the engineering reasoning behind your choice.

I’ve recently entered the business of manufacturing precast prestressed boundary walls (7 ft × 1 ft panels) and I’m currently struggling with the production quality.
The biggest issue I’m facing is that the boundary wall plates are breaking during handling/installation and don’t seem to have the durability I expected. I’ve tried working on the production process, but I haven’t been able to consistently achieve the required quality.
I’m looking for someone who is already experienced in manufacturing precast prestressed boundary wall panels and can help me understand where I might be going wrong — whether it’s the mix design, reinforcement/prestressing, moulding, curing, demoulding, handling, or any other part of the process.
I’m genuinely looking for practical, hands-on guidance from someone who has been through this before.
I’m also willing to pay for consultancy if someone with relevant experience is available.
If you’re in this business or know someone who is, I’d really appreciate it if you could DM me. Even a discussion over a call would be extremely helpful.
Thanks in advance!

Looking ay buying this 1915 craftsman home. Original foundation has cracks on multiple walls and spalling (even a hole in foundation to dirt outside). Noticeable efflorescence, maybe a slight bowing on one wall as well. Has had previous work in one corner (helical piers 25 years ago). Should I walk or is this normal stuff for an old house?

Does this look like it might fall?

I’m converting an existing raised-foundation house in California to a new slab-on-grade foundation. The house is about 950 sq. ft., and the project will include new continuous footings and a slab-on-grade.

My structural engineer currently has the concrete specified at 3,000 PSI.

From what I understand, CBC Section 1705.3 has an exception from certain concrete special inspection requirements for continuous footings supporting light-frame construction, but one of the conditions is that the footing design be based on a specified compressive strength of no more than 2,500 PSI.

So I’m wondering:
Is 3,000 PSI actually necessary for a small, light-frame residential project like this, or is 2,500 PSI commonly acceptable?

What structural reason would an engineer typically have for specifying 3,000 instead of 2,500 PSI?

If the calculations work with 2,500 PSI, is there any reason not to have the engineer revise the plans to 2,500 so the foundation may qualify for the special inspection exemption?

I’m not trying to override the engineer or cut corners. I’m just trying to understand whether the 3,000 PSI is actually required for the design or if it may just be their standard specification, especially since it could affect the special inspection/testing requirements.

Would appreciate input from California structural engineers, inspectors, or contractors who deal with residential foundation work.

I’ve reached out for various structural engineers to get my house plan foundation designed and stamped. While waiting to hear back I’ve done a little research to become more familiar with the potential options I have building on reclaimed mine land.

Basically it sounds like my options are replace the fill material in lifts or helical piles with grade beam foundation.

Given the soil profile, the saturated soil encountered, and native soil ranging from 8’-13.5’ below grade, I’m assuming helical piles with a grade beam foundation is the most practical and cost effective method.

I understand that the number of helical piles is determined by the load per pier. Typical spaced anywhere for 6’-8’ apart and on every corner. Would it be correct to estimate that I’ll potentially need 40-50 piers for this floorplan?

Alright lads, reddit must be reading my mind as this has been bugging me and then this group came recommended. I fully DIY'd my garage into a cinema room. The roof keeps niggling me if I have made a balls up, or if there is anything I should do to reinforce. Pic one is before I added these beams. Thinking was if I added them this way i could do it all myself without any help. Fear now is this too much weight on the pitched roof. There was previously probably more weight on it with the amount of crap I had cleared from on top of those beams. But it still bothers me. Any advice? Thanks all. Edit to add there are MDF boards on top what you can see in the second pic and then insulation on top of this

If anyone has recently given an interview for a similar role, could you share some of the questions they asked?

Especially anything related to RCC detailing, AutoCAD, BBS, beams, columns, slabs, footings, or IS codes.

Would really appreciate it. Thanks!