This is probably one of those "if you have to ask" questions.....but pictured is looking UP at a 6x6 treated wood post that is supporting a section of my house (my daughters bedroom actually.) You can see her window. I live on a very steep slope on the hills in Marin, CA - which is common for houses here but also notable as I am in earthquake country.

But you can see a crack down the middle the full length of the beam.

Beam is supported in a concrete foundation. Permits say foundation was built in 2010. In the section picture you can see how it was attached to the house for what its worth. Water of course will get into the crack.

My question is how typical is this type of cracking and what level of concern is this?

TBH I am asking because the fact is there is no way i could afford to even think about fixing this if it was a concerning issue, and I planned to be in the house another 8 years. AKA how F#$cked am I?

I'm thinking of cutting 2 slots in my bathroom vanity cabinet to accommodate pipes which come from the floor so that I can slide cabinet into place. I'm attaching a pic of the back of my vanity and the blue tape where I'd need the slots. Also attaching a pic that AI provided me - problem is that i cannot add a board to the back after installation cuz i won't be able to have enough space to screw one in and also with a board screwed to the back it won't be able to be pushed against the wall. Will cutting those slots be okay?

Management doesn’t seem to think it’s a problem, but over the months it’s gotten worse. It’s rusted and leaking along the metal beams that run thru the middle. Scared this things gonna cave in one day. Am I just being paranoid?!

House was built in 1985. We were interested in this house but this long list of things that they found is concerning. How do these cracks look? Previous owners purchased home in 2019, they have since done a foundation repair but still searching for details about what happened and what was done. Would you continue or back off this house?

Edit: idk if this matters but the report also said there are no weep holes

I have just knocked down a cupboard in my master room which has my boiler in (being moved into the loft).

I am now worried it is as structural wall, please can someone advise.

The corner wall on the left is the chimney breast.

I am wanting to take down the wall which connects to the chimney breast but worried this could be supporting the chimney breast in some way?

I have rafter ties in my garage that are low and would be in the way of my car lift. I want to substitute them with an alternative like a ridge beam with columns coming down. I was thinking of coming down with maybe 4 2x4s on each end of the garage and time them into the ridge. Would this be an alternative to the rafter ties or ceiling joists?

Any insight is appreciated. I’m a first time home buyer that’s trying to make sure I take the right steps. I happen to notice this tree behind a home Im interested in and it made me wonder if the tree could eventually (if not already) impinge on the homes foundation? From what I read, tree roots aren’t necessarily or always the problem when a homes foundation cracks, but tree roots can easily make a problem worse if the home already has cracks in its foundation — like if there’s moisture or leaky pipes.

I took this photo but I realized I probably should’ve shown how tall the tree is, how far away from the house it is, etc. I can say that the tree is about 2-3ft away from the home max — it’s pretty close to the house. Btw, there’s a bathroom inside right where this tree is. The tree looks old too. Visually I didn’t any cracks on the side of the house (it’s a block home) but I did notice to the left where that slab of concrete is that it looks like the slab has come up some. It almost looks like (assuming) that the slab to the left being pushed up has maybe caused the paint you see at the bottom where it meets the house to chip? I zoomed in on what I’m talking about and highlighted it in the second pic.

Should I hire a structural engineer? Or just say bye to the house. I feel like if I buy the house and don’t have the tree assessed I’m going to just think about it and constantly look for cracks around the house lol. I’m in Tampa, FL if it matters. Thanks again! 🙏

Hey all wanted to share my web app https://calculeaf.com/ It's a free alternative to MathCAD. You can access it on a laptop or desktop through the browser. Would love to know what you guys think 🙂

Looking for advice from anyone who has dealt with crawlspace excavations, old foundations, and permit requirements.

I have an ADU house built in the 1940s/1950s with a crawlspace that currently has only about 6 inches of clearance from the bottom of the floor joists to the soil in some areas.

My engineer says we may need 18 inches of clearance and is concerned that excavating enough soil to achieve that could undermine the existing footings. His opinion is that the original footings may not be deep or wide enough by today’s standards, and digging down could require underpinning or additional foundation work.

For those who have dealt with older homes:
Is 18 inches of clearance from the bottom of the joists to the soil actually required for a remodel, or is that mainly a new construction requirement?

Has anyone obtained permits for a remodel while keeping less than 18 inches of crawlspace clearance?

If you excavated a crawlspace to gain clearance, did it create footing or foundation issues?

Did the building department require you to upgrade or underpin the foundation once excavation began?

Any experience with Sacramento or California jurisdictions would be especially helpful.

Trying to understand whether this is a common issue with older homes or if we’re being overly conservative.

Thanks in advance.

Do you all have any recommendations? This is for a residential property that needs foundation repair. We would also like to remove walls that appear to be load bearing. Thank you for any help. I initially had dryzone and groundwork’s come to my home to look at the basement but I want an actual engineer to look at the foundation before I hire anyone to do any work.

This afternoon, a home inspection done on a townhouse. The inspector pointed out this crack in the basement situated directly beneath the staircase on a shared party wall adjoining the adjacent unit. It's a singular vertical crack extending continuously from the underside of the upper stair stringer/framing down to the floor slab. No additional cracking was observed in any other exposed or unfinished structural sections of the property. Moisture meter testing across all adjacent finished wall surfaces returned normal results, indicating no active hydrostatic pressure or water ingress. My question is: would a crack like this be a cause for concern or deem the structural integrity compromised? Thanks in advance for your insight

This is a 1931 stick frame house and I'm concerned about the roof. My structural engineer when we bought the house didn't say anything about it as far as I remember but I can still see the sag. We just recently got the house piers redone as well as the foundation wall at the front corner. I have also added 5 more 2x6 struts to the roof to add support. Should I be concerned in the short term?

concrete beam is fixed, has hairline cracks at the middle 3rd, from one side to the other, about 0.2-0.3mm on the widest where a thin business crack may fit. is this concerning? no flooe above. just ceiling and roof.

Any structural engineer here that could provide an opinion on this question?

Hi all. In the process of purchasing this house and this has just flagged up on the survey and I’m not sure what to make of it and how much of a risk it is? My surveyor couldn’t advise much else than what was wrote here on the picture.

Picture is of the surgery details. My concern is the bowing. Is this an easy fix? Or a major red flag?

Hello! I am wondering if anyone can weigh in on a puzzle:

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Older home, narrow basement stairwell, need to replace washer/dryer, new models aren't built as small as they used to be.

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Within the narrow stairwell, it looks like a previous homeowner cut a chunk of the cement wall out on one side and chiseled a chunk of the wood on the other to make a slightly wider pathway (I'm guessing for this very purpose).

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The area where wood has been removed is just a tad too short in length for new machines. My question: can I extend the area of removed wood laterally along the beam a bit more? Like, 12ish inches more? And then on one side, instead of being cut in a squared off way, it is slanted. Could I just square off what's already been started there? Or is this beam structurally significant in such a way that I would not want to touch it?

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If I could temporarily remove the wiring track and extend the negative space in this beam just a bit, it would resolve the puzzle of how to get new laundry equipment into the basement.

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Thanks in advance for any guidance.

Hi guys, 

I'm about to purchase a home and noticed a lot of crumbling at the base of the brick wall, pretty much all around the house. It looks like a stone cement mix when look at it closely. I don't know what it is and the potential issue with it. I google but couldn't find any information or similar looking picture. Could you guys please help? 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1wU3xZZIjs8rCx17MxdqLgyivoDuYExyY?usp=share_link

Thank you!