CMU corner crack through block
CMU corner crack through block
(OP)
Need some advise guys. I'm a ME so I dont have much knowledge on this. I have a crack in my CMU wall on the rear corner of my house. See attachment. The house faces uphill. The crack goes just about from top to bottom. Some through the block and some just between blocks but basically a straight line. It feathers off at the bottom and doesnt seem to go to the footing, but it may. It has not moved in the year I have been at the house and it looks like it has no vertical movement. But it is a crack on the corner. At the inside top is cracked all the way through. I cant see the rest of it due to a finished basement.
Possible cause: I decided to clean my gutters yesterday because they were all clogged (front and back). At the base of the crack, the gutter drain elbow was busted. The pipe the elbow went into was busted. Like someone tamped on them too hard and smashed them from the top. Anyway, I dug a hole and found that the front gutter drain terminates at the rear gutter drain and the rear gutter drain terminates at the same place. BUT there is not wye in the piping. I guess whoever did this thought water would flow uphill.
So I am now replacing the gutter drain, rather, adding a gutter drain and replacing the elbows and adding a wye. I have some strong tie epoxy which I plan to use pressure inject in the crack but I am not really sure if that will be enough. the footing looks like it has deteriorated a slight bit from all the water on it. I have no doubt that the pooling water caused more settlment over time. The house is 16 years old and I would imagine this was done with the build.
http://files.engineering.com/getfile.aspx?folder=3...
Possible cause: I decided to clean my gutters yesterday because they were all clogged (front and back). At the base of the crack, the gutter drain elbow was busted. The pipe the elbow went into was busted. Like someone tamped on them too hard and smashed them from the top. Anyway, I dug a hole and found that the front gutter drain terminates at the rear gutter drain and the rear gutter drain terminates at the same place. BUT there is not wye in the piping. I guess whoever did this thought water would flow uphill.
So I am now replacing the gutter drain, rather, adding a gutter drain and replacing the elbows and adding a wye. I have some strong tie epoxy which I plan to use pressure inject in the crack but I am not really sure if that will be enough. the footing looks like it has deteriorated a slight bit from all the water on it. I have no doubt that the pooling water caused more settlment over time. The house is 16 years old and I would imagine this was done with the build.
http://files.engineering.com/getfile.aspx?folder=3...






RE: CMU corner crack through block
RE: CMU corner crack through block
http://files.engineering.com/getfile.aspx?folder=2...
RE: CMU corner crack through block
The crack could be from a number of causes. One that comes to mind here is that the wall beyond - heading toward your deck, might have moved "downhill" slightly, rotating the masonry wall at the corner and cracking it. You might want to run some stringlines along your walls to see if there has been any slight bowing, etc.
Another cause might be block shrinkage.
It might be good for you to hire a local structural engineer who can investigate the full features, evidence, etc. on-site.
RE: CMU corner crack through block
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
http://mmcengineering.tripod.com
RE: CMU corner crack through block
RE: CMU corner crack through block
Charlie, It is foundation wall with basement inside. It is a 2-story modular cape cod above the foundation. Sloping lot...if you look in the first pic, it slopes uphill to the front of the house with 4 courses of CMU visible at the front. Supposedly, the front wall is filled with grout. There is no buckling of any kind on the front wall. I wish they would have filled all the block with grout. Here is a pic from the front corner (taken to the left of the first pic).
RE: CMU corner crack through block
RE: CMU corner crack through block
Dik
RE: CMU corner crack through block
RE: CMU corner crack through block