The cracks were noticed after a week of temperatures below 10F and they closed shortly after the house was re-heated.
Contractor's opinion was that it was due to insufficient drainage. Actually the house did not have a perimeter drainage system.
Also the house was not supported properly inside...
The floors/ceilings are tied to the concrete block walls so I guess they act as diaphragms of the structure.
The foundation has only a couple of hairline cracks.
My questions were related to the fact that without interior sheathing or diagonal braces the interior wall add no strength.
1)Is the...
The interior 2X6 walls are bolted to the floor and ceiling.
The floor is also bolted to the cement foundation wall.
Wouldn't the whole system act like a rigid box ?
I own a two story, 50 years old house made of cement blocks on a cement foundation on heavy clay soil.
I wanted to renovate it so it was completely striped inside( save for the floors).
Last year in winter it went un-heated for a while and developed four long cracks from top to bottom, not far...
