Crack in brick veneer adjacent to window 1

[dylansdad]

I performed a site visit to investigate a small crack below a window.
This particular house was completed last December (relatively recent construction).
There are a number of houses constructed with the same floor plan in a new subdivision, none of which are presently occupied, so if I want to inspect a similar house it is not that much of a stretch to find. No other houses were mentioned.
The owner (government agency) pointed out this crack during his inspection and is concerned.
There is a small crack, full depth, in the porch near this window crack which I feel may be related.
The contractor stated that the porch was placed integrally with the shallow grade beam which supports the brick veneer and stud wall back-up.
1. Did this porch crack propagate to the wall and cause it to crack? or did the wall crack propagate to the porch?
2. what remedies to fix? saw cut a joint at the wall/porch?
You can zoom in on the picture to follow the crack.
I appreciate any comments or suggestions.

 

[JoelTXCive]

Is that a post-tensioned slab or conventional. Has the slab been stressed yet?

Could you take a photo of full front elevation? It would be good to know what expansion joints are in the masonry, if any. If there are no expansion joints across the front of the house, then mother nature might have installed one for you at the weakest point.

Also, I'm not sure this impacts anything, but the weep holes in the brick are set up 1 course, which is curious.

 

[dylansdad]

It is conventionally reinforced.
Here is a picture of the front.
Ironically, there are at least 3 houses in this new subdivision with the same floor plan
that I visited and none of the others have this crack.

 

[NorthCivil]

My guess is the crack in the slab is unrelated to the crack in the brick.

Your pictures don't tell the full story. Is there control joints anywhere in the brick or the slab?

if not, here they are.

brickwork does not look very tidy. messy joints. looks like the house may have been built by a jack of all trades-man.

do you have an architectural detail of the foundation - exterior wall also showing patio?

 

[Eric C.]

My first guess would be differential settlement of the subgrade. If there are 3 other houses of the same design and built by the same contractor/subs then the only difference, at least on initial examination, could be soil conditions. Are there any other cracks around the corner on the side of the house? Is the house built on a slab-on-grade? If so, are there any visible cracks in the slab in this area?

 

[saplanti]

It seems that the soil is expansive soil and expanding differentially. You'd better talk to a soil expert. Before that you may discuss the issue with your neighbours in case they have the similar problems.

 

[Tomfh]

In my opinion there is a good chance they are related.

Both the window and the slab will want to crack here, and it makes sense the cracks coincide. If each side is close to cracking then a crack on one side will trigger a crack on the other.

 

[r13]

I couldn't located the crack at the wall, maybe bad eyesight. The crack on the pavement seems very fine, might be caused by shrinkage.

[Revised]: A vertical crack at bottom left corner extended to the brick below the window sill. A much smaller vertical crack was noted at the exposed pavement, indicating sectional crack rather than surface crack. The cracks seem in alignment to each other, indicating movement?

 

[Tomfh]

Sure looks like a residential shrinkage crack.

 

[oldestguy]

Likely this is simply shrinkage. No way to compare three houses since this load of concrete could be much wetter, thus more shrinkage potential. Nothing to worry about.

 

[dylansdad]

Thanks for the replies. I can address some of these questions Monday when I get back to my computer. Again thanks for looking and commenting.

 

[Ron]

OG nailed it. Shrinkage in the wetter concrete pulling the brick. This gets concentrated at the re-entrant corner of the window. I'd be more worried about the lack of sealant around the window than the crack.

 

[r13]

Ron,

Can you elaborate this comment, "Shrinkage in the wetter concrete pulling the brick"? Do you mean the wall has cracked from the window down to the pavement level, because of the wall was dragged by the shrinking pavement, for which, the concrete had excessive water at pouring?

 

[JoelTXCive]

These problems look minor at this point; but are worth monitoring.

The brick under the window can be busted out and an expansion joint can be cut in between the window sill and the the slab. So that fix is not too tough as long as there are some matching bricks around.

As for the slab... here's another hypothesis.... Maybe you have some differential settlement like EricC suggested above. The lot looks like it originally sloped off to the right, but then the builder built up the subgrade so that drainage could be established. Maybe they put an 8" or 12" pad down, but didn't compact it well.

See below..

 

[Ron]

Neither of those cracks is related to settlement.

 

[oldestguy]

OK guys: No point in guessing as:Maybe they put an 8" or 12" pad down, but didn't compact it well.
How's come some won't recognize common things, such as temperature expansion and shrinkage. These things crack and hopefully we can control where that happens, but sometimes not. They still function.

 

[mfrad]

Dylansdad,
Benign neglect is the best course to follow at this time, but monitor as suggested. The pavement may not have control joints installed which may explain the hairline crack. Also there is no isolation joint between the slab and the brick veneer. Add to OG potential causes slab shrinkage pulling on brickwork.