Crack in Concrete Slab under the Front Door

7916 Views 4 Replies 3 Participants Last post by jomama45, Apr 8, 2009

diy4life

Discussion Starter · Apr 4, 2009

Hello,

I bought a house that was built in 1920's last summer. Like everything else I am finding out that this house has many problems, even though home inspector walked all over the house inspecting the house with us. He kept telling me that the house is great in shape and you don't need to do anything or replace any of the insulation. Yea, Right!:furious:

Anywho, just 3 days ago coming home from work, I noticed a decent size crack running through my concrete slab that sits right underneath my front door. This crack I never saw before. I have lived in this house for 7 months so far and never seen this crack. I am kind of worried. The house does have hairline cracks here and there on the brick walls also but I don't know about this crack. This one is new. So, what should I do? Call home inspector, structural engineer or patched it up myself and not worry about it?

Here are some pictures of that crack in the concrete.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

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Ron6519

· #2 · Apr 4, 2009

You can easily do a priliminary check yourself.
Is any of the plaster inside showing signs of new cracking?
Does this house have a basement?
Any signs, under the front door of water damage? Insect damage?
Has the stoop settled at all?
Does water puddle there during rains?
Do the downspouts empty close to the house?
If you see anything, take pictures and post them.
Ron

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diy4life

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 4, 2009

Ron6519 said:
You can easily do a priliminary check yourself.
Is any of the plaster inside showing signs of new cracking?
Does this house have a basement?
Any signs, under the front door of water damage? Insect damage?
Has the stoop settled at all?
Does water puddle there during rains?
Do the downspouts empty close to the house?
If you see anything, take pictures and post them.
Ron

No there are no cracks inside the house at all. Its only outside the house. Lately, Have been sealing up all the gaps and holes that was already there because of cold air infiltration. I am not sure if that is the problem.

This house does have a basement which is directly below my living room and the kitchen.

It is funny that you asked me about water damage. Directly below my porch is a coal room that runs across the width of house. This coal is never used and it is pretty much opened outside elements (rain, cold air.) All around the coal room, rain water leaks into it. There is plenty of moisture in that coal room. Now, that I have it sealed off from leaking moisture into my basement, that might have something to do with this crack in my concrete stoop.

I don't think the stoop settled at all, maybe my rest of the house may have sunk just a 1/8 of inch.

On my porch in front of my door there is usually a puddle of water if it does rain. Not a whole lot just a little puddle.

Downspout maybe close to the house but I don't think that this the problem. It empties about feet away from the house.

Thanks for your comments Ron,

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diy4life

Discussion Starter · #4 · Apr 8, 2009

Any help please.

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jomama45

· #5 · Apr 8, 2009

That crack may have been there for years & opens every spring due to frost cycles. Either way, the "toekick" isn't structural, as it only supports part of the door threshold (some times all) & serves as a tough substrate compared to siding, which won't hold up to the abuse these see. I know it's a tiny crack, but try to look very closely inside to see the color. Very light gray means it's new, darker colors assume it's old.

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