My New House & Workshop

[Jim Oaks]

Damn you do nice work. I'm sure the neighbors are happy too.

One of my neighbors complimented how good the place is looking which is funny bbecause her mom is the previous owner. A gut that live a couple blocks away stopped one day and told me it was nice to see someone doing something wirh the building.

The building started life as a TV repair place. They probably sold TV's here as well. Someone told me that they remember seeing a sign lit up in the window at night. There's an outlet over the window in front. I've thought it might be cool to get a neon sign to put in the window that says 'TV Shop' and put a large flat-screen TV and a couch in there and make it am entertainment room.

 

[Curious Hound]

Its turning out great.

 

[Jim Oaks]

I don't know if I need a structural engineer or what.

Remember that gap on the side of the building I filled with mortar? The building is separating here.

I checked it because I noticed the mortar filler cracking on the opposite side of the building.

I don't know what to do at this point other than filling the cracks. I don't know if I could anchor these two walls together with some metal and bolts, or what it's going to take.

It's a cinderblock building with a cinderblock addition added on to double it's length.

 

[Rick W]

I don't know if I need a structural engineer or what.

Remember that gap on the side of the building I filled with mortar? The building is separating here.

View attachment 114373
View attachment 114374
View attachment 114375​

I checked it because I noticed the mortar filler cracking on the opposite side of the building.

View attachment 114376​

I don't know what to do at this point other than filling the cracks. I don't know if I could anchor these two walls together with some metal and bolts, or what it's going to take.

It's a cinderblock building with a cinderblock addition added on to double it's length.

Is the crack where the addition was added? Maybe post a picture of the whole side of the building and indicate where the crack is.

Having said that, I’m guessing your frost line is about 12 inches like Atlanta. If they didn’t prepare the soil under the addition properly, and they didn’t put the footings down about 18 inches, it’s possible that just from changes in moisture in the soil (no rain or a lot of rain), you can get an uplifting or settling of the dirt under the building, especially if there’s a lot of organic content in the soil. If it’s just a slab with a turned down edge, and they didn’t remove the topsoil and replace it with clean fill, this will happen every time.

From everything I’ve heard, I don’t think you have any structural problem, certainly not anything worth the expense of digging it all up. Trying to attach the two halves of the wall together would never work. If you think about it, each end of the building is probably a several tons. If they are levering relative to each other, there is no plate or bolt or system you could put in that would hold half the building up or down. You would most likely just move the crack over.

Hence, in my opinion, it’s a cosmetic issue and not a structural issue. I would just get a very good quality caulk, and caulk the crack, and see if the caulk stays in place.

If the caulk pulls lose, and the crack is vertical from top to bottom (vs stepping with the blocks), you could simply hide it with a piece of trim, like a 1 x 4 or a 1x6. If you do that, when you put it up to hide the crack, only attach it to one side of the crack. It would be like an expansion joint on a bridge. If you’re worried about moisture getting in, just put some weatherstripping on the back of the board. It will rub as the building moves, but it’ll keep 99% of the rain out.

My house has a 19 foot tall living room, most of the ceiling being at a 45° angle, with a couple of dormers that face the street. So that roof panel is about 25 x 15 (I’m guessing), and it’s only made of two by sixes, no truss or rafters. It’s a giant sail that moves in the wind. After the house was built (actually modified, I added the second floor), I would get a crack where the ceiling met the side wall, down the angle of that roof, and about a foot down to the window, where it joined the wall. I had the painters dig out about a quarter inch, put a really thick layer of quality caulk in there, and it hasn’t cracked since. That’s probably 20 years ago. I hope I didn’t just jinx myself. Nobody ever notice is it, but nobody ever noticed the crack except me anyway.

As always, my two cents, I hope it helps

 

[bobbywalter]

I don't know if I need a structural engineer or what.

Remember that gap on the side of the building I filled with mortar? The building is separating here.

View attachment 114373
View attachment 114374
View attachment 114375​

I checked it because I noticed the mortar filler cracking on the opposite side of the building.

View attachment 114376​

I don't know what to do at this point other than filling the cracks. I don't know if I could anchor these two walls together with some metal and bolts, or what it's going to take.

It's a cinderblock building with a cinderblock addition added on to double it's length.

 

[bobbywalter]

if i remember right....there was an odd step out along the alley side.. i wonder if there is drain or tile on that side or a filled in culverts that is letting it move.


it wont be bad to pull the back section of roof for 20 feet or so and address it and put up a knee wall so you can have a lift in there....


maybe even take the block down and just frame up three sides and go even higher.

 

[Curious Hound]

It depends how much everything is moving. If that's where the addution was tied in, it probably should have been done with an expansion joint and certain tiny bit of mibemwnt expected due to the different ages of the 2 sections if building.

My 1 cent; if it was a primary residence and relatively newconstryction, I would want some kind of high quality fix applied. But, as an old outbuilding, as long as it's not falling down, I would just accept it as a minor nuisance. If you don't have water coming in through walls, roof or floor and no big trip hazard of a floor crack, it's too much hassle to repair properly in my opinion.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Up here there is a water base caulk called "Big Stretch". Iirc it can expand up to 1,200%. I would chip or cut the crack bigger to get to fresh concrete and fill with that caulk, using a backer rod.

 

[Jazzer]

Butyl rubber caulk. It's what you see along storefront windows where they meet the structure or sidewalk. There's a lot of movement between masonry and aluminum.

You have to clean the crack well, pressure wash if possible, let dry thoroughly, then gun it as deeply into the crack as possible, 1/2" is ideal.

 

[WutUp Clegg]

It appears you foundation is sinking. I noticed the split gets wider the higher you go. How's the foundation? Do you live near railroad tracks?

 

[bobbywalter]

there was something different about the way the roof was setup when i looked at it that was difficult.. .... i just cant remember how it was. been a few years.

 

[Jim Oaks]

IDK. It's a pretty even crack. The rest of the building is good. It's just where the block buts up against the old block.

Found this today:

Q. What is the best way to tie a new block addition into an existing block building?

A. Dowel the new footing to the original building with at least two #4 rebars. You’ll need to dig to the bottom of the existing footing, drill it horizontally, and grout in rebars that extend about a foot into the new footing. The new footing should be at the same depth as the existing footing and on undisturbed soil.

At the wall connection, vertically fasten a 3x3x1/4-inch angle to the original wall with expansion anchors (see illustration below). Provide a bond breaker on each leg of the angle, and break out the end webs of the new blocks. Then, pack the cores with mortar around the angle, and seal the joint between the new blocks and the old wall with a good elastomeric caulk. This will provide lateral support to the wall, but will allow some minor vertical movement without cracking.

​

I suspect whoever added this addition thought they could just but the wall up and mortar it without anchoring them together.

 

[Jim Oaks]

June 27th I finally caught the mole that had been tearing my front yard up with tunnels.

Today I was walking in my front yard and stepped on a tunnel. Looked and saw a few tunnels going off in different directions.

I took a chance and set the trap over one of the tunnels. I went outside around 1.5 hours later and saw that it had caught another mole.

I love that this thing catches them, but I feel bad that it doesn't kill them right away.

 

[Jim Oaks]

Is the crack where the addition was added? Maybe post a picture of the whole side of the building and indicate where the crack is.

Having said that, I’m guessing your frost line is about 12 inches like Atlanta. If they didn’t prepare the soil under the addition properly, and they didn’t put the footings down about 18 inches, it’s possible that just from changes in moisture in the soil (no rain or a lot of rain), you can get an uplifting or settling of the dirt under the building, especially if there’s a lot of organic content in the soil. If it’s just a slab with a turned down edge, and they didn’t remove the topsoil and replace it with clean fill, this will happen every time.

From everything I’ve heard, I don’t think you have any structural problem, certainly not anything worth the expense of digging it all up. Trying to attach the two halves of the wall together would never work. If you think about it, each end of the building is probably a several tons. If they are levering relative to each other, there is no plate or bolt or system you could put in that would hold half the building up or down. You would most likely just move the crack over.

Hence, in my opinion, it’s a cosmetic issue and not a structural issue. I would just get a very good quality caulk, and caulk the crack, and see if the caulk stays in place.

If the caulk pulls lose, and the crack is vertical from top to bottom (vs stepping with the blocks), you could simply hide it with a piece of trim, like a 1 x 4 or a 1x6. If you do that, when you put it up to hide the crack, only attach it to one side of the crack. It would be like an expansion joint on a bridge. If you’re worried about moisture getting in, just put some weatherstripping on the back of the board. It will rub as the building moves, but it’ll keep 99% of the rain out.



As always, my two cents, I hope it helps

I'm going to say this is a Texas thing. I've seen tons of house with foundations issues because the ground moves. Some are pretty severe. An old girlfriend had a big crack in part of her ceiling and a crack down a wall that actually broke the window.

There was a time over the past several months that my bedroom doors wouldn't close because they were sticking at the time, but then over time closed easily after the house shifted again.

I like the idea of 1x to cover it that's only attached to one side. I had a gap in the eave and covered it with a 1x but made the mistake of not letting it float. I noticed that the repair looks like it's starting to crack.

 

[Curious Hound]

I'm going to say this is a Texas thing. I've seen tons of house with foundations issues because the ground moves. Some are pretty severe. An old girlfriend had a big crack in part of her ceiling and a crack down a wall that actually broke the window.

There was a time over the past several months that my bedroom doors wouldn't close because they were sticking at the time, but then over time closed easily after the house shifted again.

I like the idea of 1x to cover it that's only attached to one side. I had a gap in the eave and covered it with a 1x but made the mistake of not letting it float. I noticed that the repair looks like it's starting to crack.

You might have what is called “expansive soil” like we do here. During wet seasons, it absorbs water and expands and everything shifts. Then during dry periods it dries and contracts. A lot of people don’t understand how to prepare foundations to combat that. Deep foundations, proper soil compaction, proper drainage.

like I said earlier, at this point I’d just learn to live with it. Clean the cracks. Fill with really stretchy caulk , using backer rod as needed for really wide cracks. Then cover if you want and leave the covering material loose on one side so it can float. The alternative is really expensive foundation repair which probably isn’t worth the trouble for an outbuilding like that.