My New House & Workshop

[Rick W]

I just had an afterthought on covering the crack with a 1x4 or such. No matter what kind of wood you use, overtime it’s going to warp. I know they make moldings out of PVC, and I’m thinking they must make a 1x??? out of PVC. Caulk it and screw it on one side of the crack, but before you do, so put something on the back that will “wipe” against the wall on the other side to maintain somewhat of a seal.

If you use the bead filler in the crack, and then the Expanding caulk in the crack, and then cover it,…

Hope it helps

 

[Jim Oaks]

I filled the new gap with a flexible mortar repair.

I also set the mole trap and caught mole #3 tunneling through my front yard last night.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

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.

Additions are a pain in general I think. Right or wrong team #2 will never do the dirtwork the same way as team #1 so things settle differently.

 

[Shran]

My house has a cinder block basement that is about 6' deep on one half of the house and the other half has a crawl space with a cinder block foundation. It moves a lot, I am constantly caulking the crawl space side where the joints have split apart. It's annoying but I've just decided that's how cinder blocks are.

I'm a little nervous about my parent's house, the main part is on a slab and they are building a large addition with a cinder block basement. There are a couple other additions as well. I hope they sell it rather than leaving it to me.

 

[Jim Oaks]

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When the A/C guy replaces the condensor coils and doesn't have a taper duct to adapt down to the size.

 

[Rick W]

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When the A/C guy replaces the condensor coils and doesn't have a taper duct to adapt down to the size.

A different world, a different kind of workmen, then I grew up with. That duck tape will dry out and start to leak in a couple years.

Your local Hvac supply, or I’m sure you can find it online, but they sell self adhesive insulated aluminum foil face patches. Pull the duct tape. If it’s not there already, make some metal straps (like 1- 1/2“ x 6“) and use self drilling self tapping screws to bolt the upper unit and lower unit together. Two screws on each end keeps it from vibration pivoting and working loose. Important: make sure you don’t drill into that new coil or anything underneath.

Then use the patches (make sure the metal is clean/acetone or such), and then actually run over the edges of the patches with some of the aluminum foil tape, also available at your Hvac place.

It’s never going to be easier to do it than right now when it’s on your mind and the tape is fresh

My two cents, hope it helps

 

[Rick W]

Afterthought. If you use those Aluminum self adhesive materials, in addition to making sure the surface is clean, when you apply them, press them tight, but then don’t run the unit for at least four or five hours, 24 hours better.

Adhesive on those things is like the 3M adhesive used for the plastic trim on cars. It sticks immediately, but on a microscopic level, it actually “creeps” (capillary action) and it adheres better and it adheres stronger over a short period of time.

Then, when you run the unit, wet your hand a little bit (damp, not dripping), and just slowly wave it around the unit. You can feel anything that’s blowing out, and then just put another patch over that.

It’s not meant to look pretty, but it’ll work a whole lot better. HVAC is like an air compressor in that it’s expensive to run, and the tiniest little leak can increase the cost dramatically.

Again, my two cents

 

[Jazzer]

Red Green must be working HVAC down by you. I’d send a pic to their office.

 

[Shran]

Oh lord... is that a permanent fix or is he coming back to do it right? That is going to last all of about a month before the tape starts coming apart.

 

[WutUp Clegg]

I work with HVAC systems, and I have seen a lot booty work. That would have to be the worst I've seen. That won't last more than a month once you kick the heater on.

 

[Curious Hound]

Tape is not made to cover or fill gaps. The ductwork needs to be mechanically sound. Then all seams and joints covered with mastic.

A proper transition piece needs to be fabricated and installed.

 

[Uncle Gump]

Red Green must be working HVAC down by you. I’d send a pic to their office.

Keep your stick on the ice...

 

[Rick W]

@Jim Oaks

Poor man’s strain gauge.

Per our brief chat, cut a little piece of flat plastic about 1-1/2 inches high and maybe four or 6 inches long

Use something like E6000 to glue it to the wall across the crack, but only glue it on one side of the crack. It’s very important that it lays flat. For your case, I would just use a 2 x 4 and lean it against it while the glue sets.

After the Glue sets up, so there is no motion at all on the piece of plastic, use a straight edge and make a couple of vertical lines that start on the plastic and run onto the wall. Do two vertical, and two horizontal.

Do one of these about 3/4 of the way up the wall, and do a second one about 8 inches off the ground.

I would take pictures because your phone camera will see it close up much better than you can with your eyes. (if your eyes are anything like my eyes).

You need several pictures over time, but it’s not based on a standard time interval. The different pictures would be based on changes in temperature, rainfall, drought, sunlight, etc.

I believe the back of your place just wasn’t built as well as the front half of your place, and on that Texas soil, it is moving up and down a little bit. If you take a picture when it’s dry, a picture after a big rainfall (like 12 or 14 hours after allowing for the moisture to penetrate the ground), when the sun is on the wall, when the wall is cool at night, etc., etc. Anything that would cause expansion or contraction of the wall, the building, but mostly the soil

There are a few possibilities. The most likely is that the ground is moving, so the two sides of the crack are pivoting, with the pivot point being where the slabs meet.

The other possibility is that the entire slab is moving either up and down, or back-and-forth, maybe even at a horizontal angle, or a complex twist. That’s the purpose of the two gauges. If the upper one shows any kind of motion and the bottom one doesn’t, it’s pivoting. If both of them show motion, it could be the whole slab moving around, up-and-down, or back-and-forth.

If there’s any kind of a crack or seam that’s not tight on the far side of the building, put a couple gauges there as well.

Over a month or six weeks, with a couple rainfalls and a couple of dry spells and a few changes in temperature, the building will speak to you through the strain gauges

It’s very critical the plastic lays flat, and equally critical that your pencil lines are precise from the plastic to the wall. If it’s a sloppy line, it’s not going to tell you anything.

If your memory is like mine, put a number on each of the strain gauges, and take a picture of all four at the same time. I’m pretty sure you understand the concept, but if you get a bunch of pictures overtime, and you make notes on when it rained, and when it was dry, sunny and such, and you want to send them to me, I’m used to reading them. If it’s pivoting, it’s easy to see. But if the four gauges are moving in four different directions, it becomes a nerd problem.

Final thought. If there is a crack across the floor anywhere near that crack in the wall, you may want to put two or three of these strain gauges down on the floor and put them in images too.

For the numbering system, front wall one, front wall two, would be FW1 FW2, slab 1 S1, etc.

As always, my two cents, hope it helps

 

[Rick W]

Afterthought, there are a half a dozen things you can do to stabilize the slab once you know what it’s doing. I could write a book, so I won’t go into them now, but once we know how the building is moving, we can target the one or two things that might help.

If it was me, I just caulk the building and patch the paint annually or whatever. I suspect it’s really bugging you. When I have a little dent on a car, I don’t fix it, I run a pinstripes somewhere close to it. When anyone is looking at it, they see the pinstripe, but not the dent.

Similarly, if you use a 1x? to cover it, fastened on one side, and you don’t like that, maybe run four or six verticals at even spaces up and down along the whole wall. Camouflage.

Another thing you could do is put a phony conduit tied to the wall, or just in front of the wall. I’m thinking of 1-1/2 or 2 inch that would cover the crack. You can put a light at the top, or just a dummy, elbow and run it into the wall.

Plant a bush in front of it, make a little trellis and plant some climbing ivy, find a pretty girl, and pay her to stand 2 feet away from it in a bikini.

If you go to the trouble of gauges, send me the results, and we can go into the solutions for the slab. One thing I know, you’re not afraid of hard work, because every solution will require a little bit of digging.

Again, personally, I wouldn’t do anything major, But if you want to pursue it, I’m happy to help.

Again, hope it helps

 

[Jim Oaks]

This cinder block wall is really becoming an issue for me.

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Here's a look from inside. You can see where the mortar repair is seperating and light is shining through.

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I don't understand why this is happening, but I'm starting to wonder if I can anchor the corner with some large metal L-brackets, or if it will stress and damage the other wall.