I wouldn't be worried in the slightest over that crack unless it just
showed up or the floor is tilted at either side. Use a straight edge
and a marble to make sure everything is flat and level and then forget
about it.

It's near impossible to pour that much concrete without a crack or two.
Too bad about the tile in the kitchen. There are ways to lay tile
over a crack so it won't come through, should you decide to replace it.

-rev




themeanies wrote:
I can't imagine this is a rare problem, so if there is a better place to
research this please feel free to direct me elsewhere.

We have put a contract on a house and the inspection uncovered a crack
in the slab.

The home is 5 years old built on what used to be a cotton farm. The
area is now suburban with paved streets etc. The house is in a very dry
climate with temps ranging from 25-105F annually.

The crack in question is approximately 25 ft long and travels under two
walls. 4ft of the slab is exposed in the garage and the other 21 ft are
tile in the kitchen. The grout in the tile is cracked. The crack does
not seem to travel from one side of the slab to the other. The outer
edge of the slab is approximately 10 feet parallel to this crack. There
is what I assume is some very small shifting of the door frame into the
house from the garage. This door is perpendicular to the crack and
between the crack and the outer edge of the slab. Most of the rest of
the home is carpeted and I am unable to see any other telltale signs in
door frames or walls. The home is about 2 feet above the surrounding
street and it is possible that this crack is from settling. I do not
yet know how long it has been there or if it has been looked at
professionally. The overall quality of the home is outstanding. High
quality building materials were used and the builder has a great local
reputation. The finish out is medium quality. There are no water lines
involved as all water delivery is run through the ceilings.

A picture of the exposed area can be found he
http://www.tekn0lust.com/images/slabcrack.jpg


So questions.

1)Is this a deal breaker?

2)Should I look into stabilization?

3)What is likely to happen to this in the future? We plan to stay in
this home for a long time.

Any other comments are greatly appreciated.

tM