On 23 Feb 2007 18:23:03 -0800, "Lawrence"
wrote:

On Feb 23, 5:52 pm, cox wrote:
Folks,

I have been losing sleep and my head over cracks in drywall and a
dozen tile cracks. I live in North Dallas and have experienced this
over some period of time. All of the drywall cracks are about 1/8" or
less. There are some cracks at the corners of the windows that have
stayed the same for about 15-16 months now. There is one crack that
runs horizontally in the ceiling of the houses which is about 6 feet
in length. This crack is about 1/8" at the start and then decreases.
I have not noticed any problems closing any windows or doors (atleast
not so far, knock on wood!!) All of the tile cracks are about 1/16" or
less. Some are hairline that can be barely seen. Others are about
1/16" inch. I have walked around the house and seen some minor cracks
in bricks in 1 or 2 places. I do not see any cracks in the
foundation. Ours is a slab on foundation (without any basement). Ours
is a 2 story house. I have seen some hairline cracks in the garage
concrete floor. I will be calling an engineer for an evaluation, but
before that wanted to get an understanding about what this all means.
What do the cracks in tiles mean, what do the cracks in the drywall
mean? Some of the windows have vertical cracks at the place where
caulking and drywall meet. Not all windows have this pattern, like
for example the windows closest to the corners seem to have the
problem but the interior ones seem not to much of cracking. I have
seen some caulking cracks. The tile cracks all are in the center of
the house and seem to run 1-2 tile at some spots. Please help with
your opinions. Meanwhile, this house is 7 years old and still under
warranty with regard to foundation and structural elements like
framing etc. Thanks for your help.


Since you will have an expert to give you your answers you do not need
us. It sounds like your house is settling which is common enough but
not in such a new house. Ideally it should not happen so you may have
a claim against the builder. That can be difficult to pursue. If a
bit of repair and paint is all that is required then that might be
easier than pursuing the builder.

Be sure to check your plumbing and make sure there are not any
unoticed leaks in the walls or slab. My sister had some plumbing in
the wall behind the clothes washer that leaked for some time without
being noticed.

By the time it was noticed her slab had failed and a gigantic amount
of work was required. They had to move into an apartment while the
work was being done. It can sometimes be hard to find a leak when you
have a slab but some plumbers will try. If it is is a leak then the
builder probably won't be liable.


Thanks. When I said that I would be calling an engineer for an
evaluation, I meant that would be the last step of this agonizing
exercise. I need more information from people like you that have some
experience or knowledge about something like this. Calling an
engineer is a $500 job and I will have to clearly educate myself
before I do that in order to ask the right questions or be
knowledgeable enough to absorb what he says. If I am equipped with
the right information, I might make some preliminary analysis with
more attention to things and what is being discussed here instead of
trying to kill myself with this mental stumbling block. Therefore,
its imperative that people like you respond and give me the ideas.
After all, that is what the usenet forum is about, isn't it? Thank you
for your response. I will carefully look around the water lines and
other possible places for any wetness or condensation.

stony