"Joe Wilson" wrote in
:

I just noticed a crack in our basement foundation. It runs from the
top to the bottom (9ft). If you go on the outside of the house, you
see it has went all the way through. In addition, there is a bulge in
the foundation about 12 feet away from this crack that is visible from
outside. This bulge was there when we had the house built and the
builder had someone come out and check it out and said it was okay as
did our inspector. Pictures are here -
http://www.pbase.com/joesimages/foundation_crack. While you can't see
in the pictures, the wall is still flush and is not sticking out on
one side of the crack or the other.

The house is 3.5 years old. I called our builder today and they said
if it isn't structual the warranty will not cover it. They are
sending out a company to look at it to determine if they think it is
structual and if not how much it will cost to get it fixed.

I'm just trying to learn as much as I can before they come out so I
know what to expect and what questions to ask. I'd love to hear some
of the expertise here, what you think about this particular case, etc.




Engage an independent strucutral engineer to review the crack and the
foundation. Dont't let the company that the builder sends out be the
final word. As they are paid by the builder, there is a pre-disposition
to satisfying their customer.

Only an onsite inspection of the property can determine if it is
structural. Even if the crack turns out not to be strucutiral, the
feeyou pay for your own engineering report is well worth the piece of
mind you will get.