crack in flooring foundation?

[dreamin_disney]

about 2 years ago dh re-did our bathrooms. He also pulled out the old anullium vinyl flooring. He noticed a crack in the floor but did say anything to me.
Well we had our old tile flooring redone in april and I noticed a crack. He said no big deal he would fill it with puddy. ok

Well today he is pulling out the den for new carpet and I told him I hope there no crack or it will worry me. Well guess what theres a crack all the way through the den. Its not a thick crack but a crack where I can stick a pencil lead maybe a lil wider but not real wide. SO I tell dh should we be worried? The street infront of our house also has a lot of cracks. He says, We should be ok sometimes it happens, the crack goes straight throught to the bathooms.


WHAT! was my response.

so my question is should I be worried? We've been in this house for 12 1/2 years. House was built in 1979. Eventually will this cost us $$$$ or are cracks normal as long as they arent to wide and deep????????

Oh and I live in southern calif.

 

[ilovepete]

Cracks in the foundation are normal. At least that is what I was told by multiple people regarding two different houses.

 

[SandrA9810]

There's always going to be minor settling in a house. Most the cracks should show up within the first 5 years. After that, you want to pay attention to them to make sure they don't grow.

Can you estimate how deep the crack is? Is the soil around your house extremely dry and cracked as well?? What about the outside of your house? You'd probably be surprised by the amount of hairline cracks.

Out in Texas, the soil is like rock clay, extremely dried and cracked. The roads are always broken up from the ground, there's some places that are just horrible. One of the things home owners have to do is water the foundation. It confused the heck out me, but there's a soaker hose wrapped around the house to keep the ground wet and from splitting.

 

[dreamin_disney]

Well being in California I start thinking craks can be bad. Probably why he didnt tell me-lol! I would have never know if it wasnt for us getting ready for carpet. We werent able to change the carpet when we first moved in and it wasnt new so our carpet is pretty old. Thanks goodness for 18months promotion. Once it paid off we will do the rooms so curious to see whats under the carpet there. Well good to know all houses have cracks cuz I started wondering if this would cost us some $$$

 

[TaraPA]

Foundation cracks are normal & due to settling. We built our house in 2005 & have this one crack that runs the whole length of the house. The hardwood splits at that point, we just filled it in with putty. We are having the basement finished now & there are some cracks in the cement foundation down there. The inspector said this was totally normal for our area & not an actual foundation issue.

I think you can breathe easy, but I'd be keeping an eye on those areas too if it was me!

 

[rock_doctor]

I would caulk it with a good silicon caulk and lay the carpet like normal. The caulk will keep moisture from coming in under the carpet. I would not worry about the crack unless you are seeing issues in the house like doors or windows that will not close. Otherwise i would not sweat it. Curing cement is a chemical process, it does not actually "dry" so that curing will cause small cracks plus as the house settles it will crack. After 12 years it is done settling and the cracks are there to stay. Like i said get worried if you have door or window problems. If the outside of the house is sitting firmly on the ground i.e. no voids where the house meets the ground i would not be concerned. Also be conscience if you have any cracking in the grass/ground outside. I am not talking about small cracks in dried mud but actually cracks in the ground. This tells you the soil/ground is moving around and that would be an issue. Now if you have soil cracks then you need to call an engineer because that means the soil is moving around and that could be due to soil creep or maybe even deflation/crushing of the base rock. A huge portion of California sits on oil or gas deposits if not actual old mine workings so always be conscience of big cracks in the ground. It is not uncommon to have cracks in the slab with a slab house. I would not worry about it.

 

[dreamin_disney]

Foundation cracks are normal & due to settling. We built our house in 2005 & have this one crack that runs the whole length of the house. The hardwood splits at that point, we just filled it in with putty. We are having the basement finished now & there are some cracks in the cement foundation down there. The inspector said this was totally normal for our area & not an actual foundation issue.

I think you can breathe easy, but I'd be keeping an eye on those areas too if it was me!

I feel a lotbetter now

I would caulk it with a good silicon caulk and lay the carpet like normal. The caulk will keep moisture from coming in under the carpet. I would not worry about the crack unless you are seeing issues in the house like doors or windows that will not close. Otherwise i would not sweat it. Curing cement is a chemical process, it does not actually "dry" so that curing will cause small cracks plus as the house settles it will crack. After 12 years it is done settling and the cracks are there to stay. Like i said get worried if you have door or window problems. If the outside of the house is sitting firmly on the ground i.e. no voids where the house meets the ground i would not be concerned. Also be conscience if you have any cracking in the grass/ground outside. I am not talking about small cracks in dried mud but actually cracks in the ground. This tells you the soil/ground is moving around and that would be an issue. Now if you have soil cracks then you need to call an engineer because that means the soil is moving around and that could be due to soil creep or maybe even deflation/crushing of the base rock. A huge portion of California sits on oil or gas deposits if not actual old mine workings so always be conscience of big cracks in the ground. It is not uncommon to have cracks in the slab with a slab house. I would not worry about it.

Dh was sealing it lastnight and he did say what he was filling the crack with will keep mositure from coming up. I'll pass on the rest of the info so we can check for outside cracks. I havent seen any issues with the doors and windows. Dh did tell me i shouldnt worry because if it was a bad crack it would have gone straight through the drive way and even the side walk. He said sometimes when the house is built there will be cracks it just happens. I didnt know that-lol! You think crack it;s broken and needs to be fixed-lol!Thanks for your help and knowledge

 

[Pakey]

I worked for a builder in California for many years, customer service was one of the departments I managed and this was a concern asked by many homeowners. At least newer homes will have required a moisture barrier to be put in prior to concrete pour. So even with a crack (which are normal) moisture will not come through.

If you can't drop a quarter through the widest area of the crack, you have nothing to worry about. If both sides of the crack are level (no rising of the concrete), you have nothing to worry about.