There is likely an uneven settling issue or worse. Some homes have obvious tilting or leaning. Doors may begin to stick or fail to close correctly as the doors and door frames warp from humidity and dampness. Inside your home, you may see old water stains, feel uneven floors, or see that they are starting to sink away from your baseboards. It can only be a matter of time before they start causing dangerous cracks and foundation failure. Between the rain and melting snow excess water will eat away the foundation of your home and get down to accumulate next to your foundation walls. Exterior ErosionĮrosion around the exterior perimeter of your house is likely caused by poor grading, missing gutters or gutters that need to be cleaned and repaired. Before too long, they will begin to get into the rest of your home and can do even more serious damage. They aren’t just going to choose to up and move out on their own unless you fix what is bringing them in. Whether it is your crawl space or basement, once they are in, they can be hard to get rid of. Termites, fleas, cockroaches, opossums, mice, rats and bed bugs are attracted to damp spaces. This dampness also provides the perfect breeding ground for many types of insects and rodents. The guts of your home could be rotting, and there could be dangerous mold lurking out of sight. These are a sign there is excess moisture in your home. They indicate there may be dampness and water issues causing cracks you haven’t noticed yet, or that a newly purchased home has foundation issues and cracks in concrete block walls that have been covered up and hidden temporarily. Telltale Signs Of Cracking & Foundation ProblemsĮven if you haven’t noticed any serious cracks in your home yet, these are some of the common signs to watch out for. An inspection by a foundation specialist will help determine the best course of action. They will continue to widen, giving access to rodents, insects and more water damage.
Until the underlying cause is fixed, any attempts to patch these cracks aren’t likely to last long. There may be soil changes, foundation piers may have failed, or rushed and cheap building practices may have left your home on unstable ground. These types of cracks particularly appear when a home in settling or sinking unevenly. The stair-step pattern that runs through the mortar between your blocks or bricks is a sign of settling. These are the most common types of wall cracks you’ll find in homes throughout VA, MD and DC. Until you do, water intrusion and weather changes will only compound the problem. They may not immediately implode like horizontal cracks, but have them inspected as quickly as possible. The odds are that your foundation is about to fail. This is also a sign of high-pressure levels pushing against your foundation walls. Vertical cracks through your foundation and the concrete walls in your basement or crawl space are also serious. There are solutions, and the best local foundation repair teams can provide easy financing to help you get it solved right away. If your foundation gives out, your whole home can come down with it. This is a sign of far too much pressure on your walls, and that they are about to implode and fail. Even worse is when these concrete block wall cracks appear in your basement or crawl space walls. These are the most serious types of cracks you can have. Horizontal cracks are extremely dangerous. Understand what the real causes are, so you aren’t just putting a bandage on a fatal flaw. Protect your family and investment by knowing your types of concrete block wall cracks and those in other parts of your home. Others are a sign of immediate danger and can’t be ignored.
Some may warrant inspection and can be fixed over time. However, there are very different types of cracks that can appear throughout your property. It’s not uncommon to see cracks in a house in Virginia. Do you have cracks showing in your walls? Is so, when are they just a common sign of aging versus being urgent hazards you need to get help with?