Long time lurker looking for advice...

I've noticed a large crack developing at the upper right corner on the front of our house. It starts out in a mortar joint but continues down through several bricks.

Inside, there is no indication of a problem other than a gap in the caulking of the upstairs window. The window, from the inside of the house, appears to be moving outwards. None of the 16" tile on the first floor is cracked. There are no cracks in the sheetrock joints on either the first or second floor. There are no visible cracks in the foundation and there are no cracks in the brickwork around the corner from this.

Do you think this is a foundation problem or a brick tie problem or something else? I really don't think it's foundation because of the lack of other issues, but I'm no expert. House was built in 2001 and is located in Pearland, TX.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Km7cAx6mH4GGtJm56
https://photos.app.goo.gl/NUbmW5xeKyUc2hft5
https://photos.app.goo.gl/mEQEi4bnQQz9tb4F6
https://photos.app.goo.gl/93LuhhRARtVVkXz46

My first thought is foundation issue in that front right corner. It could be as simple as the bricks not being laid properly. You might want to get someone to come out and look at it either way before it gets any worse.

Anything on the outside wall perpendicular to this?

ABATTBQ11 said:

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Anything on the outside wall perpendicular to this?

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Meaning any damage? No, nothing on the wall around the corner to the right (from the pic) or to the left. In fact, no cracks or anything similar anywhere else on the house.

If you mean are there any structures, no to that as well.

I would call an engineer (not a foundation company) to come out and take a look. Agree its odd with no sheetrock or tile cracking. I am at a loss.

flown-the-coop said:

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I would call an engineer (not a foundation company) to come out and take a look. Agree its odd with no sheetrock or tile cracking. I am at a loss.

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I totally agree, get an engineering assessment of the situation!!!

I had 2 foundation repair companies assess my situation years ago and they both wanted to install 11-22 piers, respectively. An engineer assess my situation and he indicated it was most likely a slab leak! Had a plumber perform a slab leak and sure enough, the engineer was correct. Saved me tens of thousands of dollars and fixed the actual cause of the problem!!!

Can you post a photo of the foundation of that corner of the house? I'm wondering if maybe the brick ledge cracked and sunk slightly and the bricks have just fallen down a bit.

Where is your house?

agnerd said:

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Can you post a photo of the foundation of that corner of the house? I'm wondering if maybe the brick ledge cracked and sunk slightly and the bricks have just fallen down a bit.

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https://photos.app.goo.gl/rVhwTeQZm6hJYiw78

Ikanizer said:

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Where is your house?

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Pearland, TX

Just to get all the pics together and exposed on here for for ease of viewing...

RL said:

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agnerd said:

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Can you post a photo of the foundation of that corner of the house? I'm wondering if maybe the brick ledge cracked and sunk slightly and the bricks have just fallen down a bit.

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https://photos.app.goo.gl/rVhwTeQZm6hJYiw78

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Might help seeing more of the slab in that area to the left of and the right of the pic posted above

When I had my Sugar Land house foundation leveled my bricks looked about like yours, I got a number of quotes from houston area contractors. None was very convincing. None was based on an actual inspection by an engineer. A soil/foundation guy I worked with in the offshore platform business recommended ST Construction. Keith Gartner 713-645-4824. He is a PE and will measure your slab and tell you if it needs to be leveled. He will show you numbers to justify his recommendation. You might have to wait for him to get to you but it will be worth it. After they installed 23 piers under the front of my house perimeter beam the cracks in the bricks closed right up.

My WAG is that you've been having a lot of water penetrating through the cracks in the brick over a period of time. I think that the water has weakened the framing that the brick ties are attached to and the weight of the brick is causing the brick to start to pull away from the home.

Do you have any pictures of the right side of the home at that corner? My concern would be the brick falling off if the brick ties give way. Whenever you end up getting this fixed, I'd ask the masons if there were enough ties installed from when the home was built.

Any expansion joints in you brick?

Thanks Gary79Ag for embedding the images. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong where they show up as links and not embedded.

Here's another that shows the area to the left:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/qvp4of6T7mVKXLgD6

It's nearly impossible to get a good image (of the slab area) around the corner to the right...there's a hedge that runs the length of the house about 18" away from the brick. From what I can see, there's no cracks over there and I've looked it over pretty closely.

re: expansions joints...there aren't any on the front of the house. There isn't really a run of any length in the same plane; every few feet it changes. Along both sides and the back, there are multiple expansion joints. Without measuring, they look to be every 10'-12' or so.

RL said:

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Thanks Gary79Ag for embedding the images. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong where they show up as links and not embedded.

Here's another that shows the area to the left:


It's nearly impossible to get a good image (of the slab area) around the corner to the right...there's a hedge that runs the length of the house about 18" away from the brick. From what I can see, there's no cracks over there and I've looked it over pretty closely.

re: expansions joints...there aren't any on the front of the house. There isn't really a run of any length in the same plane; every few feet it changes. Along both sides and the back, there are multiple expansion joints. Without measuring, they look to be every 10'-12' or so.

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You're very welcome RL...what I do is open the link you post, then I click on the pic and it re-displays the pic. From that image, I'm able to copy the image and paste it here!



BTW, I can't really tell but am curious, is the slab actually cracked under the third brick from the right? It's a bit blurry because of the angle but it looks like it may be cracked with a piece missing exposing what looks like re-bar. Please get a closeup of that particular area. Would be beneficial to remove some of the mulch to expose more of the slab along that section...

Looking back at the last pic posted above, it sure appears like the re-bar is exposed...



It also appears that corner area of the house is getting quite a bit of water based on the green mildew on the bricks, mainly on that right side wall. From the looks of the roof, it appears there are no gutters along that roof line which may be contributing to the excessive water in that area. This could be contributing to the possibility that that corner section of the house is sinking, contributing to a cracked slab and therefore the brick separations noted.

I would definitely have an engineer assess this...

Update...

I had a structural engineer out to assess the problem. After analyzing the house, the slab is performing as expected with minimal distortion. No tilting or cracking was noted. They also stated no stabilization of the foundation was needed at this time. In their professional opinion, this problem is due to the lintels rusting and expanding.

I have a brick repair company coming out next week to give an estimate for that. I can only imagine the repair costs for that after watching a video on how to replace a lintel and repair the associated damage.

That's interesting. I was suspicious that it wasn't structural because you didn't have any cracks inside the house. What is sad is that if they had used galvanized angle this would not have happened. Or if they had used a membrane over the lintel or maybe even just out a second coat of spray paint on it this most likely would not have happened. It was a $100-$300 savings and now it will cost a lot more.

PSA, my degree is in architecture but my work history has been almost all construction. I applied for a job with a few major home builder at one time when things were tight. They all said I was overqualified. One straight up told me they prefer someone with no building experience so that they would do it their way.

Sent the pics to a old friend who has been in masonry business himself for 20 years and his family has been for better part of 80 years - 3rd generation. His immediate response was "yep, that's definitely a rusted lintel, should have used galvanized".

He *****es about this so much on Facebook that I have accused him of being in the galvanized angle business. Builder93 is right on point that its a cheap move by the builder that is now going to cost you.

Good news is that structural would be much much more. Bad news is that it will still be expensive.

I am checking with him on a ballpark and if they are interested in the work. You are probably going to want to have the other lintels looked at.

How does one tell, when considering a how purchase, whether the lintels are galvanized or not?

Caesar4 said:

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How does one tell, when considering a how purchase, whether the lintels are galvanized or not?

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Galvanized, unpainted, will show the zinc coating - or look dull silver. An inspector should note any issues regardless of materials.

I live in DFW but grew up in Houston area. Typically do not see galvanized in DFW. But in Houston, galvanized would be preferable or as Builder93 mentioned it should be well painted and maintained.

If buying a house in Houston or anywhere on the Gulf Coast, I would have the lintels looked at very closely by the inspector. Again, even in DFW it was noted on our inspection report to keep an eye on.

This is an Aussie site, but the principles are the same: https://www.houspect.com.au/wa/rusty-lintels/

Good to see it's not foundation. You have to keep in mind that brick is on the outside. It's a veneer. It's not structural these days unless you've built it as such. All kinds of weird things can happen to and affect a thin layer of exterior covering that is rigid like brick. Back in the day, That brick would have been a structural member of your home.

Sent pics to my friend. On the lintels in the pic, probably $4k-$5k to replace lintels and fix the brick. I can only say that is probably the highest price as you would be paying for the well-experienced masons. I would guess you could get it done for substantially less.

But he did caution that would are likely to have the issue throughout.

You may have to balance fixing some now and potential for future issues.

Sorry, I was surprised it would be that much as well.

Funny thing about contractors and pricing. You get what you pay for. Don't go cheap.

BrazosDog02 said:

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Funny thing about contractors and pricing. You get what you pay for. Don't go cheap.

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Yup, the choices are fast, cheap, and good. You only get to choose two of the three though.

spider96 said:

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BrazosDog02 said:

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Funny thing about contractors and pricing. You get what you pay for. Don't go cheap.

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Yup, the choices are fast, cheap, and good. You only get to choose two of the three though.

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Oh, you can choose 3, it just won't be near the top of any.

This is why I got out of residential work. Houses are commodities to most people and they only care about cost/sf........until something like this happens. Don't get me started.