THIS POST recounts my due diligence regarding certain cracks observed in a foundation wall.
In mid-July, a subcontractor removed all plaster from the foundation wall, along where the horizontal cracking and efflorescence had been. (This was in preparation for restoring the wall.)
Then I noticed that 6 vertical cracks had now become visible in the concrete wall. I saw them in front of row 1; at row 1 itself; at row 6; between rows 10 and 11; at the 2nd star of David; and at row 16.
Here is one example:
To be on the safe side regarding structural integrity, I took photos of those cracks, and I sent them to Jim (the structural engineer who has been advising us), with this note:
“Before next Monday, when the foundation wall will get covered again on the inside, I wanted you to see the six vertical cracks that are newly evident.… Is there a reason to be concerned about structural integrity, given these cracks?”
His initial reply:
“Yes.They need to be repaired and addressed before covered up.”
He then came to look at them timely. Upon seeing them for himself, he decided that they did not need further attention, and that they were to be expected in a 75-year-old building. (Actually, the foundation wall is 7 years older than that.
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