Do I have a major problem?

[Aerovette]

I've been in the house I live in since it was new. It was built in 2007. It's a two story slab house. I am worried that what I thought was just "settling" may be something far worse. I have three drywall cracks. One in linear, two are jagged. The linear one is about 18 inches and that particular wall behind the drywall, is plywood with NO seam where the crack is. It runs completely straight and vertical. It has been repaired once already BUT, I took a shortcut and didn't tape it. I'm less concerned about this one. Another one extends from the top corner of a door jam and runs at roughly a 45 degree angle for about 6 inches. The third is on a horizontal divider between a lower window and an upper arched window. It is bow shaped (sort of) and is about 6 inches long as well. On top of that, I have loose tiles on the floor. All of this is on the same side of my house. I have walked the perimeter and inspected inch by inch and there are no signs of any cracks or separations in the foundation. I do have some cracked bricks with no separation, but visible cracks. These are out front in a column that separates the two car garage from the single car garage. The house has withstood two significant hurricanes and I considered that may be a contributor. I don't "see" any other issues but I guess something could be hidden underground. The separation in the cracks is not even near the width of a dime. Maybe a thick pencil line.

I could burn it to the ground, but maybe I could just fix the cracks instead. Then see if they return.

Thoughts?

[MEANZ06]

Just burn it down and start over...

[Anjdog2003]

I got as far as "I've been in the house I live in since it was new." Then i had dinner. I came back and got as far as "It's a two story slab house." I decided to watch Gunsmoke reruns.

[Louie Detroit]

Cliffs?

[MEANZ06]

We're here to help...

[mrvette]

Loose tile is the worst part.....need some of that 'special' mastic to make sure the new tile sticks, then to match the grout, if you are just pulling the loose tiles and patching them back down....PITA, the shitrock is the usual tape and mud, sand over the previous work as needed, then to match the paint in the ass....

[ZipZap]

Patch and paint. We saw our first cracks in the ceiling this week after 7 years. Could be snow load, or any number of things. Not going to worry about it. It was much worse on the east coast where flat finish is the norm. Homes settle. Easy fix.

[mrvette]

Originally Posted by ZipZap

Patch and paint. We saw our first cracks in the ceiling this week after 7 years. Could be snow load, or any number of things. Not going to worry about it. It was much worse on the east coast where flat finish is the norm. Homes settle. Easy fix.

I thought WE did that at the lawyer's office......

[ZipZap]

Originally Posted by mrvette

I thought WE did that at the lawyer's office......

You're up past your bedtime Gene.

[Olustee bus]

Maybe get a foundation stabilizing expert/company to check it out. May be worth it.

[Mick]

Pics? Where are the cracks?

My house is two-story on a slab, and I have gotten several cracks. One was persistent, and I had a problem in my shower ceiling from a former roof leak, so I had a contractor come to fix them all. He said they were all normal. He also said the house shrinks in the winter from the cold, and grows in summer from the heat, so getting an occasional crack, especially at the upper corner of a doorway, is to be expected.

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Olustee bus

Maybe get a foundation stabilizing expert/company to check it out. May be worth it.

This. ^^^^

There are two types of houses in Houston....those that have HAD foundation problems, and those that WILL have foundation problems.

PM me if you need a good foundation guy. He's a friend of one of my guys, and he did my parents' house, 40-some piers back in '16. You should also get a quote from Du-West or one of the other big guys, but be prepared to be shocked at the prices. The main thing is, make sure that different foundation guys are all identifying the same issue, or maybe non issue. The other thing you might be experiencing is a problem with a leaking sewer line from the house, which would keep one part of the soil under the foundation wet and plump, vs. non wet areas.

My best friend lives off of the Beltway, not that far from you and has dealt with both of these issues. I'd say getting some foundation estimates would be your first step.

For what it's worth, I haven't ever had my house checked, mainly because I don't want to know but I haven't seen any cracks in sheetrock or brick, and don't notice anything.....yet. My parents' house had settled about two inches on one side.

[04 commemorative]

Sink hole

[Mike Mercury]

[Steve_R]

I can't quite tell how bad the cracks are from the pics you posted.

[BayouCountry]

If doors stop opening and closing correctly then there may be a problem. Otherwise, just fix the cracks and call it a day.

[Mr Hole]

Originally Posted by bill_daniels

There are two types of houses in Houston....those that have HAD foundation problems, and those that WILL have foundation problems.

My house in S.W. Houston was built in 1960. I had bell bottom piers put in in 2009. No more problems.

[Aerovette]

Originally Posted by Louie Detroit

Cliffs?

House is broken

[Aerovette]

Originally Posted by Steve_R

I can't quite tell how bad the cracks are from the pics you posted.

Are you blind?

Look closely....

(imagine a drywall crack pictured here)

[Aerovette]

Originally Posted by Mick

Pics? Where are the cracks?

My house is two-story on a slab, and I have gotten several cracks. One was persistent, and I had a problem in my shower ceiling from a former roof leak, so I had a contractor come to fix them all. He said they were all normal. He also said the house shrinks in the winter from the cold, and grows in summer from the heat, so getting an occasional crack, especially at the upper corner of a doorway, is to be expected.

Linear, I would expect. Angular is usually a different story.

Now I have a new problem. I lost 4 shingles this morning in a storm. The "fire" solution is starting to gain appeal.