Cracks And Gaps Equal Damage
Cracks and gaps are signs there could be damage
to the foundation and the house. There is definitely some movement
looking at the picture above.
Right where the crack is running into the garage door there is a gap to
the left under the garage door where as on the right side of the crack
there is no gap and the garage door seals just fine at the bottom.
This could be signs that the foundation located to the left of the
garage has done some settling. Even though the gap is not huge, it is
big enough to concern a home inspector, you will need to get some more
information from the homeowner if possible.
Find out how long the gap has been there and has the crack gotten larger
over time. If the homeowner has no clues or information for you, inspect
the garage floor for cracks as well as the walls and ceilings.
If there are cracks in the garage floor and they are wide enough to
stick a quarter into you could have a structural building problem.
It wouldn't hurt to look at some of the neighbors homes to see if their
driveways have the same problems. If their driveways have similar
cracks, it could actually be a building flaw which would need to be
addressed as soon as possible.
If none of the other driveways in the neighborhood have similar cracks,
this isolates the problem to this house and not a building flaw.
Another possible problem here could be a plumbing drain leak, this in
turn would be allowing the water to leak into the soil and over time
create a soil erosion problem underneath the buildings footing and
driveway.
Do not overlook a problem like this as a homeowner or potential
homeowner. These are problems that could be fixed early on a lot cheaper
than later.