flamingoh

I found this issue on the foundation slab of a 15-year old house. Basically the slab has cracks on both sides (see photos). However I didn't see any crack on the brick wall (two-story). Questions:

1. Is this problem severe?
2. How to fix it? and how much it costs if hiring a contractor?

Thanks very much for your help.
-Wayne

nealtw

Hi Wayne, welcome to the site.
This would be the foundation and the slab would be the floor that was poured on the ground inside this foundation unless they were all poured at the same time. Do you know which it is or do you have a crawspace under a wooden floor? Is there any signs of movement on the inside of the house in that area? Has this area of the foundation been covered with a stucco or morter of some kind?

flamingoh

Hi nealtw,

Maybe I was mixing up the terms together. We live in Texas and I believe the whole foundation and slab were poured together (but I might be wrong as I have no experience). There is no crawspace under the wood floor. It sits directly on floor. Yes, I believe the foundation is covered with a stucco.

Thanks,
-Wayne

nealtw

We call that type a pan slab, as it would look like a pan if you turned it upside down. Sometimes you can get this kind of damage when the forms are removed from the foundation while it is still hot or green or to new. The usual trick is to glue it back on with white wood glue and pretend it didn't happen. That dosn't mean it couldn't be something more serious. On the up side if those are full brick over a wood wall, it would only be a few bricks sitting above the cracked area and the wood wall will be sitting on solid concrete. If you are north enough to get some freezing, water could be getting in there and freezing, making it open up.
I would clean out the loose stuff and smooth it over with a morter mix or stucco repair or something, just wet the area with a mixture of water and white wood glue just before you do it so it sticks good. And then keep an eye on it for changes.
Others here may have defferent ideas.

flamingoh

Thanks. From your comments, this doesn't sound severe, right? I was quite concerned about it.

-Wayne

nealtw

If you just noticed it, it may have been there for years. But if this is new and getting worse it could be bad so it wants to be watched at the least.