Foundation problems or normal settlement?

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firsttimebuyer

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I just bought my first house. It is 10 years old and in Canada where we have hot summers and freezing winters. The house has a concrete basement and wood framing. Before I purchased the house I got a home inspection and the inspector said everything was good. I moved in a couple of weeks ago and have been finding weird things with the house.

First, I found a crack in the foundation. It's not hairline and I'm pretty surprised the inspector missed it. It goes vertically straight down from the basement window and it goes about 1.5 feet down. At its widest it's maybe 1/10 of an inch thick.

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Next, the baseboards are pulling away from the walls in a few areas. One is by a window and the other is at a door frame.
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Last, above the window that is above the front door there is a hairline vertical crack in the drywall.
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As I have said, the house is 10 years old. As far as I know it's never been re-done. I don't know if all of these things are just normal wear/settlement, or if there is a bigger issue. None of the doors stick or swing. What do you think?

Cheers!
 
Are all these things located around the crack you found like the same corner of the house or something? Do you think the property required filling in before building? Kind of go by the lay of the land outside and the natural look of the land. They are not all related to one central problem maybe. Nothing looks real new so chances are they have been like that for some time.
 
Are all these things located around the crack you found like the same corner of the house or something? Do you think the property required filling in before building? Kind of go by the lay of the land outside and the natural look of the land. They are not all related to one central problem maybe. Nothing looks real new so chances are they have been like that for some time.

No, they are located at different areas throughout the house. The baseboard issues are both in the master bedroom at the front of the house, whereas the foundation crack is near the back. The land looks pretty good in most places, however, there where the front sidewalk is the lawn is a bit lower than the walkway at places and I can actually see a bit of a void under the concrete. I think this is more of a landscaping deficiency though. I don't think anything is new, except the baseboards may have lifted a bit more (I feel like I would have noticed them when we looked at the house if they were this bad). If nothing is new does it seem more like it's just normal settlement of a 10 year old house than something to worry about?
 
I would repair them all and then take a wait and see what happens.

by the way :welcome: to the forum.
 
If the crack is above ground level outside it really isn't a problem. You might chip it out a patch it to keep insects out. That said it should be watched. Mark the bottom and draw a line across it near the top and mark one inch on that line. That will make it easy to check for growth.
Check the door fram it self and makesure the whole thing dosn't move, that might push the molding off when the door is closed or slammed.
The sellers likely just pushed molding back in place when they decided to sell. Peel the caulk out of it and re-nail into studs, and like Bud said, keep an eye on things.
 

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