Foundation Failure?

[ShawnS4363]

I have lived in my current home for 370 days. Since I moved in I hadn't really had an issues. I repainted the entire house and filled in some very small cracks around a couple of closet doors.

Fast-forward to today:

I now have multiple doors that will not close, they catch in the top middle. Cracks (some as long as 30 inches) on the interior walls and the exterior windows and doors have cracks that have moved up on one side and down on the other. Nails are starting to show everywhere in the house.
In the kitchen, cabinets on the exterior walls have pulled away from the wall so far at the top I can slide my fingers behind them. I also noticed today that the sheet-rock is bowing away from the studs on one of the exterior walls in the kitchen.
Three of the brick exterior walls have 6+ foot long cracks through the brick and mortar.

The deadbolt for my carport door began to stick yesterday making it hard to latch. I removed the plate and adjusted it up since it wasn't very centered. I was able to open and close the bolt without any problems. I go to leave a few hours later and its sticking again. Repeated above process, latch door and leave. When I got home I could barley get the latch to turn with the key.

I am noticing cracks either appear or existing ones widen or shift up/down daily.

The house was built in 1978. It a crawlspace foundation with a center
peered span that supports the whole house (the main span is 50ft).

How bad is this going to get? My dad is telling me that it is normal for houses to settle but it's 33yrs old...how much more can it go and should it be happening with such a rapid pace?

Thanks!

 

[nealtw]

Houses settle in the first year. Have you had a lot of rain, earthquake or insects.You need a structeral engineer to do a safety inspection asap, something is or has moved and you need to make sure it is stable and then look at repairs.
It sounds to me like a BIG deal.

 

[Daryl in Nanoose]

Houses settle in the first year. Have you had a lot of rain, earthquake or insects.You need a structeral engineer to do a safety inspection asap, something is or has moved and you need to make sure it is stable and then look at repairs.
It sounds to me like a BIG deal.

I agree 100%

 

[joecaption]

Something major has change with that house since it was built. All those flaw even in a one year old house would be major signs someone messed up when building the foundation.
It could be shrink swell soils, 100 year flooding, Someone took off the rain gutters, added mulch up again the foundation, added a retaining wall to build a flower bed up againt the foundation and it's holding in water ECT.
Something this major is not a DIY patch job.

 

[ShawnS4363]

Well I've only lived here a year but the house was built in 1978. The only change I have made to the outside of the home was a 10x16 deck on the front...it's freestanding and not attached to the house. The land is sloped away from the house on 3 sides and the back has a draining ditch to prevent water buildup. There is no landscaping of any kind around the other other 2 sweetgum trees on the Front and Left sides (they are 20-30ft from the house).

 

[itsreallyconc]

yeah, something's changed & recently,,, find a pe who specialized in structural issues & can call on a soils guy,,, i'd start w/the main longitudinal beam & its supporting columns then move to the obvious cracks in the brickwork,,, it could be expansive soils are the culprit,,, probably wouldn't be a bad idea to drop a dime on your atty, too !

let us know the outcome,,, good luck !