Problem with foundations? What may be going on, and who to call?

[condoowner]

Hey guys,

I have two pressing foundation/masonry issues on a house I recently purchased (built in 1978). See attached a sketch of the frontage of the house, and some pics.

First issue:
During the inspection, we noticed a strange concrete protrusion right above a large 8ft basement window. The inspector didn't seem too worried because although this protrusion seemed deteriorated (cracks and some loose stuff) it appeared to have been poured over the finished rock and brick wall.... So according to the inspector, most likely not structural. The inspection was about 3 months ago, and fast forward to last weekend, I noticed a chunk of this protrusion about to fall off. I pulled on it and saw rusted out steel bars and anchors... The protrusion also sounds hollow" when I knock on it, so is the concrete just above the basement window. There's a lot of rust and efflorescence...

Second issue:
I also noticed a few hairline cracks running from this protrusion and going underneath a poured-in concrete balcony for the main entrance. AFAIK horizontal cracks are not good so last Friday I called a company specialized in foundation engineering assessments.

What I did so far...
Upon explaining the issue to the engineering company, they said that my "scope of work" is "fairly" minor and that they are usually dealing more with industrial/commercial stuff, so they recommended that I call a foundation repair company. I took some pics and sent it to them, and they just called me back.

The guy said that this is most likely a failed attempt at repairing a defective or rusted out lintel. He recommended that I call a mason to tear down this protrusion and that the mason would be able to determine if its a lintel issue and if it needs replacement. That still doesnt explain the horizontal cracks below the patio. These two issues (the weird rotting protrusion and the horizontal cracks) may or may not be related but I'm worried a bit. I'm tempted to call bak the engineering firm and ask for an assessment. It's not cheap. Around $2800 CAD...

Question:
1. From what you can see on the pics, what do you guys think of that?
2. What's my best course of action? There's also a few other minor cracks and things I'd like to get an opinion on elsewhere on the foundations. The above 2 are the biggest in my opinion so thats why I need to address them ASAP.

Any hints or opinion very welcome

Thanks

 

[Sparky617]

The concrete protrusion looks like a poured concrete lintel. What is your foundation made of? Poured concrete or concrete (cinder) blocks? If the latter I suspect the cracks in the pictures ending in 345 and 351 is spalling of the parge layer over the blocks. the patch on the lintel in the first picture is appears to be a repair to keep the water out. The lintel might be able to be repaired with an epoxy injection, same with the rusted rebar. The wall above the lintel doesn't appear to have any cracks in the mortar joints so I don't think you have any settling going on.
I'd probably start with a concrete repair contractor or possibly a mason. IMHO I don't think your house is in any danger of falling down anytime soon. Most of this looks to be cosmetic. That said, I'm not a structural engineer and my advise may be worth exactly what you're paying me to give it.

 

[condoowner]

Hey @Sparky617 , yes its a poured foundation. The wall over the protrusion doesnt have any cracks, and floor in dining room is not sagging and windows are all operating normally (both dining room and basement).

That said, I'm not a structural engineer and my advise may be worth exactly what you're paying me to give it.

Hahaha that made me laugh

Will call a mason tomorrow, and see what they say. In the meantime I'll try to check how the first floor would be supported at this location... Joists cant possibly be sitting on a thin section of poured concrete.....

 

[Sparky617]

What is the difference between the distance between the bottom of the window inside versus the distance to the top of the basement windows. That will give you an idea of how big your floor joists are if you can't see them from below due to a finished ceiling. How much space is there above the top of the basement window and the ceiling?

 

[condoowner]

The floor joists are probably about 25ft long because I measured about 23ft between finished basement walls. I can see them very well in the mechanical room (no ceiling) and they are oriented from the back to the front of the house (perpendicular to the damaged wall) and spaced at 16" c/c.

There's a good 9 to 10 in between the basement finished ceiling and the top of the basement window (ceiling being higher than window).

Reading up a bit on this yesterday I found that there would be a beam sitting on the foundation walls just above the window called a "header" and taking the load from the floor joists, load bearing wall and roof (partially) and transferring to the foundation walls. Am I wrong?

This is the one I was originally worried about..... You're right. There's no cracks or signs (as far as my untrained, ignorant eye can see) of settling below the window indicating the foundation is not settling in the ground, and above the window, there are no cracks or floor warping or window issues so the structural aspect is probably OK.

I called a mason, waiting for their visit. Chipping our the foundation parging will also reveal if the howizontal cracks are only cosmetic or structural. Hoping for the former...

In the meantime I noticed there are no posts or columns or load bearing walls in the basement. Half of the basement is a large open space room (like a large living room) and the other half is finished with rooms, bathroom, etc... so some of the walls may be load bearing but I highly doubt.

The distance between finished walls is about 23ft... How would joists be that long? Isnt there usually a transverse beam for the joists to sit on, and this beam be supported by vertical columns?

From this site: Floor Joist Sizes & Span in Residential Home Building (Complete Guide) - Home Inspection Insider

For joists located in the center of a span, spans can be up to twice as long. For example, floor joists that are 16 inches on center (16″ o.c.) will have maximum spans of 23’3″ if using 2×12 Douglas Fir dimensional lumber.

I may be searching for problems that do not exist... This house is 44 years old, not a single crack inside and floors are pretty straight...

 

[Sparky617]

I was referring to the height of the floor joists not the length. Given the length you're probably right on the 2x12.

 

[condoowner]

They're 2x10's... I measured them in the mech room, 9 1/2 high x 1 1/2" thick (wide)

 

[condoowner]

oops hit reply twice.....

 

[condoowner]

Okay just hung up with a mason, they will come on monday to look at it, but at first glance its not good. They said that this looks like the former owners may have had issues with foundation cracks or lintel rusting out and cracking concrete due to swelling, and instead of doing a Proper repair they cheaped ou with something stupid like pouring a concrete block on top of everything. The mason said that its very likely they will have to tear down all of that and change the lintel and possibly reinforce the concrete by some means... They expect some water damage to the wood structures as well.... Moreover, the horizontal cracks under the concrete balcony/patio are worrisome according to them. That would be rebar movement or something similar. Not sure what they would recommend doing for this but overall, they said thats not gonna be a $2k job but more likely a $10-12k one.....

Sounds like I may need a foundation contractor more than a mason????