Crack in concrete slab advice, plus a load question.
#1
04-25-05, 04:35 AM
Crack in concrete slab advice, plus a load question.
Now that I've been outside in the back yard a few times with the warmer weather, I noticed a crack in our slab that the home inspector made note of. At that time (about 3 months ago when we bought it) I asked him if it was anything of note and he said no, just fill it in with some concrete patch in caulk form. Well now I'm kicking myself for failing to get him to show me the damn thing since I have no idea if it's still the same size as it was before.
This is a townhouse, so the slab is connected to the houses next to us. Whether it was all poured at the same time I don't know, the construction was in 90 & 91. The crack is in the corner of where my slab and the neighbor's slab meet. The houses are offset front to back about 2 - 3 feet so they are not even with each other. In this case, in the back yard, I'm looking at 3 feet of his house past mine. The crack is about 1/2" wide and goes 8" or so into my slab (this is all horizontally) and then over into his another foot. I haven't put a tape to it so these are just eyeball numbers. It's also somewhat close to the top of the slab in relation to the interior floor (mabye 2" - 4"). Right at that spot is where there is a sliding door into the basement. The crack doesn't quite make it to the door cut out.
Is this something I should be really concerned about or was the inspector correct and I should just clean the crack out and fill it in? Or...should I get another opinion? I can post a picture of it once I get home if anyone wants to have a look see and give me another thought on the matter.
The other half of my question is I am getting a fire safe and this got me all nervous about where I'm putting it. There is a small area under my steps that is walled off and is the perfect place for the safe. However, I moved the wall in there a couple inches in order to get the correct size for what I want and I know that one of the house steel support posts is right behind that wall. Is it a bad idea to be placing a 1000lb safe only a foot or so from a house support? (I'm a worrier by nature so I seem to have a knack for thinking up ways to increase my stress levels.) The wall that this is going against, is also the same shared stretch of wall that the crack is on, although it's in the middle of the wall about 10-12 feet from the cracked area.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to any advice you can give!
This is a townhouse, so the slab is connected to the houses next to us. Whether it was all poured at the same time I don't know, the construction was in 90 & 91. The crack is in the corner of where my slab and the neighbor's slab meet. The houses are offset front to back about 2 - 3 feet so they are not even with each other. In this case, in the back yard, I'm looking at 3 feet of his house past mine. The crack is about 1/2" wide and goes 8" or so into my slab (this is all horizontally) and then over into his another foot. I haven't put a tape to it so these are just eyeball numbers. It's also somewhat close to the top of the slab in relation to the interior floor (mabye 2" - 4"). Right at that spot is where there is a sliding door into the basement. The crack doesn't quite make it to the door cut out.
Is this something I should be really concerned about or was the inspector correct and I should just clean the crack out and fill it in? Or...should I get another opinion? I can post a picture of it once I get home if anyone wants to have a look see and give me another thought on the matter.
The other half of my question is I am getting a fire safe and this got me all nervous about where I'm putting it. There is a small area under my steps that is walled off and is the perfect place for the safe. However, I moved the wall in there a couple inches in order to get the correct size for what I want and I know that one of the house steel support posts is right behind that wall. Is it a bad idea to be placing a 1000lb safe only a foot or so from a house support? (I'm a worrier by nature so I seem to have a knack for thinking up ways to increase my stress levels.) The wall that this is going against, is also the same shared stretch of wall that the crack is on, although it's in the middle of the wall about 10-12 feet from the cracked area.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to any advice you can give!
#2
04-26-05, 06:36 AM
It seems unlikely that the horizontal crack is a problem. I would just clean and caulk. If it changes, you will know when the caulk stretches and fails.
The floor is designed to take a load anywhere although the rating is averaged over the floor. The safe should be fine where you propose. The floor is actually stronger by the support, anyway.
Hope this helps.
The floor is designed to take a load anywhere although the rating is averaged over the floor. The safe should be fine where you propose. The floor is actually stronger by the support, anyway.
Hope this helps.
