Is this brick crack structural or just cosmetic?
Exterior masonry cracks in older homes leave new owners guessing whether settling is normal or a sign of foundation failure. Without a clear way to gauge the severity, homeowners are left anxious and unsure whether they need to pay for a structural engineer.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1hiring a structural engineer to evaluate the severity and scope of repairs
- 2patching the crack
- 3marking the ends of the crack with a pencil and dating it to monitor movement
- 4contacting a home inspector or foundation professional
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“First time homeowner. Not sure how serious this is.”source ↗
“There are the step cracks and a diagonal crack in the foundation, I am a new home owner and not sure how much it is going to cost me to fix this.”source ↗
“How concerned should I be about this crack?”source ↗
“We don’t know if the garage foundation situation has gotten worse or not.”source ↗
“Yeah I just wasn’t sure bc under the note to patch it he says contact a qualified professional”source ↗
“What should I do about it ?”source ↗
“Finding a major crack in exterior brick as a first time homeowner is definitely nerve wracking.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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