1978, 08-30 Permit: M7065 Inspect x ,
ROBERT B. HYSLOP 3 j
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
N 2913 West Oval, SPOKANE,WASHINGTON 99205
s
• August 28, 1978
Mrs. Donald G. Friske
Key Home, Inc.
P. 0. box 96
Veradale, Wastj. 99037
In response to your request, I made an inspection this morning, in
the company of your husband, of the house under construction at S 1715
Ridgemont Drive, in the Spokane Valley.
The specific problem was a crack in the rear (east) •oncrete
foundation wall.
This rear walliis 75 feet long, 7'-8" high and 8" thick. It has
a spread footing under what will be the basement floor, and a wood sill
at the top, anchored into it with sheet metal anchors at 6 ft. centers.
The trussed wood jbbsts of the first floor bear on the sill and are
nailed thereto. The end walls of the house join with this rear wall
at each corner.
An exterior wood deck is being built on the outside, a bit below
first floor line. Backfill is some three feet or so below that, and
is to be finished to grade away from the wall to the rear, with
crawl space under the deck.
There is one crack, roughly vertical, at 27 ft. from the south end
of the 75 ft. wall. It is between 1/16" and 1/8" its full length,
the same outside as inside. The wall is reported to have light
horizontal reinforcement and no vertical steel.
The nature of the crack indicates that it is caused solely by
concrete shrinkage. It is vertical, which rules out unequal soil
bearing, and uniform top to bottom, indicatikg no case of soft or hard
spots in the bearing. It is equal inside and outside, indicating no
cause of bending, as due to backfill pressure. It is relatively near
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Friske p.2 Aug. 28, 1978 AUG 3 0 '.973
the center of the length of the wall, where the first shrinkage crack
should be expected, and its location is likely that of a series of
reinforcement ends. It is a natural and common defect of concrete
construction, sometimes avoidable by carefully designed and quite heavy
reinforcement. It causes no structural hazard, and no damage except
its appearance and its invitation to water leakage. A. good job of
elastic calking will seal against that. In this case, with the wood
deck above, no irrigated planting next to the wall, and the grade finished
to drain away from the wall, there should be no reason for leakage.
There is a similar crack in the front (west) concrete wall, 6" thick
and 3'-4" high under a row of windows. Here there may be planting
next to the wall, and a good job of grooving and calking is advisable.
i )44,./47
Robert B. Hyslop
Structural Engineer
(6 11'
A;11, '
Pio. 2195 J f
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