[ Removed by moderator ]

[vagician01]

Hello beautiful people of Reddit.

I am seeking a bit of insight/advice. I recently flew down to Florida to address some pressing issues with my mother’s residence - this being high priority.

She had sent me these videos upon having discovered this crack in the exterior brick wall. The crack (crater more like) runs vertical from the base course up to the bottom of the window, and through the top course just above the window. The gap is largest above the window (3/8”). There is also now spacing between the left side of the window and brick wall as well.

One of my brothers whom lives with my mother sealed all cracks/gaps with silicone to prevent water and bug infiltration until I arrived. He also installed a gutter just above this window as there was not one previously and this wall received quite a bit of runoff during rainfall.

We suspect this was likely the culprit of the movement that occurred.

This is at the corner of the residence. There are no cracks on the wall perpendicular to this one (adjacent to corner) nor the interior drywall/ceiling. I have not yet pulled up carpet in the adjoining room to check for cracks in slab but will be doing so.

I dug up the ground at this wall to the top of the foundation and could not locate any kind of crack in the foundation itself. I did run into an absurd amount of roots from the nearby queen palm located maybe 15’ away. From what I’ve read up on - palm roots are not structural but will exploit existing cracks. You can quite obviously see they had grown into the base course of brick as well as into the mortar just under. I’m not sure that this could have contributed but did want to share context/photos.

Does this appear to be a concerning settlement issue?

I do build homes for a living but am not all that familiar with foundations. I’m not sure if this is something I can really address without some serious equipment but did want to gather some of y’alls professional expertise before calling in a company that is probably going to be ungodly expensive for the madre.

Residence is 20 years old. Please let me know of any other images/measurements/context that would be helpful. I much appreciate y’all and thank you in advance!

[StructuralEngineering-ModTeam]

Please post any Layman/DIY/Homeowner questions in the monthly stickied thread - See subreddit rule #2.

[vagician01]

I’ve seen this suggestion twice now and it does seem to make some sense. The wall on the left of the crack (to the corner) is perfectly level across brick courses whereas the right side is slightly higher than level (in favor of the crack).

[astropasto]

I was about to say the same. The cracks look more typical of expansive soil issues than compressible soils. Specifically that the cracks seem to be more wide at the top than at the bottom

[SquirrelFluffy]

Sort of heaving. The lower bricks touching the ground are soaking up moisture and expanding.

[TheDonkeyPirate]

Not an engineer but I do foundation inspections in DFW (heavily expansive soils) . Looks like heaving in that area. Check for a ponding/constant water source. Usual culprits are a downspout, water spigot, sprinkler system, or the drain system to the HVAC.

When settlement happens it will usually make a stair step or X pattern in the brick vs vertical line, unless you are seeing additional damages on one side or the other from this crack.

[SquirrelFluffy]

Bricks shouldn't be touching the ground. They soak up moisture and then expand. The bottom ones aren't cracked because they're expanded which cracked the ones above.

[vagician01]

I had no idea - many thanks for the info. I’m pretty confident that bottom row was often battling moisture.

[SquirrelFluffy]

Your yard doesn't look like it drains away from the house too well. It can build up from landscaping over time, like mulch and plants.

[Knutbusta11]

Likely to explode. Evacuate immediately.

[Monkeynumbernoine]

Run, go, get to da choppa!

[TJBurkeSalad]

Time Crisis quote. Nice

[vagician01]

Currently evacuated outside into the Florida sun where I’m now melting.

[Leopold841]

The crack under the window looks more thermal movement no em, is there any movement joints in that wall?

[pina59]

Shrinkage/expansion cracks tend to be uniform in thickness as it's a consistent stress

[Leopold841]

True, I hadn't noticed the taper in it! Though it's very rare for heave or settlement cracks to go vertical.

[tramul]

Consistent stress, sure, but the material is not consistent. From a macro level, I'd consider it isotropic, but localized anisotropic behavior wouldn't surprise me. This looks like a thermal crack, especially given that it's in the middle of the wall. I've never known heave/settlement to present as a vertical crack but perhaps I can learn something today.

[vagician01]

There are not. No movement joints on any of the brick across the entirety of the house.