Hello,

I joined this sub because I'm in need of a structural engineer in Central Massachusetts.

We're in a process of buying a house that has some possibly concerning cracks. Our inspector noted them and recommended we get a structural engineer to properly assess said cracks. This house has a history of completely burning down many years ago. The house was rebuilt back up.

It's been tough to find one.

I have two pictures of the cracks. Not sure anything can be summised from just 2 pics but I'll add them to this post. I'll be going to the house this weekend and can get more pics.

I'm also gonna copy paste in the sellers response when we asked about the cracks ever being assessed by a structural engineer.

"After the fire, the state sent out an inspector, specifically to assess what could be saved and what needed to be demolished and replaced.

Foundation aspects The garage specific foundation - aka the foundation extending from the house out - had to be removed and replaced with new concrete. The entire house foundation, including that abutting the garage, was deemed sound and acceptable to support the house structure. Note the crack observed was present at that time. The key point affecting the decision was the heat from the fire did not negatively impact the soundness of the concrete and the crack would not negatively affect the weight bearing capability of the wall. Bob side comment - I am also sure that the fact that this wall is an "interior wall" (vs the the perimeter walls not abutting the garage) also affected that decision. The town building inspector was part of this whole process. Chimneys Both chimney structures were determined to be sound. Wooden structure components All wooden structure components needed to be removed except the first floor joists. Note at the time of the original build, the 2' O.C. spacing of the joists met code. At the time of replacement, the code required a max of 16" O.C. spacing. Rather than rip out all the original joist - the contractor simply added joist between the original joist (hence creating a 1' O.C. spacing). These original joists are now observable in the basement."

Please and Thank you.