A Headache Without a Hangover

If it doesn't fall on your head, the seller and buyer may be in pain, along with you, from dealing with this issue. My pain comes from being the one who must inform you and my client of it. 

Recently, I had the privilege of inspecting a three-story home. It was three stories because what would usually be the basement was totally out of the ground.

Are you aware of what causes one home to be designated as two stories over a full basement while the exact same design on another lot would be a three-story house? The difference is how much the lower level is below grade. The deciding factor is 50% in our North Carolina Building Code. If any level has greater than 50% of its total exterior wall area below grade it's a basement. Greater than 50% above grade it's a first floor and not a basement. How many times have I had a realtor advise me that "there is no basement, it's a lower level and please call it such because the rear is open to daylight." Calling it a "lower level" may help you marketing houses, but if its 50% below grade it's a basement, rear open to daylight or not. You may be correct, may are "lower levels." 

So, why is that important? In wood frame construction under NC code, you can only have three stories. But those three stories can be over a basement. If the lower level is 50% above grade and is not therefore a basement, and you have two levels above with a high sloped roof, you can't finish out living space in the attic. (Not our subject, just a little something extra) 

Back to my three-story house, the three stories was not the headache issue, it just made it worse because of the amount of brick in the gable over the side attached lower level garage. I inspected the interior first. Opening the rear door from the kitchen to the rear deck and looking at the jambs I noticed that the jambs, header and threshold all around the door appeared to have moved back from the face of the brick veneer about ½ to ¾". Walking out on the deck and looking closely I couldn't find evidence of anything being wrong. It looked, at first impression, as if some force had knocked this doorframe in, but there was not evidence anywhere else inside or outside in the vicinity of the door. For a time I was baffled by what I saw, but not for long. The owner was with me and I was unable to explain it. Unfortunately, she left before I found the reason. Had I been paying more attention when I arrived on site instead of trading cordiality's with the owner and realtor I would have known immediately what was going on. The buyers were not present, I wish they had been, but they are moving here from another country over the big water, and couldn't be in attendance. At some point I went out to my van to get a ladder and looked up at the gable end over the one story attached side garage. There was a very distinct stair stepping crack extending up and back from the ridgeline of the attached garage roof. That kitchen door was near the back corner of this end wall. BINGO, I had found the culprit. 

Fortunately, for the most part, brick veneer walls do not just fall as you may have seen on the TV or in movies unless there is a catastrophic event such as an earthquake or high winds. That doesn't mean that they will not fall, but long before the wall falls it will tell you that it is failing, if you pay attention. Usually this notice will be in the form of separations at openings such as windows and doors or from trim components. The most obvious indication is a crack that progressively gets worse. Separation and cracks are common and a good home inspector must be able to tell the difference between those that are common such as shrinkage and movement cracks and the ones that are saying "fix me fast or I am going to fall on your head." The difference is determined by what I call "forensic investigation." Observing that the brick is separating or cracking is not enough; you must be able to determine why this is happening. In most cases, thankfully, there is a simple and reasonable explanation, which is not alarming, such as improper or inadequate installation of expansion control joints or minor foundation settlement. 

Unfortunately, once in a while, which is too often, a home inspector finds one of those "I am falling" kind of cracks. The one I observed on this house is one you should be aware of because it can be expensive and difficult to repair. I enjoy finding and explaining them, but I dread having to explain them to owners and realtors who must deal with them. If you are paying attention when you list or show houses you will see this for yourself. Advise your clients that this is a serious condition and should be investigated by a professional. Doing so should impress your client and save me and other home inspectors from having to be the bearer of bad news. We will only be confirming what you suspect. Better to know about these things before the house is under contract than after. 

If you have picked up a brick lately you know they are heavy, try picking up five a once and you'll get the idea. Imagining hundreds of these floating over the headboard of your bed is what most concerns me. Why? You spend, on average, six hours a day in your bed, which is 25% of your time. If the brick above you falls, there is a 25% chance it will fall on you. If I see a car headed for you, no matter how slow, am I going to tell you to move out of the way? I also see this over dens and kitchens but most often over garages, three in the past two weeks. If I sound alarming, it is for good reason. Here are the read flags to look for.

So what is the deal here? It's masonry (brick) veneer supported on the wood roof structure. Can it be done? Sure, wood properly engineered can support an elephant. Is it allowed by code? You bet it is, provided the framing meets the code requirements. So, what's the problem? The problem is that many of these installations over the years, and even now in new construction, have not been properly engineered to support the weight and don't meet code requirements. If it's over the garage, when it falls it just gets your new car, if it's over your bed it gets you.

Why then haven't you heard about these things falling? Brick construction is very forgiving and is very different from most other forms of structural support. Brick walls are like upside down pyramids with the bottom supporting what is above it. If it is symmetrical at a 45º angle in both directions, brick is a wondrous thing. What will usually fail first is any brick installed on inadequately supported wood or foundations, which is below this angle. Sometimes the walls on the return sides will begin to bulge out from the lack of symmetry and the force pushing on these walls from the brick sliding down the slope of the roof. The door hadn't moved, the brick were being, pushed out by the force from the inadequately supported brick around the corner over the garage roof sliding down the slope of the roof. It was interesting that the gable veneer was failing on the backside of the garage but not on the front. The difference was that the garage was flush at the back, but set back at the front. Therefore there was a small brick return lug supporting the front section (remember the upside down pyramid?), but none at the rear.

This is not the only issue with this condition. Per code there should be a "movement joint between the veneer supported wood construction and the foundation." I have yet to find my first such joint in residential construction. Because this is so common, I don't even write it up (bet you find that hard to believe). There should also be "thru-the-wall" flashing at this location. Most builders have yet to understand the importance of this requirement, which is why, is rains in some of their customer's kitchens below this wall. This is something that is difficult to verify but that I know in most instances is not in place. 

Here is what the NC code has to say about this condition (for those of you who want to get technical about this, many builders must not have had any interest in it why should you?):

703.7 Masonry veneer, general: Exterior masonry veneers having an installed weight of 40 pounds per square foot or less may be supported on wood construction. When the masonry veneer is supported by wood construction that adjoins the masonry veneer supported by the foundation, there shall be a movement joint between the veneer supported by the wood construction and the foundation. The wood construction supporting the masonry veneer shall be designed to limit deflection to 1/600 of the span for the supporting members. Veneer may be vertically supported on sloping surfaces as … described in the following provision:

1. Surface slope shall not exceed 12:12.
2. Member supporting veneer loading shall have twice the capacity of similar beams, joist or rafters supporting the sloped surface.
3. Minimum of 4 inches x 3-1/2 inches x ¼ inch steel angle shall be attached to the sloping surface. Attachment shall be made by drilling 3/16 inch diameter holes in the 4 inch leg of the angle at 12 inches o.c. and using 16d nails penetrating the double members. When the slope exceeds 4:12, minimum of 3 inches x 3 inches ¼ inch plates shall be welded at 24 inches o.c. along the steel angle as stops to prevent the veneer from sliding down the slope. Minimum of 1-inch air space shall be maintained between the wall and the veneer.
4. Flashing shall be installed over the steel angle and a minimum of 6 inches under the wall sheathing. 
   
   This doesn't leave much to the imagination, does it? Why then are so many of these conditions not installed as required? I'll let you be the judge.
   

Thought for the week

Football (In honor of the Super Bowl)
"Football isn't a contact sport, it's a collision sport. Dancing is a contact sport."
--Vince Lombardi