LESLIE: Now on the line, we’ve got Pat in Michigan who’s dealing with a problem in a home’s addition. Tell us what you’re working on.
PAT: Well, I had added onto my house in 2003 and added on a small room in a garage. And what I’ve noticed just recently is a door that exits this addition – that the security door won’t close.
TOM: OK.
PAT: And then if I looked into the house, I see where the door is also sagging and then I see a crack radiating from the corner of the door at the top. So, it looks to me like this addition is settling. That side has gone down, which has caused the security door to not close.
TOM: Now, can you clarify for me – you mentioned that this was over a garage?
PAT: No, no, no. This was an addition to the house, which included a room and a garage.
TOM: OK.
PAT: This room I’m talking about is 10×20. And it’s one of the walls – it’s one wall, which is 10 foot long and that’s where I see the problem. If you look on the outside of the house, it’s brick, this addition, and there’s nothing noticeable from the outside: no cracks in the brick, no movement of the brick that you could see. You’re just seeing it on the inside of the house.
TOM: I think you should rehang the door at this point. The type of crack that you are mentioning is pretty common, because that’s the weakest part in the wall frame. And I’d like for you, before we do anything that’s too drastic in terms of reinforcing foundations during that kind of a project – we don’t know that it’s that bad. This might just be some normal settlement. So I’d like to suggest that you pull the door out and rehang it, square it up and then watch it and see what happens.
PAT: OK. I appreciate it.
TOM: Alright. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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