There is a whole industry in the US dedicated to the "leveling " of house foundations. Some of the houses were built on very plastic clay soils with high shrink and swell capacity due to seasonal variation in the amount of moisture on the soil. So foundation cracks or the walls cracks on the house are common. My house is in a subdivision with caves all over, there are many houses that show the signs. Also, There is one that has a tree actually touching the foundation of the garage and there is no obvious indication of damage. ( the tree is Soooo close to the house that they actually cut a small portion ( about 2 ft by long by 1 ft wide) of the roof overhang to allow the tree to pass thru it. ( I will take a photo later for you to see it).
Those cracks on the photo that Ekka posted are nothing compared to some of the nasty ones we regularly see around here. They have a pier system that they pressure inject below the foundations to repair some of the damage but most of the soils around here are marginal for the type of construction used by local builders. Good topic! |