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Home Repair - - If it ain't broken, don't fix it. Otherwise look here.
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Posted by Chris on February 24, 2007, 4:06 pm
I live in an 80 yr. old house that has had it's front porch enlosed.
The original front porch is still there, covered in a vapor barrier
and ratty carpet (that I am soon going to replace with linoleum tile)
So, the floor is still slightly slanted towards the front of the
porch. The walls are drywalled.
Right above the front door frame, in the center of the frame, a big
visible crack has formed. One slide of the crack is slightly elevated,
and it goes in a straight line upwards and then cuts across to the
side a little and then continues upward. Is this a foundation problem?
or is it because this area, which is seperated from the rest of the
house by what was originally the front of the house, is totally
unheated, and the winter weather is taking it's toll?
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Posted by Chris on February 24, 2007, 4:13 pm
Hello, it is me again. I got on a chair and inspected the crack. I
peeled away slighty and a found that the wall is solid underneath, and
the there is a layer of paper with paint on top of it. Is this wall
paper, or a covering that they put ontop of drywall so that is can be
painted?
show/hide quoted text
> I live in an 80 yr. old house that has had it's front porch enlosed.
> The original front porch is still there, covered in a vapor barrier
> and ratty carpet (that I am soon going to replace with linoleum tile)
> So, the floor is still slightly slanted towards the front of the
> porch. The walls are drywalled.
> Right above the front door frame, in the center of the frame, a big
> visible crack has formed. One slide of the crack is slightly elevated,
> and it goes in a straight line upwards and then cuts across to the
> side a little and then continues upward. Is this a foundation problem?
> or is it because this area, which is seperated from the rest of the
> house by what was originally the front of the house, is totally
> unheated, and the winter weather is taking it's toll?
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Posted by Big_Jake on February 24, 2007, 4:19 pm
> Hello, it is me again. I got on a chair and inspected the crack. I
> peeled away slighty and a found that the wall is solid underneath, and
> the there is a layer of paper with paint on top of it. Is this wall
> paper, or a covering that they put ontop of drywall so that is can be
> painted?
> > I live in an 80 yr. old house that has had it's front porch enlosed.
> > The original front porch is still there, covered in a vapor barrier
> > and ratty carpet (that I am soon going to replace with linoleum tile)
> > So, the floor is still slightly slanted towards the front of the
> > porch. The walls are drywalled.
> > Right above the front door frame, in the center of the frame, a big
> > visible crack has formed. One slide of the crack is slightly elevated,
> > and it goes in a straight line upwards and then cuts across to the
> > side a little and then continues upward. Is this a foundation problem?
> > or is it because this area, which is seperated from the rest of the
> > house by what was originally the front of the house, is totally
> > unheated, and the winter weather is taking it's toll?
Really hard to see from where I'm sitting... Let me stand up...
Still can't see it. :-)
Probably wallpaper. Hard to believe you are peeling the face paper
off the drywall, but it could happen. The changes in temp, coupled
with the fact that the house probably has footings below the frost
level while the porch does not, will cause shifts and wall cracks.
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Posted by dreamchaser on February 24, 2007, 9:03 pm
Well, now is probably a good time and an excuse to by a good laser
level or bubble level and check that old porch foundation out. I bet
it needs levelling. Not difficult to do either. Just by a 12 ton jack,
get some 2x4 blocks and probably a 2x8 block for the jack to sit on
and have at it. Don't jack up and shim more then 1/8" at a time. Shim
1/8" and leave it for a few weeks then do another 1/8" or you will
start cracking drywall. Just find the highest point along the
perimeter of the porch and that's what everything else should be
levelled to, a little at a time.
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Posted by Big_Jake on February 25, 2007, 12:05 pm
show/hide quoted text
> Well, now is probably a good time and an excuse to by a good laser
> level or bubble level and check that old porch foundation out. I bet
> it needs levelling. Not difficult to do either. Just by a 12 ton jack,
> get some 2x4 blocks and probably a 2x8 block for the jack to sit on
> and have at it. Don't jack up and shim more then 1/8" at a time. Shim
> 1/8" and leave it for a few weeks then do another 1/8" or you will
> start cracking drywall. Just find the highest point along the
> perimeter of the porch and that's what everything else should be
> levelled to, a little at a time.
Why? It's a porch. Could be pitched 1/4" / foot for drainage. Also,
since it isn't likely that it has footings below frost level, the
porch can shift around every winter with the freeze / thaw cycle.
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> The original front porch is still there, covered in a vapor barrier
> and ratty carpet (that I am soon going to replace with linoleum tile)
> So, the floor is still slightly slanted towards the front of the
> porch. The walls are drywalled.
> Right above the front door frame, in the center of the frame, a big
> visible crack has formed. One slide of the crack is slightly elevated,
> and it goes in a straight line upwards and then cuts across to the
> side a little and then continues upward. Is this a foundation problem?
> or is it because this area, which is seperated from the rest of the
> house by what was originally the front of the house, is totally
> unheated, and the winter weather is taking it's toll?