How do I find out what is going on with my 1917 home & the foundation?
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Bgr22948181
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The cracks in the horsehair plaster, with only lathes behind the plaster and no studs, are getting more defined. Crack down the middle of the ceiling in living room with 15' high walls. Along with diagonal lines that are becoming more accentuated.
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Trust me there are studs in there somewhere . . . At this point I would call in a structural engineer to look at the foundation, which would most likely be causing the cracks. Settling in a 100 year old house is not uncommon, you just need to know if there is more going on before having the plaster repaired.
I had the same problem and called in 3 structural engineers and got three different answers! I then had my attached garage floor dug up and replaced and voila, no viable foundation! I had that fixed and then the interior garage wall crack and another crack in the basement fixed with epoxy injection. Now I have still to fix the plaster wall in the living room that is on the other side of the garage wall then hopefully it will be fixed forever. By the way my house was built in 1954, not as old as yours but still lathe and plaster but without the horsehair. It is not the plaster holding up your house so check the exterior wall first.
Thank you!
Unfortunately the cracks in the walls are in every room, upstairs and downstairs. Can't afford a structural engineer at this point unless they come with a free estimate? I'll check. Thanks!