201. Demystifying Cracks for Home Inspectors at the 2020 Professional Inspectors Convention

This class recording, from the 2020 Professional Inspectors Convention, focuses on the differences in foundation cracks that home inspectors commonly encounter. Home inspectors should be knowledgeable enough to recognize whether cracks and other readily visible evidence of structural movement warrant further evaluation by a structural engineer or not. All concrete cracks, but all cracks are not equal. Is a crack a simple stress crack, shrinkage crack, thermal expansion-contraction crack, some type of mechanical damage, or actual foundation movement? What is the crack doing? Cracks are pieces of the inspection puzzle that we assemble on every inspection. But when should we call for further evaluation by a structural engineer?