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Memo to McCanaoa <br />Tatum Residence Inspection <br />page 3 <br />Exterior Structural Examination <br />The exterior walls of the structure also exhibit generally <br />pervasive cracking. The majority of these vertical cracks, <br />however, are hairline and do not open appreciably in either <br />direction. The south and east walls of the two story section of <br />the building are the exception. These walla; particularly near the <br />southeastern corner, exhibit open cracking, wider toward the upper <br />story ceiling level. Buttresses, which appear to be hollow <br />architectural cosmetic treatments, are attached to the southeast <br />and northeast corners of the structure. These both exhibit <br />separation cracks, opening upward, terminating with cracks angling <br />at approximately 45 degrees up and away from the vertical wall <br />plane. The buttresses appear to be rotating away from the <br />structure at their upper ends. Disintegration of the exterior <br />stucco covering makes these cracks appear larger than the actual <br />separation offset. <br />A concrete slab approximately 16 feet by 25 feet is located at the <br />entrance to the garage. This slab exhibits some normal shrinkage <br />cracking and loading cracks at the outer apron corners. However, <br />no offsets exist across any of the cracks. The same is true of the <br />concrete slab walk from the front gate to the terrace outside the <br />kitchen. The flagstone covered terrace floor between the garage <br />and the kitchen exhibits some cracking, and the mortar between the <br />flagstone has disaggregated in a few places. But the slab and <br />flagstone do not exhibit offsets across any of the cracks. <br />Crawl Space Examination <br />I entered the crawl space beneath the main floor from the partial <br />basement. The remainder of our party declined to accompany me. <br />Joe Dudash seared as spotter for me. I examined the crawl space <br />foundation walls by flashlight and. took flash photos. The <br />foundation consists of field rock and mortar walls founded in <br />excavated trenchs. Two to three courses of unfinished adobe blocks <br />are placed on top of the field stone wall as a leveling course. <br />Finally, wooden blocks support the floor joists. The crawl space <br />is excavated as much as 2 1/2 feet into shale bedrock. This upper <br />shale is dry but intact. In the bottom of the crawl space, at a <br />distance of over fifteen feet from the partial basement interior <br />east wall, the shale appears moist but not wet to the touch. No <br />cracking or disaggregation of the grout was observed at any <br />location in the field rock walls or the adobe leveling course. <br />While props and shims had been installed at several locations <br />beneath the joists, presumably for squeak prevention, no movement <br />appeared evident at any of these supported locations. None of <br />these shimmed supports had been unloaded or dislodged. <br />