Is this house falling into the ocean?

[Muhammad]

The house my parents are renting for the past three years in San Diego has developed numerous cracks in the sheetrock over the past three years. None of these interior cracks were present there years ago. The patio pulling away from the house and one of the cmu cracks were present 3 years ago.

The house sits on a flat concrete pad about 25' from a 70' embankment. It's pretty obvious that the answer to my question in the title is YES. But the follow up is... how bad is it now and what can be done? What's the end game timeline with these early warning signs?

 

[rademamj1]

I worked some of my career as a Structural Geologist, and much of what your showing in your photos is indeed related more to local geologic activity and instability, probably slumping, rather than a simple foundation issue.

This makes sense, as most of western California shows active tectonics, and quite often this creates local faults in the subsurface, which over time will affect homes built on the surface. In a few years, plumbing breaks will show up. I am sure, this geologic stress you are seeing affecting your rental home, is impacting the entire neighborhood. This will continue to just get worse over time, until catastrophic failure occurs at some future date.

So drive around the block visually looking at the neighborhood, and also check google earth at this location, to see if you can see affects beyond this house.

 

[herm0016]

I sure would not buy it.

you could take the roof off, drill big holes in the floor and run piles, but it would probably cost less to demo the whole thing and move it back as far as possible.

 

[Muhammad]

Forgot to add that the house was built in 1986.

 

[RalphVa]

I'd get some local profession advice.

 

[Diggin It]

541 Earthquakes 2.5M or over since 1-1-15:

Latest Earthquakes{%22name%22:%22Search%20Results%22,%22params%22:{%22starttime%22:%222015-01-01%2000:00:00%22,%22endtime%22:%222021-05-25%2023:59:59%22,%22maxlatitude%22:33.18,%22minlatitude%22:32.135,%22maxlongitude%22:-115.4,%22minlongitude%22:-117.675,%22minmagnitude%22:2.5,%22orderby%22:%22time%22}}

 

[Muhammad]

I'd get some local profession advice.

Well that's a given, I just figured some anecdotal comments would be interesting to hear as well.

 

[EddieWalker]

More movement then most houses, but it doesn't look like panic time yet. Probably never.

The 80's where probably the worse decade for homes. Carter created the EPA and they forced everybody to start all over in how the manufactured stuff. It wasn't until some time in the 90's that they started producing decent houses and cars again.

The cracks all look like areas that should have been built better, and would be if the house was built today. Code, especially there, has dramatically changed, and any house built in the 80's wouldn't come close to passing Code today.

 

[orezok]

The 80's where probably the worse decade for homes. Carter created the EPA and they forced everybody to start all over in how the manufactured stuff. It wasn't until some time in the 90's that they started producing decent houses and cars again.

The cracks all look like areas that should have been built better, and would be if the house was built today. Code, especially there, has dramatically changed, and any house built in the 80's wouldn't come close to passing Code today.

Maybe in Texas, but in CA earthquake standards were substantially upgraded following the 1933 Long Beach earthquake and many many times since. I built over 2000 dwelling units in the 70’s and 80’s and I’m sure our earthquake standard probably exceed anything built in Texas today. Gee, how many quake have you felt in your backyard?

 

[EddieWalker]

Maybe in Texas, but in CA earthquake standards were substantially upgraded following the 1933 Long Beach earthquake and many many times since. I built over 2000 dwelling units in the 70’s and 80’s and I’m sure our earthquake standard probably exceed anything built in Texas today. Gee, how many quake have you felt in your backyard?

I moved to Texas in 2002. Before that, I lived in the SF Bay Area. If you built houses in the 80's, then you know how poorly they where built. Everything about them is substandard to what is being built today. I'm also sure that you know that the big changes to Code happened in the 90's after the big quakes in 89. When I left the state, we where tying solid, continuous strapping from the foundation rebar into the rafters or trusses because of earthquakes. The depth of footings, the amount and size of rebar, and how it was tied together all changed. Did you even bolt them to the foundation when you where building there, because that was another big change that happened in the 90's. Before that, builders where doing whatever they wanted with sill plates. It was big money going around and drilling sill plates and bolting them down when everything change after 89.