Please help us solve our bowed wall mystery

5 years ago

Sorry in advance for this long post, but we need help solving this mystery.

We bought a fixer upper house built in the 1950s a few years ago, and even though we've been doing well with the renovations so far, this issue has us confused.

One exterior stud wall on our main floor bungalow is bowing out very noticeably around our kitchen/dining room window. We live in a city with clay soils and weather extremes and this issue seems to get worse every winter, where it bows out about 3/8" and then comes 'back' in the late Spring.

We only found out about this issue in the first winter we moved in, and realized the previous homeowners tried to hide it by caulking heavily between the kitchen counter and the wall, so it wouldn't show a big gap. We had a home inspection done before we even moved in, and he didn't even find it!

We've now tried to solve this issue in a few ways. Since it is around the window, we thought it was the very old windows in the house, and since they needed replacing, we bought new windows, installed by professionals and had them check the integrity of the window frame, which they confirmed was good. I'm now worried about the new window here because there are noticeable cracks in the stucco outside that come and go with the movement.

We also had a structural engineer come out, and he told us that the wall was only bowed around and beside this window area, and that all our other walls (interior and exterior) are perfectly plumb, including our basement foundation walls. However, he didn't tell us why this is happening!

Therefore, we took off the drywall above the window and beside it where it is bad (behind the fridge) and found the window header to be good, but there was an odd mini 'header' in between studs with supporting studs above and below it, not really doing anything (the told one seemed loose and the 'header' wasn't doubled up- see 1st photo). We removed this and replaced with new studs and bracing. However, the wall still has a bad lean to it.

We have tried calling several contractors, but they all said they have a backlog of work from this summer, this project is too small, and with our city's new COVID restrictions, they would not come out to have a look. So now we're stressed and on our own for now. What are we missing here, or where should we be looking to solve this? Also, how can we bring an outward bowed wall 'back' so it doesn't lean anymore?

Thanks in advance for your help.

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Comments (6)

Julie Praus
5 years ago
Can you post some pictures of the outside of the house, showing roof lines?
Lea
Original Author
5 years ago
Yes for sure! I went onto the roof to take a few different views of all showing the roof right above the wall. The first photo is looking at the roof right over it, and the other two are me looking towards the wall in question from the centre of the house, showing the different directions it takes. I hope these help!
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Lea
Original Author
5 years ago
Ill also add the front of the house for an overall look at the roof
Julie Praus
5 years ago
Lea, thanks for the pictures. I’m not sure I can tell you exactly what is causing this, but I would suspect one of two possible issues. One could be, that there is only one top plate on your wall and there is a splice near the end of your window header, allowing some flex in that location. The diagonal bracing ends in the same place and could be contributing too. The other possibility is that there is an air leak on that side of the window which also happens to be where a sheathing splice occurs. Because the outward movement happens during cold weather, I’m guessing this is most likely the case. Your sheathing looks like “intermediate” board or Built-Rite, a product that’s made up of pressed wood fibers, and expands when exposed to moisture. When it drys out, it doesn’t usually go back to its original size, but could soften enough to take the pressure off. I don’t think this is a structural problem to worry about, but air leaks do affect durability. The house has survived 70 years with this condition, I would learn to live with it and be careful with any energy upgrades that can create more indoor humidity or air pressures.
Lea
Original Author
5 years ago
Wow thank you so much for the help! We will look into both of these next. We did notice that when we took off the insulation to see the sheathing board, there was water pooling around the nails sticking through since the the outside temperatures are getting cooler here. I hope we don’t have to rip off the whole wall, but rather find the source of a leak, since it only seems to be this wall. Thanks again!
Julie Praus
5 years ago
Condensation can be causing the wet nails. Warm, moist air in the insulation can cause frost to form on the nails (that’s why it’s best to get the nails into a stud). When the temp rises, the frost melts and looks like a leak. If you have done any extra air sealing, insulating or added a humidifier in your previous improvements, you could be adding stress to your exterior envelope.