Maintenance issue causes Foundation Hall rumors to swirl

Wall cracks in a room in Foundation Hall have caused rumors to circle around campus with theories abound about what the true problem could be. It turns out, however, that the residence hall’s foundation is not to blame for certain problems existing in several rooms.

“We were asked to respond to some issues related to cracks in the wall.  Part of the issues is what they call differential settling, that’s just an accumulation of gaps in-between the wood structures when they’re building the buildings, over a period of years the weight of the building closes in those gaps,” said Associate Director of Operations and Maintenance John Webb. “If it moves a half inch something’s got to give, and it’s usually the sheet rock, so you have a crack in the wall.”

Certain rooms of Foundation also have dips in the floor, primarily around the closet area.  The lack of substantial wood blocking within the floor is what causes the bowing to occur.

“The floor is bowing due to absence of proper blocking and there is some deflection in the floor system,” Webb said. “We have to go in and cut the floor up on either side and put wood blocking in and patch the floor back up.”

Students, however, appear to have reached their own conclusions about the cause of the problems in Foundation Hall.

“Everyone thinks there’s a sinkhole. I’ve heard that one side of the building is on a sinkhole and that the floor is sinking because of it,” freshman psychology major Keylee Bowen said.

Foundation Hall is not the only building exhibiting these signs of differential settlement.  Buildings at West Campus and other residence halls have been reported as having the same problems.

“There’s a girl in Napier Hall who has a hole in her floor from where the bed post went through,” freshman English major Lauren Marlatt said.

Plant Operations personnel want to stress that the cracks and other problems in campus buildings are not serious matters and can be easily fixed.

“While this is certainly something that needs looking at, these things are not life-threatening, no one needs to be scared to be in those rooms, said Interim Assistant Vice President of Facilities Dave Groseclose. “No one’s going to get injured because of it. We’re aware of the situation and we’re taking corrective action.”