Hi all. I’m looking for a bit of advice for a friend. He is currently doing a bit of renovating to an I/P of his (nothing major) and noticed a bit of cracking in the exterior brickwork directly below both sides of a window on the side of the house. My guess is that it is from the dry weather possibly causing movement, but I’m no builder. Has anyone else had/have this problem, and if so, who should he get to look at the problem, a bulder or building engineer or who??
Regards
MartyHi,
I bought my house 2 years ago with a crack down halfway on the side of the house. Got a house inspector (i think that’s what he’s called!) to look at the crack. It was not structural as it did not affect the frame of the house. It was due to very dry weather for the past few years and the shifting of the soil beneath. In fact he said the fact that the shifting was insignificant after 40 years (age of the house) shows the house is in pretty good nick. i bought the house.Hope this is useful
lee
If there are trees around the house and the weather has been very dry the trees work their way under the house looking for damp thus draining the area of moisture , which is one reason the houses crack. and subside….tell your friend to check the tree situation. to start with.[buz2]
This is an EZY first step.Hi Marty
i was talking to an engineer friend last year and asked a similar question you have asked. he said he would be worried if the cracks ran right through the bricks rather than around them in the mortar.
regards westan
Hi there Max
I think it could be that the steel lintel above the window has rusted and expanded causing the crack.
I have seen this a lot in coastal areas.
The solution is to take the bricks out and drop the old lintel in the deepest part of the ocean and replace the lintel with one that will not cause the same thing to happen. A good bricky will soon put you right. I have noticed this a lot in Warrnambool where i own a few propertys.
Good luck
Purse
Brick veneer houses are timber frame houses with a veneer of bricks. Cracks in the brick veneer are cosmetic and will not affect the house.
Having said this, there are not to be disregarded completely. There was a case where a kid hangs a hammock from a veranda post and a hook in the wall. The wall mortar was cracked, the wall was not properly tied to the frame and so the wall collapsed on him, killing him.A more or less vertical crack right trough the brickwork tells of a cracked foundation, a 45 degree crack following the mortar may be due to building or clay shrinking in dry weather, rusting lintel may cause cracks in the upper corners of the window.
A bricklayer can fix the crack by replacing the broken bricks and the mortar, yet that does not fix the cause of the problem. Foundation problems are expensive to repair and require specialists, but unless the house is full brick, no one really bothers with it.May God prosper you always.[biggrin]
MarcThanks for the replies guys.I’m fairly sure it is caused from shifting soil, will let my friend know your responses and he can decide if he wishes to pursue the matter any further. Thanx again.
Regards
Marty
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. If you don't have an account, you can register here.
