Settlement Cracks

[Wright39]

Hi there,

Had our extension up since last February (14 months ago) and these are the cracks we have got going on.

Can anyone tell me if they think that they are normal or not? I can only assume that they are normal and the ones at the top of the ceiling are about no more that 3mm but the one at the bottom of the bathroom floor is about 4-5mm. The door in the room with the Pink wall has kicked over as the wall on the left hand side is the original house.

Dan

 

[^woody^]

Not so much "normal", but but perhap 'common' shrinkage.

That photo of the door shows either bad workmanship or more significant movement of that lining and the wall it is in.

 

[Wright39]

Yeah, common it is then! Think like you say its significant movement of the lining, hence the tapered crack above. Hopefully its not going to go any or much more so I can start the patching process.

 

[^woody^]

Bare in mind that a lining should not move that much.

If that door was ever hung square in the lining, then that lining has moved a little more than it should have. The crack above it indicates that the wall has dropped or the door opening has widened - which it should not have done.

Is that wall timber or masonry?

 

[Wright39]

Timber & plasterboard

 

[theprinceofdarkness]

I have some cracks like this. I am sure that it is caused by the concrete slab slowly settling on the foam insulation and straightening it out as well as bedding it down on the sub floor. So if these cracks are on walls built of the slab, that's the reason.
Frank

 

[^woody^]

All those cracks are thermal - shrinkage due to the new work drying out and the OP's heating patterns.

Quality construction should have dealt with them. That is why they are not normal (ie they should not occur), but are common (ie there is a lot of poor work done).

The cracking around that door may have some thermal influence, but the differential movement indicates that there is some other cause in addition or more likely as the main factor.

Floor slabs don't settle BTW.