Mortar cracking around brickwork, advice needed!

[marky666]

Hi All,

on the exterior of my house i have noticed that the mortar around the brickwork has cracked, the cracking is situated below the down stairs living room window situated towards the right hand side corner of the house.

does this look serious and would you recommend that i get a surveyor into advise on them.



Thanks
Mark

Untitled

• marky666
• 9 Dec 2014
• 1

Untitled

• marky666
• 9 Dec 2014
• 1

 

[kbdiy]

Minor settlement, nothing more.

 

[marky666]

Hi,

thanks for your input, the house is 18 years old is this normal for a house of this age to still be settling as i was under the impression that the settlement is usually done with the first 8 years of construction.

Thanks.

 

[foxhole]

The house may settle but the ground under it can shrink or expand at any time due to external factors.

 

[ntb]

Seconded - nothing to worry about at present. Save and date the photos. If it moves substantially over the next few years post again.

 

[KenGMac]

marky666, Hi.

There is a possibility of Thermal Expansion / Contraction?

If the wall where the crack is occurring is South facing, the Solar gain on the wall can at times induce movement that can and does induce cracking such as seen in your submitted photos.

There is another possible causation? it is a recommendation that, an expansion joint be installed at roughly, about, approximately 6 meters apart, the exact distance is highly dependant on the type of brick and the mortar mix.

The problem is that, the Builder / designer may not have vectored in the effect that a window, or a door could / will have on the 6 Meter calculation above.

A window or door opening is what is known as a weak spot, where cracking can / will occur.

As an aside? can you see any even shall we call them micro / proto cracks forming at the lintel level of the same window?

 

[marky666]

Hi Ken,

thanks for your input greatly appreciated,

yes i can confirm the wall is south facing, may i ask how you can tell that this is not subsidence by looking at the cracks as this would be good information for my future reference ?

also if there is not a expansion joint fitted shortly can this become a serious issue that will affect the structure of the house ?

Mark.

 

[kbdiy]

My house was built 1930's and has a couple of minor cracks just like yours. They haven't moved in the 30+ years I have lived there.

Stop fretting about it and just monitor over the next few years. You have nothing to worry about.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

marky666, Hi.

There is a possibility of Thermal Expansion / Contraction?

If the wall where the crack is occurring is South facing, the Solar gain on the wall can at times induce movement that can and does induce cracking such as seen in your submitted photos.

There is another possible causation? it is a recommendation that, an expansion joint be installed at roughly, about, approximately 6 meters apart, the exact distance is highly dependant on the type of brick and the mortar mix.

The problem is that, the Builder / designer may not have vectored in the effect that a window, or a door could / will have on the 6 Meter calculation above.

A window or door opening is what is known as a weak spot, where cracking can / will occur.

As an aside? can you see any even shall we call them micro / proto cracks forming at the lintel level of the same window?

Oh FFS get real, the OP's crack is nothing to worry about!

 

[geraldthehamster]

Oh FFS get real, the OP's crack is nothing to worry about!

Is there a theme to your posts today?

//www.diynot.com/forums/general-diy/who-makes-the-bq-cooke-and-lewis-range-of-bathrooms.338865/

Cheers
Richard

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

All this talk about the OP's crack is unnecessary.

 

[longdogs]

marky666, Hi.

There is a possibility of Thermal Expansion / Contraction?

If the wall where the crack is occurring is South facing, the Solar gain on the wall can at times induce movement that can and does induce cracking such as seen in your submitted photos.

There is another possible causation? it is a recommendation that, an expansion joint be installed at roughly, about, approximately 6 meters apart, the exact distance is highly dependant on the type of brick and the mortar mix.

The problem is that, the Builder / designer may not have vectored in the effect that a window, or a door could / will have on the 6 Meter calculation above.

A window or door opening is what is known as a weak spot, where cracking can / will occur.

As an aside? can you see any even shall we call them micro / proto cracks forming at the lintel level of the same window?

Should this have been in the Quantum Physics thread?

 

[Dave54]

My house was built 1930's and has a couple of minor cracks just like yours. They haven't moved in the 30+ years I have lived there.

Stop fretting about it and just monitor over the next few years. You have nothing to worry about.

Similar experience here. First house was a 30s house, with similar cracking. BS insisted that it was re pointed when we bought the house. Stayed OK for the 7 years we were there.

 

[KenGMac]

marky666, Hi again.

As above, the cracks you have are seriously nothing to worry about.

I do not think it is any form of settlement, settlement generally occurs within one to two years after the property is constructed.

The photos you posted are a highly typical example of external mortar cracking in a timber framed wall.

The wall being South facing will in summer pick up a lot of solar gain, and will slowly heat up in the sunshine, as I posted above, if the designers don't get the vertical expansion joints in the correct position then cracks will develop in what are generally called weak spots, or weak areas, these being around windows and door openings in the external walls.

The classic position for these cracks to form are below and above windows, especially from say ground floor window lintel to first floor window sill.

Given the hundred's of such crack I have looked at I think that the developers / builders need to do some homework and not just build in an expansion joint at the specified Max 6 meters but look at the elevation and try to predict where cracking could occur, then in these positions build in a construction joint to prevent the cracking from developing.

Hope this post sets your mind at ease? and possibly gives you an answer as to why the cracks occurred in the first place, one thing is for sure, your property is not Subsiding, or indeed Settling.

Ken.