That was a good video. I'm a structural engineer and I'm a bit sceptical about structural engineering videos on youtube, because you find people just start pretending to know stuff. But that video was really informative and well explained, and didn't try to make generalised statements about solutions for a very complicated problem!
@@kieranthompson779 same. 2/3 of a tube in one stream, no nozzle on from the third storey right past the groundworkers bullseye. And yes…I did hide as he came charging up the stairs.
Thanks Roger that was the most comprehensive yet simple explanation of cracks I have ever watched and I now understand the reasons behind the cracks in my brick house alot better and how to deal with them. Cheers Darren in Australia.
good practical advice Roger. I complained to my father about something in my house's construction and he rightly pointed out it has already lasted 100 years that way
Very informative video Roger. I see alot of cracks where loadbearing timber windows have been replaced with UPVC [generallly houses built 50s, 60s and 70s] and the cracks and deforming of brickwork above as a consequence. Helifix works well here to create a beam effect to prevent further movement and I have also seen Acrow props used to allow for inclusion of a metal angle to act as a lintel to the external brickwork. It would be good if you could do a video on this problem, as it seems to be in every town and village.
@@jamesbirch6522 just dealt with a wooden lintel above a kitchen window. The outer area had rotted but the inner (I.e. inside the house) was sound. I cleaned up the outside timber getting rid of the worse of the rot. Then I sprayed three lots (it was a hot week) of rot and worm killer on the timber. I got a length of 30mm by 30mm by 4mm steel angle cut the exact length to go under the wooden lintel sitting on the supporting brickwork at either end of the lintel. Onto the steel angle I welded a 30mm by 4mm flat bar. This was hammered (it took a heavy hammer) in under the lintel with the 60mm under the lintel. The whole lot (front and under side) was then covered with expanded steel mesh. Formwork (made out of 3mm ply supported with timber) was placed under the lintel, angle and mesh. The formwork makes it easy to face up with render. Using a mortar gun I pumped a one to one mortar mix under the lintel on top of the ply, then rendered up the outer area with standard 3 to one mortar. This means that the timber will not bend it would have to crush (that will not happen) for the upper brickwork to slump. I may put some helical reinforcement in next year above the lintel but there is only one course of bricks before the upper pebble dashed area.
It would have been good to have also had a more directly vertical crack through mortar and brick (i.e. not just mortar) discussed, kind of like as pictured at 0:30 but where the brickwork is overlapping and the cracks gone straight down through the middle of the brick on alternate courses of bricks.
Exactly spot on! My father was a bricklayer /renderer from Yugoslavia. I never believed him that he used to biuld up render to 100mm. I came across a UK renderer and he told me he sacked a bloke because he couldn't render! He told him : you're a skimmer only. Then on site he tells me ; your dad is right mate! Same with those cracks: mortar joints only and it's fine! Top video and tutorial. Cheers from Australia 🙂👍👍👍
Brilliant! I’d suspected that this might be the case with my 1916 built house. We’re on clay soil, and certainly over the past couple of summer/winter cycles, it’s definitely moved. I’ll now just fill the crack with a lime mortar to stop water ingress! Thanks for the very informative video.
I dunno about the rest of you but these videos have been so informative. I've learnt so much from them - thank you! Currently have a Crack on my internal breeze block of my outhouse...
Well done! One of the best videos I've watched to convey information about a simple yet frightening subject. My crack doesn't seem problematic to me after viewing this. Thanks.
This advice makes so much sense I can't help smiling throughout or even sniggering! It's just comic how sometimes people act when they don't know anything about a problem and try to address it by just treating the obvious symptoms without recourse to common sense. The fact that a simple act of stupidity can cost someone their house is material for tragi-comedies. The subtle causes that result into houses'/buildings' deterioration without the dwellers' noticing or caring about is food for thought and quite sobering. Nothing lasts for ever but if it was made to last forever, it certainly wasn't built cheap. In the latter case, perhaps it's something worth thinking about before taking an old, soundly made building down (or severely altering it) just because "we don't like it" or "we want something better".
Roger, Thank you for the informative & reassuring information. You are absolutely correct as I had a small crack on the side of my 120 year old house & a year or two later it had closed.
I have a crack at my moms home. She has brick. Who do I call, what is the specialists called? Is this like structural expert. Not sure what to Google. Any advice is appreciated
Thanks for this video, it was very informative! People do worry when they see cracks in there houses, but understanding that the ground moves depending on the climate conditions may put peoples minds at ease!
very illuminating - fancy a visit to Australia LOL. I'll be looking up more of your videos so I can get my wet and cracking 120 year old chimney fixed based on knowledge of what should be done. Had a bad water leak from rusted out old pipes that the plumber lazily kept instead of replacing 5 years ago when work was done in the bathroom. Took advantage of me as a woman working away at the time. Poor chimney ended up sitting in a big puddle for months and I didn't know as my son was in the house while I was away. Cracks inside and out with the foundation bricks on the ground crumbling! Another problem is the outside of the chimney was cement rendered over lime mortar so you rising damp also a big problem. Many thanks for posting.
Regarding the old wall restraints, my old man told me he saw it done just after the war they put the rods through with the X on the end against the outside wall then heated the bar so it expanded then tighten up the end and as the rod contracted it would pull the wall in repeat as necessary until the wall was where you want
Sensible advice indeed - cracks happens and, as you say, all buildings and their fabric move due to moisture and thermal variations etc. As highlighted the most important step (with all building defects) is to establish the cause (diagnosis) before deciding what to do. Building Research Establishment Digest 251 (Assessment of damage in low rise buildings) is invaluable when it comes to assessing cracks, Among other things it advises that minor cracks can be made good relatively simply and suggests that “unless there are clear indications that damage is progressing to a higher level it may be expensive and inappropriate to carry out extensive work for what amounts to aesthetic damage.” It concludes by advising that “The only certain way of confirming the progression of damage is to take a series of measurements with time.”
Never used them, but Geobear look the dogs bits for subsidence etc. Watch, if you can, the underpinning of a garage - amazing stuff. Thanks Roger, for yet another cracking episode.
Honestly the most informative video I've watched on this subject, I have 2 besser brick dividing walls in my complex that have identical cracks to what you outline at the start of the video. We are built on floodplain so clay, you have put my mind at ease as these cracks have not changed since approx 2014.
Thanks for this video. The full brick house my mum lives in has a crack in one wall. My dad built this house around 45 years ago. The footings for the house were excavated from clay. I tend to think over the years the clay has expanded and contracted as it got wet and then dry. My dad died ten years ago so he can’t help us. I’ll take photos of the crack so it can be seen if the crack gets worse over time. I’ll patch the crack up with a similar mix to what originally was used, lime, cement, sand and water. I used to labour for my dad mixing mortar but that was 35 years ago so I’m out of practice. I’ll just put a bit in the surface to block up the gap.
Well done. You talk the talk and walk the walk. You could argue that mastic is pliable and would move with the cracking but over time mastic can stiffen and become hard and brittle.
Cheers Roger. I've got a 200 year old cottage with a few external cracks which I'm having sorted by a great builder, your advice is seriously welcome as I now know twice as much as I knew yesterday about the various causes. Thanks mate!👍
Thanks Roger Excellent advice I’m just about to have my house repaired by the insurance company..a bit of movement caused by a tree in the road outside. Anyway tree has now gone and house seems stable after two years of monitoring..but I now know how those cracks outside should be repaired. Regards Jim.
For a new build on clay, can't you build in a permanent soaker hose system to keep the clay moist? It would keep the clay from expanding and contracting?
I moved into a flipped Edwardian house 20 odd years ago, I think the thud of the multitude of removal men caused a few cracks inside. My neighbour told us before we bought that it had been monitored, but hadn't moved. I'm finally repairing them, but none remaining have moved since. Probably why it was pebble dashed, but no outside movement in that time since. My brother was concerned about the gap of the stair stringer away from the wall. I managed to pull out a newspaper from the filled gap dating back to mid 60s, so not moved for about 60 years. The slag inside the brickwork is a bit of bitch when doing anything structurally, but it's still standing.
Very informative video as usual. Been put off buying houses in the past because of them having cracks but you give a better understanding of this. You have to love the craic.
Thank you very much for this video, Roger. Our house is built on clay and your superb explanation has put my mind at ease about the hairline fractures we have.
Totally agree, I'm in London (Roger referencing London) and been in my 1880s build for 16 years and have cracks all over the place. They haven't been getting bigger in most of them. Thank God for TH-cam!
Very precious info. You just relived my fear of my house collapsing. I just have to move further the septic tank from the house and make a drainage around the foundations
An add to this good advice. Long brick walls need to expend and shrink due to warmth and cold. Nowadays we use in the Netherlands vertical dilatation up from 9 meters in length and further.
Sitting in a London property built in 1790s - lightly built but has lasted well despite the Luftwaffe coming fairly close a while back. Problem is, modern heavy piling can and has caused cracking on wall/ceiling interfaces through racking of the structure. And, yes, the desire for open plan/wall removal and the added weight in upper floors is not always properly allowed for. The top floor of a Georgian garret was only designed for a bed, a chair, a cupboard and a thin servant - not a fully-fitted kitchen and other stuff - the floor joists aren't up to it. And don't get me started on people piling vast olive trees etc in planters on balconies and porch tops on Regency terrace houses. They weren't designed for it...on one big place a few blocks away most of the front came off a listed 'First Rate' house when the entire balcony tore out of a very crumbly wall where most of the mortar had long turned to dust (they had repointed the outer brick face but didn't look any deeper)..
Most of the detached garages in my street have cracks in the front end of the sidewalls. A lot of neighbours blame tree roots but they are built on concrete rafts. The problem seems to be that the big garage doorways have steel lintels above them. These expand and contract forcing the side walls out creating the cracks
My mothers house a traditional terrace built 1901 as actually sinking at the back. But only one side was going down so floors sloped but no cracks. Insurance were not interested in paying for underpinning.
I would get a structural engineer to prepare a report. The insurance company is paying the surveyor and they will wriggle out of anything. The need a bit of slapping around.
Recently found a crack Roger and initially felt panic. Happened on this great advice by chance and am now simmered down. Been around for almost 3/4 o a century so have at least learned to scream inwardly and NOT make a "knee jerk" move that creates destructive pounds of idiocy that then requires tons of repairs to undo. Thanks!! Easy does it in spite of the near panic that would have been quite expensive and regretful.
Thanks Roger! Virtually all my lintels were cracking up, didnt seem to be any reason for it. I ended up acro propping them from the base cill and then angle grinding the crack open, and inside were rusty steel rods. I had to with a wire brush remove as much of the rust as possible, paint it with anti-rust paint and then fill in the chase. Over 100+ year old house and water must have been getting in somehow or moisture and the steel expanded so much! Seems alright now, will let you know if my house falls down...
37 year old house with a few small cracks internally. 3 years ago got some painting done to repair water damage from a broken loft header tank. Got the painter to plaster in the cracks. No more movement since.
Roger - if you're advising not to fill external cracks then how do you prevent the elements (rain, frost etc) from getting in and making things worse ?
Brilliant. I will have some q's about cracking though as i've just taken ownership of a ye olde 500 yr old building with hugely thick walls, a meter, probably stone, and one or two walls look like cheddar gorge.
My 1990 built house, built by Tarmac Homes, was built using calcium silicate bricks with no frogs. When using that type of brick the mortar should contain lime due to heat movements on the sunny side of the home. Most of my housing estate suffers from cracks in the mortar.on the sunny side of the homes. I only found out the reason when matching bricks for a house extension. This was after my next door neighbour went to their insurance company who fitted helifix bars set into the mortar.
So glad you’ve done this video Roger. I have a couple of step cracks in the brickwork on my house. I was going to repair them by putting the helix rods in and repointing but I might not bother now!!
Good explanation about the behaviour of clay. Where I live there is silt, and at some depth into the ground it seems very hard and almost impermeable for water. The original house has been built with 70cm deep concrete foundations, and these reach well into this hard silt. But an add on has been built on foundations only 20-40cm deep, and the foundation has been built very unevenly in width and depth. This foundation didn't reach "under the weather" as we say, and is subject to freezing up and thawing, and also I found that the silt around and under this foundation was very saturated with water, which caused a lot of humidity under the wooden floor causing it to rot. And also small cracks were this add on joins the main building were apparent. So my thought went over and the best solution seemed to me to underpin this foundation to the same depth as that of the main building. 1. to keep water out by bringing the foundation down to a level were water doesn't penetrate easy, and also preventing rodents digging tunnels allowing more water in. 2. To prevent cracks to develop more by bringing balance in the amount of support the parts of the building get by have them resting on the same layer of soil, and at a depth where water ingress and frost play no role in causing movement. I also applied crack stitching, and this holds up very well over the last year since I did it. So Roger, what is your view about imbalance in the construction of foundations and going under the weather? And what role can play a high water table (ours is very deep at 8m)
I was told for smaller internal cracks to grind them out enough to put something in, then insert a bead of polymer based construction adhesive which will maintain its "grab" and never set solid so maintaining a degree of flexibility and then use filler over it. I've never had a recurring problem after following this advice.
Wasn’t sure what I was going to see when you appeared as the video started but you explained a lot and I learnt a great deal about possible reasons for a crack and yes I can verify old houses no solid foundations when I had some digging work done for a new water mains thought I how’s it still standing. I’ll follow you 👍
It's kind of cool that buildings move - we often don't see any cracks but there are tell tale signs. My loft conversion is almost finished. It's going great but I can see that parts of my house have shifted slightly because I have two doors that now need adjustment. They were a little close anyway to be honest but now they stick. No cracks though!
Great insight to CRACK , I have a Crack in my garden wall , that has broken the bricks in half as it runs vertically straight down ,through about 4 rows of bricks. I think it subsidence in the wall as its single skin brick about 7 feet tall with brick piers every 8 feet but its only happening in the one place on a 60 ft long wall , any ideas Roger? TIA
Love your video's. I bought a 1930's semi in Alrewas Staffordshire, How do I find reputable builders? I have various problems cracking render outside, water coming in back bedroom where someone has taken out the chimney brest, no gallow brackets just resting on the ceiling on a slab, surveayer I had was useless for a home buyer survey and missed and guessed things. I need reliable people who are honest and do the jobs properly Many Thanks Ian
Seems to me that more cracks occur in modern brickwork than old. Previous house was on London Clay and 150 years old, mortar was very weak with little pebbles up to a quarter of an inch, probably from locally dug sand. Movement, but no cracking of the walls as I think the pebbles acted like ball bearings.
Brilliant, looked at the problem from both sides, didnt make you panic and very informative. We are also on clay soil and the conservatory looks as though its coming away, however now i think its due to the weather.
Great video! have lots of internal wall cracks (and some shifting of the back door and frame) in our 1956 single-story ranch style house in San Leandro, CA. The walls are standard wood framing with stucco on the outside. Do we need to open the internal walls to check on the studs and framing? I Could it be termite damage, wet rot6, or dry rot? There are no signs( inside or out) of wet rot or dry rot but the house had termite infestations before we bought it in 2019.
HELP! My village house has a brick basement and the rest of the house is made of wood. The house is 120 years old and is built in rural Georgia (the country not the state). The ground is full of clay and that caused very many big cracks in the brick walls! one of the sides of the brick walls is bowing VERY much, 15 or even 20 cm i think. if the wooden floor was to be removed, will straightening of the basement brick walls which are now exposed from the top be possible? How can we do that? How will we be able to keep the basement brick walls from cracking if we were to fix them up in the future?
Sound advice! I am a mason now in Canada and so many of these problems I see are due to poor grade and eves trough ( gutters and down pipes) . Very important to ensure water drains away from the building not into it. The freeze/ thaw cycle can do considerable damage to masonry once water has a way in and once its made a pathway it only gets worse. Many homeowners can fix the grade themselves by landscaping soil or paving to slope away from the house
not sure if it's anything to worry about but I've got a flint retaining walls what has sunk and the steps, and opened up a crack on both ends about 3". I don't think it's going to affect the foundations what are deep, the edge of the wall to the property is about 8ft. not sure what the best approaches is to pull down the wall and rebuild it but what I was thinking is to dig a trench on the inside of it and fill it with reinforced concrete, it's on clay soil I think the house is down to the chalk tho. what's the best approach here!
saw a video from a decorator who use a minimal bead of foam after opening the crack, cleaning it and moistening it. then cut below and then fill, sand and finish. wonder how effectie that could be to counter ground movement
I am watching your video from. South Africa, I want to know what is stiching a crack wall. Please explain, because when I ask my husband how do you fix this crack, he tells me it's no big deal he will stich it. I am always walk around the house and I see cracks on the walls or even dampness after lots of rain. Thanks for your video.
I extended my lounge about 25 years ago, and the plastering at the joining of internal walls have shown vertical cracks ever since. I filled the cracking, with fine polyfills, but still the cracking appeared. I had the new double-sized ceiling artexed, when the room was extended, but a crack soon appeared, and filling the artex pattern looked terrible. Eventually, because the ceiling was higher than average, I had the ceilng lowered with timbers and plasterboard, and that flat , plastered ceiling has been crack free. Could you please do a video on dealing with internal plaster cracks ?
Really good video. I have an over 100-year-old terrace house in Sheffield. We have a crack that was assessed by an engineer he explained it was old movement due to the weight of the chimney breast. He recommended Helibars if we wanted to do a repair job.
Very illuminating. Our house was built in 1955, has shallow foundations on clay & black ash mortar brick joints. Cracking isn't an obvious problem but we do need to do a little repointing, so going to have to find a compatible modern mix. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks for the presentation and all the hard work and dedication you exhibit in each of your videos, I am particularly glad to inform you I have watched this video and I was asked the reason of cracking in walls and I was able to answer and explain the reasons behind it. Thanks once again for your invaluable work in improving construction standards.
Roger, good advise, thanks, good to know people with knowledge & experience like you are willing to share information. I see so many so called experts in videos within my trade & I often have to shake my head..
I lived in a house built on marsh land in Cheshire East. It had been underpinned once already. It was rented. One day a builder turned up to look at knocking a wall from the back room to the kitchen as the kitchen was tiny, even for a galley kitchen. He walked in, took one look down the hall and said, the left hand side is leaning to the left and the right hand side to the right. We never saw him again. When the kitchen floor had to come up, the house was sat in 18" of water. In the back garden, if you looked, you could see the kink in the brickwork and where it had been repaired once already. Was wonderful when i left that dump.
Great video, can you kindly do a video how best to prevent damp/ condensation/ mould inside house thanks. Got issues with mould on plaster inside our house, in bathroom, bedroom, front porch plus condensation. Thanks again 🙏
From a retired builder ( Last 30 years in France) of over 60 years...good advise, nicely explained, well done..
That was a good video. I'm a structural engineer and I'm a bit sceptical about structural engineering videos on youtube, because you find people just start pretending to know stuff. But that video was really informative and well explained, and didn't try to make generalised statements about solutions for a very complicated problem!
How do you deal with builders crack? I’ve tried tipping a dash of tea down it but it keeps reappearing.
Park your bike in it! 🤣
Gun a tube of silicone down the back next time it opens up
😂😂😂😂😂
I've tried painters caulk.....just be ready to run afterwards 😅
@@kieranthompson779 same. 2/3 of a tube in one stream, no nozzle on from the third storey right past the groundworkers bullseye. And yes…I did hide as he came charging up the stairs.
Thanks Roger that was the most comprehensive yet simple explanation of cracks I have ever watched and I now understand the reasons behind the cracks in my brick house alot better and how to deal with them. Cheers Darren in Australia.
I wish I had seen such a thorough explanation of building cracks many years ago.Big thanks.👍
OK, so I've now come across this guy several times for my building project and I love his style. I'm on board.
good practical advice Roger. I complained to my father about something in my house's construction and he rightly pointed out it has already lasted 100 years that way
The first video I watched from you made me $13,000 regarding rising damp repair, Thankyou Godbless you. 🙏🏻❤❤🙏🏻
Very informative video Roger.
I see alot of cracks where loadbearing timber windows have been replaced with UPVC [generallly houses built 50s, 60s and 70s] and the cracks and deforming of brickwork above as a consequence. Helifix works well here to create a beam effect to prevent further movement and I have also seen Acrow props used to allow for inclusion of a metal angle to act as a lintel to the external brickwork. It would be good if you could do a video on this problem, as it seems to be in every town and village.
Is there a video on this. as this is the issue my home is having.
@@jamesbirch6522 just dealt with a wooden lintel above a kitchen window. The outer area had rotted but the inner (I.e. inside the house) was sound. I cleaned up the outside timber getting rid of the worse of the rot. Then I sprayed three lots (it was a hot week) of rot and worm killer on the timber. I got a length of 30mm by 30mm by 4mm steel angle cut the exact length to go under the wooden lintel sitting on the supporting brickwork at either end of the lintel. Onto the steel angle I welded a 30mm by 4mm flat bar. This was hammered (it took a heavy hammer) in under the lintel with the 60mm under the lintel. The whole lot (front and under side) was then covered with expanded steel mesh. Formwork (made out of 3mm ply supported with timber) was placed under the lintel, angle and mesh. The formwork makes it easy to face up with render. Using a mortar gun I pumped a one to one mortar mix under the lintel on top of the ply, then rendered up the outer area with standard 3 to one mortar.
This means that the timber will not bend it would have to crush (that will not happen) for the upper brickwork to slump. I may put some helical reinforcement in next year above the lintel but there is only one course of bricks before the upper pebble dashed area.
It would have been good to have also had a more directly vertical crack through mortar and brick (i.e. not just mortar) discussed, kind of like as pictured at 0:30 but where the brickwork is overlapping and the cracks gone straight down through the middle of the brick on alternate courses of bricks.
Exactly spot on! My father was a bricklayer /renderer from Yugoslavia. I never believed him that he used to biuld up render to 100mm. I came across a UK renderer and he told me he sacked a bloke because he couldn't render! He told him : you're a skimmer only. Then on site he tells me ; your dad is right mate! Same with those cracks: mortar joints only and it's fine! Top video and tutorial. Cheers from Australia 🙂👍👍👍
God why cant I find a builder like you rodger!!!
Brilliant! I’d suspected that this might be the case with my 1916 built house. We’re on clay soil, and certainly over the past couple of summer/winter cycles, it’s definitely moved. I’ll now just fill the crack with a lime mortar to stop water ingress! Thanks for the very informative video.
And, as predicted, now we’ve had some wet weather, the crack has closed up again!
My 1920s / 30s bungalow moves with the seasons (built on clay) . Nothing to worry about. Let it do it's thing.
I dunno about the rest of you but these videos have been so informative. I've learnt so much from them - thank you!
Currently have a Crack on my internal breeze block of my outhouse...
Nice description without the scare mongering and other associated crap. The video is appreciated.
Well done! One of the best videos I've watched to convey information about a simple yet frightening subject. My crack doesn't seem problematic to me after viewing this. Thanks.
This advice makes so much sense I can't help smiling throughout or even sniggering! It's just comic how sometimes people act when they don't know anything about a problem and try to address it by just treating the obvious symptoms without recourse to common sense. The fact that a simple act of stupidity can cost someone their house is material for tragi-comedies. The subtle causes that result into houses'/buildings' deterioration without the dwellers' noticing or caring about is food for thought and quite sobering. Nothing lasts for ever but if it was made to last forever, it certainly wasn't built cheap. In the latter case, perhaps it's something worth thinking about before taking an old, soundly made building down (or severely altering it) just because "we don't like it" or "we want something better".
Roger, Thank you for the informative & reassuring information. You are absolutely correct as I had a small crack on the side of my 120 year old house & a year or two later it had closed.
As a building surveyor, I can't fault your content. Great stuff! Keep it coming.
Thanks, will do!
I have a crack at my moms home. She has brick. Who do I call, what is the specialists called? Is this like structural expert. Not sure what to Google. Any advice is appreciated
Oh and horrible issue with water flooring near the home... I will have to dip in my savings and get her some gutters and drainage eystem
Great informative video. Cracks in buildings is owners worst nightmare, always best to get expert advice 👍
Thanks for this video, it was very informative! People do worry when they see cracks in there houses, but understanding that the ground moves depending on the climate conditions may put peoples minds at ease!
very illuminating - fancy a visit to Australia LOL. I'll be looking up more of your videos so I can get my wet and cracking 120 year old chimney fixed based on knowledge of what should be done. Had a bad water leak from rusted out old pipes that the plumber lazily kept instead of replacing 5 years ago when work was done in the bathroom. Took advantage of me as a woman working away at the time. Poor chimney ended up sitting in a big puddle for months and I didn't know as my son was in the house while I was away. Cracks inside and out with the foundation bricks on the ground crumbling! Another problem is the outside of the chimney was cement rendered over lime mortar so you rising damp also a big problem. Many thanks for posting.
Regarding the old wall restraints, my old man told me he saw it done just after the war they put the rods through with the X on the end against the outside wall then heated the bar so it expanded then tighten up the end and as the rod contracted it would pull the wall in repeat as necessary until the wall was where you want
Brilliant makes sense
Sensible advice indeed - cracks happens and, as you say, all buildings and their fabric move due to moisture and thermal variations etc. As highlighted the most important step (with all building defects) is to establish the cause (diagnosis) before deciding what to do.
Building Research Establishment Digest 251 (Assessment of damage in low rise buildings) is invaluable when it comes to assessing cracks, Among other things it advises that minor cracks can be made good relatively simply and suggests that “unless there are clear indications that damage is progressing to a higher level it may be expensive and inappropriate to carry out extensive work for what amounts to aesthetic damage.” It concludes by advising that “The only certain way of confirming the progression of damage is to take a series of measurements with time.”
Never used them, but Geobear look the dogs bits for subsidence etc. Watch, if you can, the underpinning of a garage - amazing stuff. Thanks Roger, for yet another cracking episode.
Honestly the most informative video I've watched on this subject, I have 2 besser brick dividing walls in my complex that have identical cracks to what you outline at the start of the video. We are built on floodplain so clay, you have put my mind at ease as these cracks have not changed since approx 2014.
Watching from Nairobi and really enjoying your teaching on how to manage vertical cracks Thanx
Thanks for this video. The full brick house my mum lives in has a crack in one wall. My dad built this house around 45 years ago. The footings for the house were excavated from clay. I tend to think over the years the clay has expanded and contracted as it got wet and then dry. My dad died ten years ago so he can’t help us.
I’ll take photos of the crack so it can be seen if the crack gets worse over time. I’ll patch the crack up with a similar mix to what originally was used, lime, cement, sand and water. I used to labour for my dad mixing mortar but that was 35 years ago so I’m out of practice. I’ll just put a bit in the surface to block up the gap.
Well done. You talk the talk and walk the walk.
You could argue that mastic is pliable and would move with the cracking but over time mastic can stiffen and become hard and brittle.
Depends on the mastic. Sikaflex is used for movement joints in structures all over the world.
Cheers Roger. I've got a 200 year old cottage with a few external cracks which I'm having sorted by a great builder, your advice is seriously welcome as I now know twice as much as I knew yesterday about the various causes. Thanks mate!👍
Fantastic video mate, great knowledge of how a building lives and breathes
Thanks Roger Excellent advice I’m just about to have my house repaired by the insurance company..a bit of movement caused by a tree in the road outside. Anyway tree has now gone and house seems stable after two years of monitoring..but I now know how those cracks outside should be repaired. Regards Jim.
Thanks
Thank you nigel for the gift. It all helps keep the lights on
For a new build on clay, can't you build in a permanent soaker hose system to keep the clay moist? It would keep the clay from expanding and contracting?
Incredibly informative - thank you! So helpful, and so wishing I could find someone like you in Los Angeles.
I moved into a flipped Edwardian house 20 odd years ago, I think the thud of the multitude of removal men caused a few cracks inside. My neighbour told us before we bought that it had been monitored, but hadn't moved. I'm finally repairing them, but none remaining have moved since. Probably why it was pebble dashed, but no outside movement in that time since. My brother was concerned about the gap of the stair stringer away from the wall. I managed to pull out a newspaper from the filled gap dating back to mid 60s, so not moved for about 60 years. The slag inside the brickwork is a bit of bitch when doing anything structurally, but it's still standing.
Very informative video as usual. Been put off buying houses in the past because of them having cracks but you give a better understanding of this. You have to love the craic.
Thank you very much for this video, Roger. Our house is built on clay and your superb explanation has put my mind at ease about the hairline fractures we have.
Totally agree, I'm in London (Roger referencing London) and been in my 1880s build for 16 years and have cracks all over the place. They haven't been getting bigger in most of them. Thank God for TH-cam!
Very precious info. You just relived my fear of my house collapsing. I just have to move further the septic tank from the house and make a drainage around the foundations
Your explanations are excellent,I can't get enough about your videos.
An add to this good advice. Long brick walls need to expend and shrink due to warmth and cold. Nowadays we use in the Netherlands vertical dilatation up from 9 meters in length and further.
Sitting in a London property built in 1790s - lightly built but has lasted well despite the Luftwaffe coming fairly close a while back. Problem is, modern heavy piling can and has caused cracking on wall/ceiling interfaces through racking of the structure. And, yes, the desire for open plan/wall removal and the added weight in upper floors is not always properly allowed for. The top floor of a Georgian garret was only designed for a bed, a chair, a cupboard and a thin servant - not a fully-fitted kitchen and other stuff - the floor joists aren't up to it. And don't get me started on people piling vast olive trees etc in planters on balconies and porch tops on Regency terrace houses. They weren't designed for it...on one big place a few blocks away most of the front came off a listed 'First Rate' house when the entire balcony tore out of a very crumbly wall where most of the mortar had long turned to dust (they had repointed the outer brick face but didn't look any deeper)..
This is why I’m always very careful not to give my servants too much gruel
Most of the detached garages in my street have cracks in the front end of the sidewalls. A lot of neighbours blame tree roots but they are built on concrete rafts. The problem seems to be that the big garage doorways have steel lintels above them. These expand and contract forcing the side walls out creating the cracks
Might also be due to rust
My mothers house a traditional terrace built 1901 as actually sinking at the back. But only one side was going down so floors sloped but no cracks. Insurance were not interested in paying for underpinning.
I would get a structural engineer to prepare a report. The insurance company is paying the surveyor and they will wriggle out of anything. The need a bit of slapping around.
Recently found a crack Roger and initially felt panic. Happened on this great advice by chance and am now simmered down. Been around for almost 3/4 o a century so have at least learned to scream inwardly and NOT make a "knee jerk" move that creates destructive pounds of idiocy that then requires tons of repairs to undo. Thanks!! Easy does it in spite of the near panic that would have been quite expensive and regretful.
Most helpful video I've seen thus far. Thank you.
Thanks Roger! Virtually all my lintels were cracking up, didnt seem to be any reason for it. I ended up acro propping them from the base cill and then angle grinding the crack open, and inside were rusty steel rods. I had to with a wire brush remove as much of the rust as possible, paint it with anti-rust paint and then fill in the chase. Over 100+ year old house and water must have been getting in somehow or moisture and the steel expanded so much! Seems alright now, will let you know if my house falls down...
@Skill Builder (Roger)...very informative and really well presented.
Great vid, clear explanations and diagrams, no fluff 👍
What would you recommend for brick spalling please ?
37 year old house with a few small cracks internally. 3 years ago got some painting done to repair water damage from a broken loft header tank. Got the painter to plaster in the cracks. No more movement since.
Roger - if you're advising not to fill external cracks then how do you prevent the elements (rain, frost etc) from getting in and making things worse ?
Sanded masonry matching caulk exists, it allows movement and prevents weather penetration
Brilliant. I will have some q's about cracking though as i've just taken ownership of a ye olde 500 yr old building with hugely thick walls, a meter, probably stone, and one or two walls look like cheddar gorge.
My 1990 built house, built by Tarmac Homes, was built using calcium silicate bricks with no frogs. When using that type of brick the mortar should contain lime due to heat movements on the sunny side of the home. Most of my housing estate suffers from cracks in the mortar.on the sunny side of the homes. I only found out the reason when matching bricks for a house extension. This was after my next door neighbour went to their insurance company who fitted helifix bars set into the mortar.
So glad you’ve done this video Roger. I have a couple of step cracks in the brickwork on my house. I was going to repair them by putting the helix rods in and repointing but I might not bother now!!
Try to work out why they are cracking. The helical ties is good for certain jobs but in heave and shrinkage of clay it is not the best thing.
I had them looked at a few years back and I was told it was just settlement. They just don’t look great when we come to sell up and move!
Good explanation about the behaviour of clay.
Where I live there is silt, and at some depth into the ground it seems very hard and almost impermeable for water.
The original house has been built with 70cm deep concrete foundations, and these reach well into this hard silt.
But an add on has been built on foundations only 20-40cm deep, and the foundation has been built very unevenly in width and depth.
This foundation didn't reach "under the weather" as we say, and is subject to freezing up and thawing, and also I found that the silt around and under this foundation was very saturated with water, which caused a lot of humidity under the wooden floor causing it to rot.
And also small cracks were this add on joins the main building were apparent.
So my thought went over and the best solution seemed to me to underpin this foundation to the same depth as that of the main building.
1. to keep water out by bringing the foundation down to a level were water doesn't penetrate easy, and also preventing rodents digging tunnels allowing more water in.
2. To prevent cracks to develop more by bringing balance in the amount of support the parts of the building get by have them resting on the same layer of soil, and at a depth where water ingress and frost play no role in causing movement.
I also applied crack stitching, and this holds up very well over the last year since I did it.
So Roger, what is your view about imbalance in the construction of foundations and going under the weather? And what role can play a high water table (ours is very deep at 8m)
I wish you was here when I was doing my building surveying degree in 1990. Very enjoyable and informative 👍
You just touched on work carried out next door. It would be great if you would do a show on the Party Wall Act. Many builders are ignorant about it.
I was told for smaller internal cracks to grind them out enough to put something in, then insert a bead of polymer based construction adhesive which will maintain its "grab" and never set solid so maintaining a degree of flexibility and then use filler over it. I've never had a recurring problem after following this advice.
Great info Rodger. Now I need to go and clean out that cement I put in a sizable crack about 3 years ago.
Wasn’t sure what I was going to see when you appeared as the video started but you explained a lot and I learnt a great deal about possible reasons for a crack and yes I can verify old houses no solid foundations when I had some digging work done for a new water mains thought I how’s it still standing.
I’ll follow you 👍
Great video from an estate agent who is hoping to begin a career as surveyor. Really informative.
Are you going to do the SAVA diploma?
@@thesmallnotesduo looked into it but now trying to go through the trainee route. I was priced out of sava.
It's kind of cool that buildings move - we often don't see any cracks but there are tell tale signs. My loft conversion is almost finished. It's going great but I can see that parts of my house have shifted slightly because I have two doors that now need adjustment. They were a little close anyway to be honest but now they stick. No cracks though!
I said I was going to answer before watching I didn't think you was going into this depth Roger.
Great insight to CRACK , I have a Crack in my garden wall , that has broken the bricks in half as it runs vertically straight down ,through about 4 rows of bricks. I think it subsidence in the wall as its single skin brick about 7 feet tall with brick piers every 8 feet but its only happening in the one place on a 60 ft long wall , any ideas Roger? TIA
Love your video's. I bought a 1930's semi in Alrewas Staffordshire, How do I find reputable builders? I have various problems cracking render outside, water coming in back bedroom where someone has taken out the chimney brest, no gallow brackets just resting on the ceiling on a slab, surveayer I had was useless for a home buyer survey and missed and guessed things. I need reliable people who are honest and do the jobs properly Many Thanks Ian
roger first class on this video you are spot on with your diagnosis im actually doing this on a property now
Seems to me that more cracks occur in modern brickwork than old. Previous house was on London Clay and 150 years old, mortar was very weak with little pebbles up to a quarter of an inch, probably from locally dug sand. Movement, but no cracking of the walls as I think the pebbles acted like ball bearings.
Brilliant video …… just wanted to ask how would you know if a crack was from thermal movement and what’s the best why to fix ?
Yes we have thermal movement too can you advise how to repair vertical cracks in bricks
Brilliant, looked at the problem from both sides, didnt make you panic and very informative. We are also on clay soil and the conservatory looks as though its coming away, however now i think its due to the weather.
Interesting video! Our aircrete garden wall sure is shrinking and cracking, glad we didn't build our house out of aircrete! 🏡
Thank you, just viewed a house with lots of cracks, was worried it would be a game over job.
Great video! have lots of internal wall cracks (and some shifting of the back door and frame) in our 1956 single-story ranch style house in San Leandro, CA. The walls are standard wood framing with stucco on the outside. Do we need to open the internal walls to check on the studs and framing? I Could it be termite damage, wet rot6, or dry rot? There are no signs( inside or out) of wet rot or dry rot but the house had termite infestations before we bought it in 2019.
Never thought I'd have a crack problem, but here I am, watching this video.
This took me 2 seconds to find and exactly what I wanted.
Fantastic 👍👍
HELP! My village house has a brick basement and the rest of the house is made of wood. The house is 120 years old and is built in rural Georgia (the country not the state). The ground is full of clay and that caused very many big cracks in the brick walls! one of the sides of the brick walls is bowing VERY much, 15 or even 20 cm i think. if the wooden floor was to be removed, will straightening of the basement brick walls which are now exposed from the top be possible? How can we do that? How will we be able to keep the basement brick walls from cracking if we were to fix them up in the future?
Sound advice! I am a mason now in Canada and so many of these problems I see are due to poor grade and eves trough ( gutters and down pipes) . Very important to ensure water drains away from the building not into it. The freeze/ thaw cycle can do considerable damage to masonry once water has a way in and once its made a pathway it only gets worse. Many homeowners can fix the grade themselves by landscaping soil or paving to slope away from the house
Hey Steve...... Line UP !
not sure if it's anything to worry about but I've got a flint retaining walls what has sunk and the steps, and opened up a crack on both ends about 3". I don't think it's going to affect the foundations what are deep, the edge of the wall to the property is about 8ft.
not sure what the best approaches is to pull down the wall and rebuild it but what I was thinking is to dig a trench on the inside of it and fill it with reinforced concrete, it's on clay soil I think the house is down to the chalk tho. what's the best approach here!
Absolutely brilliant talk as usual, explains the subject in simple terms for people to understand. Congratulations, wonderful speaker.
Does this work on builders cracks, Or is a belt better?
saw a video from a decorator who use a minimal bead of foam after opening the crack, cleaning it and moistening it. then cut below and then fill, sand and finish. wonder how effectie that could be to counter ground movement
Actually it was very illuminating and very well explained! Thank you!
what about a straight crack cutting through the brick and mortar like a metre straight down?
Excellent and concise explanation. Thanks so much.
I just found and subscribed to your channel Mr Roger Bisby. I'm glad I found this informative channel
I am watching your video from. South Africa, I want to know what is stiching a crack wall. Please explain, because when I ask my husband how do you fix this crack, he tells me it's no big deal he will stich it. I am always walk around the house and I see cracks on the walls or even dampness after lots of rain. Thanks for your video.
I extended my lounge about 25 years ago, and the plastering at the joining of internal walls have shown vertical cracks ever since. I filled the cracking, with fine polyfills, but still the cracking appeared.
I had the new double-sized ceiling artexed, when the room was extended, but a crack soon appeared, and filling the artex pattern looked terrible.
Eventually, because the ceiling was higher than average, I had the ceilng lowered with timbers and plasterboard, and that flat , plastered ceiling has been crack free.
Could you please do a video on dealing with internal plaster cracks ?
Really good video. I have an over 100-year-old terrace house in Sheffield. We have a crack that was assessed by an engineer he explained it was old movement due to the weight of the chimney breast. He recommended Helibars if we wanted to do a repair job.
great overview. thank you. hope you get lots of shots of cracks.
Wow, great lesson in brick cracks! Thank you!
Very educational, easy to understand. Thank you for using white board.
Not making matters worse, golden advice!
Hi Rodger what is hydraulic mortar? Does it have cement in it? And if how much and what strength?
What is the ratio of hydraulic lime to sand?
Very illuminating. Our house was built in 1955, has shallow foundations on clay & black ash mortar brick joints. Cracking isn't an obvious problem but we do need to do a little repointing, so going to have to find a compatible modern mix. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Very very good video , thank you so much ! My house cracked and leaking when rainy day.
Thanks for the presentation and all the hard work and dedication you exhibit in each of your videos, I am particularly glad to inform you I have watched this video and I was asked the reason of cracking in walls and I was able to answer and explain the reasons behind it. Thanks once again for your invaluable work in improving construction standards.
Roger, good advise, thanks, good to know people with knowledge & experience like you are willing to share information. I see so many so called experts in videos within my trade & I often have to shake my head..
I lived in a house built on marsh land in Cheshire East. It had been underpinned once already. It was rented. One day a builder turned up to look at knocking a wall from the back room to the kitchen as the kitchen was tiny, even for a galley kitchen. He walked in, took one look down the hall and said, the left hand side is leaning to the left and the right hand side to the right. We never saw him again.
When the kitchen floor had to come up, the house was sat in 18" of water. In the back garden, if you looked, you could see the kink in the brickwork and where it had been repaired once already. Was wonderful when i left that dump.
You mentioned Akros, many builders that dont know what they are doing over tighten them and cause cracks on neighbouring properties.
Many builders dont know the proper name . Acrows not Akros. Acrow is from the greek language meaning height.
@@brucetindal7399 Im not a builder... couldn't give a f how they spelt lol
Just educating the ill-informed
Heating expert and cracks, I’m impressed Rodger
Shaun
Great video, can you kindly do a video how best to prevent damp/ condensation/ mould inside house thanks. Got issues with mould on plaster inside our house, in bathroom, bedroom, front porch plus condensation. Thanks again 🙏