Crack in exterior wall

If your home has walls that are plastered, then straight vertical cracks typically form when the plaster expands in humidity and shrinks as it dries.

Instead of fixing them straight away as more will likely appear you should wait a while before filling the cracks and repainting. Jagged cracks that move in a diagonal direction or look like a set of stairs moving up your wall could be a sign of structural movement and may be slightly more serious than cracks that simply run up and down.

You should look at how long and deep the crack is, and call out a structural engineer who might be able to advise you on the seriousness of the issue. Find out more. Cracks will generally appear in the weakest areas of the wall, such as around a window frame.

This is usually because a window compromises the strength of the wall slightly, causing cracks to appear. These could be another sign of foundation damage or shifting foundations.

A crack that allows daylight to come into your home could be a concern. This is because it means the whole wall has shifted and not just on one side. Usually, a crack will appear on an external wall but cannot be seen inside, and vice versa.

However, one large crack that appears to go through the whole house can be a sign of subsidence. Whether your home insurance covers cracked walls generally depends on the cause. In this instance, you could be required to pay an excess fee, and this could be higher than a standard fee and depends on the age of the building.

Cracks caused by your home naturally settling will not be covered. If in doubt, you should contact your insurance provider, however fixing such an issue yourself is relatively easy. However, small hairline cracks in a plastered wall can be repaired relatively easily. First, you should use a putty knife or scraper to lightly score around the crack.

This creates a wider surface area and will improve how the jointing compound sticks to the surface. Anyway, it is necessary to call a professional as soon as possible to evaluate the situation. The appearance of cracks on an outside wall on the facade of a house for example is a problem that appears frequently in buildings, especially in older ones.

These can take several forms: vertical, horizontal, diagonal or zigzag. Whatever their appearance, the presence of these cracks should never be neglected because they are the sign of another problem more or less serious. The causes may be a field movement , a moisture problem or the consequence of poor workmanship at the time of construction of the building. Identifying the nature of a crack found at an exterior wall is essential to assess risks and adopt the appropriate solution.

Three main types of exterior wall cracks can be distinguished. It is very thin and touches only the surface of the wall.

This is usually a superficial problem touching only the coating. Even if the microcrack does not present any particular risk for the wall, it is essential to repair it to avoid the infiltration of water which itself can cause moisture concerns. With a width of 1 to 2 millimeters, it is necessary to check the evolution of small cracks. For this, the professional sets up two or three witnesses. If they remain intact after a few months, they are stable cracks that can be blocked by taking into account the nature of the walls.

In case of cracking of the controls, it is essential to clearly identify the origin of the degradation and eliminate it. If the width exceeds two centimeters, we can say that the situation is serious. Different causes can be diagnosed as a movement of ground or a subsidence.

Asked 10 years, 10 months ago. Active 9 years, 1 month ago. Viewed 78k times. I recently noticed some mostly-vertical cracks present on some exterior walls. EDIT: Added images. Sorry for the quality camera phone. East front East front closer East wall rear : Crack starting in the corner of a window and working its way down about 3 feet. East rear Rear wall: Crack same as East wall front description.

Rear wall West wall: Tiny cracks Upstairs Those are the major cracks I've noticed. I'm hoping to find out two things: How serious is this? I mean, really, is my house falling apart? Improve this question.

Jay Bazuzi Michael Moussa Michael Moussa 4 4 gold badges 5 5 silver badges 11 11 bronze badges. Are the cracks on the inside or outside of the walls? Are the walls covered with drywall or something else? Can you add pictures? Niall C. The inside has drywall so I can't see what it looks like on the other side.

Jay Bazuzi: I'll add pictures sometime tomorrow when there's daylight. Looks like most of the cracks are in the stucco, it's hard to tell if the cracks go deeper or are caused by underlying problems. The best bet would be to call a contractor in your area to come take a better look. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. Here are some excerpts from the article. Stucco is not and never was intended to be a structural material. Controlling and minimizing that shrinkage is critical to minimizing cracks Shrinkage cracking tends to have a map-like cracking pattern.

Option 1: Treat the joint with the same finish material. Option 3: An elastomeric paint coating. Option 5: A new basecoat and mesh over the wall area. Improve this answer. Tester Tester k 74 74 gold badges silver badges bronze badges.

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