What are these cracks in my walls?

becciboop

Hi all
I have found some cracks in my walls/ceiling and was hoping someone could help identify them for me...

http://i1311.photobucket.com/albums/s678/becciboop1/wall2.jpg

http://s1311.beta.photobucket.com/user/becciboop1/media/wall1.jpg.html?sort=3&o=2

http://i1311.photobucket.com/albums/s678/becciboop1/wall3.jpg

Thanks

Lancastrian

Hi,

It's hard to tell from your photos but --

Is yours a 1920's concrete framed house?

Saw something similar some time back. It was the studding blockwork moving slightly inside the framework.

Same across the ceiling as the joists moved about.

Houses still standing and - as safe as houses. Might need some work sometime but not yet.

Good luck.

becciboop

Lancastrian wrote: »

Hi,

It's hard to tell from your photos but --

Is yours a 1920's concrete framed house?

Saw something similar some time back. It was the studding blockwork moving slightly inside the framework.

Same across the ceiling as the joists moved about.

Houses still standing and - as safe as houses. Might need some work sometime but not yet.

Good luck.

Hi, thanks for your reply. I'm not sure if its a concrete framed house but it was built around 1930. Should I fill the cracks in for now? How long do you think it will be before I need to do anything?

Gloomendoom

Did they just suddenly appear?

becciboop

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Did they just suddenly appear?

No, over time...what does it mean if they appear quickly?

LandyAndy

becciboop wrote: »

No, over time...what does it mean if they appear quickly?

It means don't stand watching them .

becciboop

LandyAndy wrote: »

It means don't stand watching them .

Ha, so if they appear quickly then it means that its a serious problem?

Gloomendoom

LandyAndy wrote: »

It means don't stand watching them .

Ha ha! Good advice.

OP I really wouldn't worry about these cracks. To be structurally significant the gaps would have to be a lot bigger than that. Having said that, a check on broken drains, trees or large shrubs close to the outside walls might be worthwhile.

If the woodchip has been there a long time, I suspect previous owners have had the same problem. My house suffers from a similar crack problem due to "seasonal movement" and I have been told (by two surveyors specialising in subsidence) that it is to be expected and nothing to worry about.

Happy-Days_3

We too have a 1930's house. We bought it to renovate last year. Those cracks look very familiar. Am I right in thinking some of those are showing on the curved areas where ceiling meets the wall?

For us, they were certainly nothing structural. They were simply the fact that the plaster & lathe walls / ceilings were 80 odd years old and some of the plaster was starting to blow. The level of damage varied from room to room. Some were still sound and no probs, one room, the curve was basically falling down, others it was just starting to crack.

The bigger problem than the obvious cracks that were visible on the walls is what was lurking under the lovely polystyrene tiles that adorned most of the house. Again, there was a range, some ceilings still solid as a rock, but there were a couple that were actually in a very poor state. Starting to bow, the plaster had come away from the lathes in some large areas and when we eventually took it down, only took a few knocks and huge chunks started falling away. Parts of those ceilings were a serious hazzard, had a chunk of plaster come down with someone underneath it would have been very serious indeed.

becciboop

Happy-Days wrote: »

We too have a 1930's house. We bought it to renovate last year. Those cracks look very familiar. Am I right in thinking some of those are showing on the curved areas where ceiling meets the wall?

For us, they were certainly nothing structural. They were simply the fact that the plaster & lathe walls / ceilings were 80 odd years old and some of the plaster was starting to blow. The level of damage varied from room to room. Some were still sound and no probs, one room, the curve was basically falling down, others it was just starting to crack.

The bigger problem than the obvious cracks that were visible on the walls is what was lurking under the lovely polystyrene tiles that adorned most of the house. Again, there was a range, some ceilings still solid as a rock, but there were a couple that were actually in a very poor state. Starting to bow, the plaster had come away from the lathes in some large areas and when we eventually took it down, only took a few knocks and huge chunks started falling away. Parts of those ceilings were a serious hazzard, had a chunk of plaster come down with someone underneath it would have been very serious indeed.

Hi, yes some cracks are where the curved ceiling meets the wall. It is only in one bedroom - not in our bedroom that we sleep in.

We have those polystyrene tiles in the cieiling of our bedroom though, and only in that bedroom, the rest of the rooms are wallpapered ceilings..Do you think its worth taking those tiles off and checking the ceiling in our room? We sleep right under those tiles!

foxwales

If your house is built on clay soil the the house will naturally move as the soil saturates with water and swells, when the moisture is removed, the soil will contract causing the house to move again.

It's this movement that can cause small hairline cracks. If they have appeared over a couple of months, it could be associated with the high levels of rainfall we've had which would have saturates the clay soil causing it to swell.

You should only be concerned with cracks that develop around doorways, windows and corners that expand beyond a 2mm gap as this can indicate subsidence, but consodering your house has been standing since 1920/30 I wouldn't worry about this.