crack in garage pointing

[newby2]

Hi all, I am glad that I've found this forum. My house is a detached built in the 90s with an integrated garage. I just found in the garage there is a long, vertical crack (from ceiling to the floor) in the pointing where the wall meets a column. It is circled in the photo. It's about 1mm or less in width in most places. It may be there for a long time. The other photo is from outside where I circled the approximate area, which looks fine.

Is this something of concern or I am being paranoid?

Many thanks for any advice.

[joe90]

Concerned but not paranoid. Good to keep an eye on it but not the end of the world. Is the crack only in the pointing or are bricks broken?

[newby2]

only in pointing, not in bricks. 

[newby2]

@joe90, thank you for your reply. Could it be due to something like thermal movement? Although I just found it, it could be there for a long time. We've lived in the house for 15 years. 

[joe90]

No one can be sure but differential settlement is not unheard of, I would just re point it and keep an eye on it, if it tends to move anymore or seasonally I would point it with non setting mastic so it can give a little.

[newby2]

Thanks. I suppose it is not subsidence, right? It's not diagonal and less than 1mm wide. 

[tonyshouse]

Best advice is to report it to insurers and say that you are monitoring it for two years - photos will do measuring better 

[Brickie]

Looks like that pier may not be bonded in with main wall-possibly built independently with cavity ties tying it in. I assume the pier carries a steel further up which becomes the outside wall above the garage?

[Dave Jones]

expamet should really be used on piers not wall ties, costs peanuts as well.

[Brickie]

5 hours ago, Dave Jones said:

expamet should really be used on piers not wall ties, costs peanuts as well.

I’d prefer to see it bonded in,though it does look an odd size (170mm projection maybe) which may have given them a head wobble & led to it being built independently. 

[Gus Potter]

On 10/08/2021 at 07:41, newby2 said:

Hi all, I am glad that I've found this forum. My house is a detached built in the 90s with an integrated garage. I just found in the garage there is a long, vertical crack (from ceiling to the floor) in the pointing where the wall meets a column. It is circled in the photo. It's about 1mm or less in width in most places. It may be there for a long time. The other photo is from outside where I circled the approximate area, which looks fine.

Is this something of concern or I am being paranoid?

Many thanks for any advice.

 

 

Hello newby2.

 

No it's understandable that you may have a touch of the "jitters" at first. The main thing is to do a bit of research before you jump to any conclusion.

 

All buildings move about as they are "elastic structures".. they bend, shrink, foundations settle / move about and so on and this manifests often as cracks. This crops up very often when folk are in dispute with say a warrantly provider on a new house.

 

One of my go to references is BRE Digest 251 Assessment of damage in low rise buildings. It's an older document but it's a great guide on cracks in houses. It's 8 pages long and written in plain English. You can buy it for £15.00  from the BRE bookshop, apparently it is also "google able"...

 

For all.. this is a great document to have a read of, whether you are building a new house, extending or just curious.

 

Have a read at this newby2 and it may fill in the missing piece of the jigsaw.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[newby2]

thanks to all for your replies.

@Brickie, if the pointing cracked due to the reason you mentioned,  shall I just leave it and keep on eye on it?

[Brickie]

I’d consider @tonyshouse advice re notifying insurers to be safe-bear in mind we’re all commenting from a couple of photos. 
Is the crack also on the other side of the pier? 
Have you spoken to neighbours to see if they have the same issue?

[Oz07]

Id probably monitor for now without informing insurers but thats just my internet strangers opinion. You could open a can of worms telling the insurers. It looks a pretty typical place a small crack would develop although i'm no expert. Vertical crack = horizontal movement. Position is near to a pier and where single storey meets double gable. If being built on a new build site nowadays I wouldn't be surprised to see a movement joint there.

 

My last (60's, cavity) place had 2 vertical cracks under a window on seperate elevations. I got them surveyed before purchase and thermal expansion was the result. I repointed one and chopped out and replaced some bricks in the other. New place I put a movement joint in on a slightly less than 12m wall. You didn't have to by the book but a siliconed expansion join looks a lot better than a random crack.