Cracks in Your Basement Walls | Crawl Space Waterproofing | Charlotte NC

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CRACKS IN YOUR BASEMENT WALLS

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CRACKS

Some signs like horizontal, vertical, and diagonal basement wall cracks may indicate structural damage. However, cracks can be a symptom of a minor problem under certain conditions. But other ones can be more severe problems that require costly repairs.


First of all, we must know some aspects related to cracked walls. These anomalies can appear at any moment on facades, stairs, partitions, exterior walls, and other places. Therefore, cracked walls causes are diverse. They can be produced by dilations, dampness, poor quality materials, inadequate labor in the project. However, one of the most frequent causing factors is the settlement of the building.


SETTLEMENT

We must consider buildings can experience small cracks during the first ten years. It is due to their settlement on the ground. But in other cases, cracks or fissures can be anomalies. Therefore, an expert will be necessary to know the problem and the measures that must be taken to solve it.


WALL CRACKS AND HOW SERIOUS CAN THEY BE? At first sight, it is necessary to know how to distinguish what is a fissure and what is a crack. A crack is a small gap in cladding materials for facades, walls, and partitions (cement, plaster, or paint). In most cases, a crack width can be minimal, like a vein or a hair. It is because it tends to appear due to poor plaster application and poorly applied paint. For this reason, small cracks do not endanger the stability of the structure. And you can repair them by giving them a new coating.


FISSURE A fissure can be something more serious. It is because this gap is a deep and thick opening that appears in a brick wall. It indicates that something is happening because of earth movements and ground vibrations.


On the other hand, the cracks that you should worry about because they are already a red flag are the diagonal cracks. These gaps indicate significant structural damage, and removing coatings is not enough to find the origin. In this case, you must call a structural expert.


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