Cracks in the house - causes, methods of elimination. Crack in the wall of a panel house - what to do for an effective solution What to do if the house cracked

23.06.2020

The reasons leading to the appearance of cracks in brick houses, a great many. These are both unforeseen seismic activity and mechanical damage, and mistakes made during construction. For example, cracks can occur due to incorrect binding of the brickwork of the load-bearing walls of the house. What to do if the crack in the wall brick house already appeared? In any case, the house will need both superficial, cosmetic, and extensive repairs with the elimination of the causes of damage, if they appeared due to a violation of construction technology. If the foundation and walls of the house are not strengthened in time, then one small gap can provoke a skew of the supporting structure and irreversible deformation of the house.

Causes of wall damage

There are several main reasons why a gap may appear in the wall.:

Regular natural settlement of the house for more than 1-2 years (of great importance is the choice of a foundation that is acceptable for construction on a particular type of soil) and natural shifts.
Sagging and further cracking of the foundation due to regular washing away ground water or poorly distributed load, giving a warp of one point.
Freezing of the foundation and further destruction after another change in temperature.
heavy load on brickwork. Under such circumstances, cracks appear not only on the walls, but also on the pillars. Feature cracks that appeared due to excessive pressure - vertical direction and isolation.
Violation of the pouring technology at the stage of building the foundation of the house, poor-quality materials and their incomplete drying.

The appearance of cracks

Strengthening the foundation

Serious problems with the integrity of the structure require a total restructuring of the foundation:

Strengthening the foundation of the house

First of all, along the wall with a crack to the level of the horizon of the base, you need to make a deep trench. The width of the trench should not exceed the thickness of the foundation.
After that, the crack needs to be slightly expanded, cleaned from weakly reinforced stones and cement that binds them.
The expanded and cleaned area is drilled under the reinforcement horizontally and vertically. Reinforcing bars required right size twist with anchors and fix them by welding. The distance between the rods depends on how wide the crack needs to be repaired.. This reinforcement is made as a further link to the skeleton of the new reinforcing base.
Now you can make the formwork and pour concrete into it. To prevent new cracks, all work with the base is carried out only after it has dried.. You can also occasionally sprinkle it with water so that it hardens evenly.

The solution will dry for a very long time - at least a month, only after this time it is possible to tamp the site and make a blind area.

These measures will stop the destruction of the walls, and only after they have been carried out, it is possible to proceed to the direct elimination of defects.

Elimination of defects

Reconstruction of a brick wall

After strengthening the foundation, cosmetic sealing of cracks in brick walls . In order to make sure that new cracks are no longer expected, it is worth sticking pieces of paper in places of damage and monitoring their integrity. If the paper does not tear, you can start restoring them.

Small, shallow cracks can be repaired with cement mortar by first cleaning their edges and knocking off unstable pieces of material and adhesive mortar from them with a hammer. To make the adhesion with the new solution stronger, it is worth moistening the edges of the gap with water. Middle gaps should be sealed with a mixture of sand and cement (3: 1 ratio).

Seal of large cracks

Reinforcement with plates

In order to eliminate large (more than 1-2 centimeters wide) connectors, you need to do much more operations, which are discussed in more detail below.

First, it is necessary to completely disassemble the entire area with a crack, starting from top rows. All unstable and collapsing bricks must be replaced with new ones. During the laying of new brickwork, they need to be additionally reinforced. If the gap occurred in the knot of brick walls, reinforcement can be made using a strip of steel strip, bending its ends to the sides of the masonry and fixing it with bolts.

If it is not possible to dismantle the wall, cracks in brick walls are repaired by throwing crushed stone into large crevices with cement mortar and strengthening with a metal strip fixed with anchors.

a - installation of a brick castle; b - a brick castle with an anchor; reinforcement with plates with tension bolts (in - flat wall; d - wall corner); e - repair of a through crack with steel brackets; e - repair in the place where the floor slab is supported; g - strengthening of the cracked wall. 1- brick wall; 2- crack; 3 - brick castle; 4 - cement mortar; 5 - coupling bolt; 6 - channel (anchor); 7 - steel lining; 8 - brackets (installation step 50 cm); 9 - floor slab; 10 - brick wall; 11 - corner; 12 - finishing layer.

If the cracks that appear threaten the integrity of the building, it is necessary to perform a major strengthening of the wall. Along the perimeter of the house, steel rods are installed with external and inside. The result is a kind of powerful steel belt, covering the entire building.

a, b - steel rods on the outer (a) and inner (b) side of the wall; c - installation of non-tensioned channel bars; 1 - steel rod; 2 - corner; 3 - steel base plate; 4 - channel.

If the crack is too deep, you can also apply the cement injection method: for this, one inch holes are drilled along the entire length of the crack at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other. A tube filled with cement mortar is placed inside the hole, and by means of a sealant or a special building syringe, the mortar is injected into the crack, filling it with itself.

Injection method

In addition, some developers to fill the space large cracks use mounting foam . To do this, it is blown deep into the crack, dries and is fixed outside with cement.

Sometimes cracks and gaps are so catastrophic that the wall cracks through. In such cases, it is also necessary to strengthen the wall from the inside. To do this, you need to deeply moisten the gap, fill the resulting gap with cement and crushed stone and install metal linings fixed with anchors. After the mortar dries, you can begin to finish the inside of the cracked wall.

So, repairing cracks in brick walls is an important and complex task that requires great physical and material costs. However, if such defects are not repaired in time, the house will soon simply warp or deform irrevocably.

A cracked wall should not be treated negligently. A crack in the wall of the house is a consequence of a violation of the technology of building a foundation or walls. After reading our short educational program, you will learn how to correctly determine the cause of the appearance of cracks by indirect signs. And, as a result, you can quickly eliminate the flaw, avoiding further complications.

Causes of cracks

Due to the movement of the soil layers, the entire building tilts to one side or the other, but on the whole the building is held tightly and monolithically, thanks to a massive and strong base. And this is what scares: if cracks appear on the wall, it means that the foundation does not fulfill its function.

Meanwhile there is whole line reasons due to which cracks can form without destroying the base. And if the foundation is not rigid enough or the supporting soils do not evenly accept the load, the tape will bend more than the walls can withstand. We can safely say that cracks appear due to the imperfection of the building structure, design errors or shortcomings during construction.

Cracks can be the result of errors in the design, construction or improper operation of the building.

The root cause is the fact that the soil layer under the foundation is heterogeneous. In areas of high density, the pressure is greater, causing the building to rest on just a few points and deform under its own weight. main feature in that the density of plots can vary significantly over time or depending on weather conditions. Due to freezing, heaving of the soil occurs, when wet it becomes too soft, less often geological, seismic and geomorphological factors come into play.

Just repairing or hiding a crack is not enough; you should find out the cause of its formation and only after that start restoration.

How to determine the cause of a crack

At the first detection of cracks, it is necessary to begin close monitoring of their development, fixing in parallel changes in temperature and the presence of precipitation during this period. In order to have the most complete picture of the nature of cracking, it is useful to keep a detailed log throughout the year.

For a visual representation of changes in the width of the cracks, small lumps of alabaster, soaked to the consistency of plasticine, are attached to them. Beacons are installed along the entire length of the crack every meter. By periodically checking the marks, for example, after a month, two, and so on, we can conclude about the nature of the damage:

If the label cracked or fell off, then the crack continues to expand. By the gap in the mark, one can judge the speed of discrepancy.
If the mark is cracked, there is no gap, the wall is subjected to dynamic loads, but there is no longer stress in the material, and no further discrepancy is observed.
If the mark remains intact, then there is no stress in the wall. The crack was the result of one-time shrinkage.

To obtain more accurate information, observations are continued for a long period, and damaged marks are replaced with new ones with fixation of the previous result.

Any hard but brittle material capable of revealing the slightest deformations of the base can be used as marks.

The shape of the cracks can tell a lot about the nature of the movement. If the fracture site is even, the edge is sharp and has no chips, then the crack has expanded and simply tore the lighthouse. If the edges of the crack on the lighthouse have jagged edges, or it has completely disappeared, most likely, the crack, on the contrary, has decreased, and the lighthouse collapsed from compression.

The special shape of marks and beacons helps to detect even the slightest fluctuations

By projecting these changes onto the geometric model of the house and foundation, you will be able to establish with high accuracy how precipitation occurs over a long time, whether it depends on the wetting of the earth during rain, where there are places of high and low density.

And yet the most full information will be able to give only a comprehensive analysis performed by specialists on the basis of expertise, which includes:

strength control of supporting structures;
analysis of supporting soils;
detection hidden cracks or uneven load distribution.

Ultimately, with your own observations or with outside help, it will be possible to draw up a plan of measures to strengthen the foundation and walls of the building and eliminate cracks.

Eliminate the cause, get rid of the crack

The most dangerous case is when the crack continues to expand. This suggests that the walls of the building or the foundation will be irreparably destroyed. The problem can be cardinally solved only by a complete restructuring of the emergency section of the building. However, if you notice the problem in time, then a much less radical way will help - tight at home.

Everything is done quite simply:

Steel corners with a 100 mm shelf are installed at the outer corners.
On crutches, at least two lines of smooth reinforcement are laid along the walls - upper and lower.
Each rod is threaded: on one side, left, on the other, right. Nuts are screwed onto the fittings, which are welded to the corners.
A meter from the corner, on the side of the reinforcing bars, it is welded along a small parallel bar so that the rotation can be transmitted with an ordinary adjustable wrench.
In the final tightening, two people twist the bar at the same time, gradually increasing the tension.

At the same time, the cracks literally melt before our eyes, it remains only to replace the protective plaster of the walls and the plinth, reinforcing it with a steel mesh.

An example of building bracing along the plinth

It is possible that the markers on the crack will remain intact for a long time, or the gap will constantly expand and narrow, but generally not increase. it clear sign the fact that the foundation is working normally, and there were initially excessive stresses in the material of the walls, which resulted in a crack.

To strengthen the wall in a problem area use:

external reinforcement with carbon fiber, steel mesh;
anchors and metal frames;
embedded reinforcing elements along the strobes;
injection method.

It is important to close the crack and restore the strength of the structure. If the cause was the wrong dressing of the brick rows, then it is quite possible that the only effective remedy would be a complete or partial re-laying of the wall in the emergency area.

Laying reinforcement in strobes helps to contain further deformations

Massive reinforcement with an external frame with anchor fastening to the wall

Reinforcing walls with external carbon fiber reinforcement

Elimination of cracks by injection method

To seal any cracks, it is necessary to clean it along its entire length and depth from dirt, dust, remove a layer of mortar and base material, expanding it to 15 mm or more. The resulting gap is filled with a solution, having previously performed reinforcement by one of the methods listed above.

Heaving as a result of soaking the soil

So that the soil under the foundation is not oversaturated with moisture, a blind area is mounted around the house and drain pipes are diverted as far as possible. However, over time, the screed can collapse, and rainwater will seep right under the foundation, washing it away.

Usually, a sign of such a phenomenon is the gradual expansion of cracks, which occurs mainly during heavy precipitation or some time after it. It is typical for such phenomena that cracks, as it were, “chop off” the corners of the house, passing through the nearest window openings.

Frost heaving can destroy the foundation of a house

The foundation continues to remain intact, but the general tilt of the building may increase from year to year. In addition, no one knows how much the next shrinkage will occur, and how this will affect the integrity concrete base. heaving due to high humidity can also occur due to the rise of the perch.

It will help to solve the problem qualitatively drainage system, collected around the perimeter of the building to drain groundwater and perched water away from the foundation. It is necessary to expose the foundation to the ground, lay drainage pipe on the prepared sand and gravel pad along the perimeter of the foundation and drain to the side. To discharge water, it is necessary to prepare a drainage well or bring a pipe to the nearest reservoir.

Drainage for the removal of groundwater precipitation and melt water from the base of the foundation

A wide blind area will not allow precipitation to flow under the foundation

An obligatory step towards eliminating the problem is the restoration of the cement blind area and its expansion. Usually for shallow strip foundation a blind area about 40-60 cm wide is enough, and for deep foundations - up to one and a half meters. It will also not be superfluous to install low tides and discharge rainwater 4-5 meters from the house.

What to do if the problem is in the foundation

If no measures have been successful, you will have to look for a problem in the foundation. A prerequisite for this can be not only the visible formation of a crack in the exposed area, but also the general structural unsuitability of the base, causing insufficient rigidity.

Local faults in the foundation should be repaired immediately. First, a tunnel is dug to a depth of 60-100 cm under the lower edge of the tape and up to 2 meters wide. A pedestal reinforced with reinforcement is poured under the fracture point, after which the pit is expanded by another meter in each direction and topped up again.

Strengthening the foundation with piles

Do not forget that the reason may be an initial miscalculation in the design of the house or non-compliance with the requirements during construction:

the properties of supporting soils are not taken into account;
the depth of the foundation is incorrectly selected to the actual depth of freezing;
foundation width is not sufficient for real loads, etc.

Strengthening the foundation with additional pouring of reinforced concrete along the perimeter of the building

If cracks appear in the foundation and walls of the house, then measures should be taken immediately to strengthen the foundation, for example, screw piles, side or bottom grout. It is possible to determine which strengthening method is required only based on the data of the construction expertise and the preparation of the corresponding project, which is best entrusted to professional designers.

A crack can appear on the wall of the house at any time, and the owners of the building immediately wonder how dangerous this phenomenon is. Experts distinguish between two types of cracks - passive and active. And if in the first case the defect in question can be “removed” with your own hands, then in the second you will have to involve professionals in the work. But first you need to understand what factors provoke the appearance of cracks.

Table of contents: - -

Causes of cracks in the house

It is believed that in the first five years after building a house, cracks appear on the walls in 90% of cases - experts call this natural shrinkage, which does not pose any danger. But it also happens - the house has been for many years, it is quite habitable, all structures are regularly repaired, but cracks still appear. What is the reason for this phenomenon?

Firstly, cracks in the house may appear due to violations in the technology of erecting the walls themselves. For example, if the dressing of brickwork was carried out incorrectly.

Secondly, the phenomenon under consideration on the walls of the house may be caused by non-observance of the sequence of construction works. For example, communication systems (water supply, sewerage) are often carried out after the construction of the house - you have to dig the foundation, which negatively affects its quality characteristics.

Thirdly, foundation settlement often occurs - for example, due to compression of the foundation soils or too much pressure on the foundation of the house. This is possible if the construction of the foundation was carried out without preliminary calculations and design. Most Common Mistakes:

during the construction of the foundation, geodetic surveys were not carried out, the nature of the soil was not studied;
the soil resistance taken as a basis was erroneous, greatly overestimated;
geodetic surveys at the construction site were carried out in the summer - the level of groundwater rise was not calculated;
a mistake was made when choosing the type of foundation - for example, instead of a columnar one, a linear one was laid;
no calculations were made of the depth of the foundation base, its thickness - usually data on past construction sites are taken as the basis for these parameters;
violations of the technology of laying a sand cushion under the foundation - for example, insufficient layer thickness or poor-quality sand compaction.

Note:cracks in the house old building can also arise due to structural changes in the building. Often, owners build a subfloor in a foundation that is not intended for this, and the result will be displacement / shrinkage of the foundation base.

When even a small crack is found, the main question arises - is it dangerous? Checking this is quite simple - you need to install a control beacon and observe the "behavior" of the crack long time. Professionals put special control beacons - lamellar, which must be registered in supervisory authorities. At home, with an independent solution to the problem, you can use one of the following methods:

stick a strip of paper on the crack indicating the date of installation;
prepare a gypsum mortar and put a strip of it on the crack.

And then it remains only to wait and periodically check the status of the control beacon. It may take several months before any conclusions can be drawn - experts say that it is necessary to control the crack for 8-12 months.

How dangerous it is will be shown by a break in the control beacon - if there is such a phenomenon, then complex technical solutions will need to be applied to fix the problem, if there is no break in the beacon, then you should not worry at all.

Methods for eliminating cracks in the house

Different cracks are eliminated in certain ways - you must first determine the level of the problem.

Note:if the control beacon showed a rapidly expanding crack, then no methods of repairing cracks with your own hands will help - they will only have a short-term effect. Be sure to invite specialists to solve the problem, otherwise the consequences will be the most terrible - the collapse of the wall or the entire structure!

How to fix a crack in the house from the inside

If small cracks are found on the wall inside the house, then fixing them is easy. All you need is a primer and a special putty mesh. You need to act according to the instructions below:

we clean the surface of building materials, finishes - the wall should turn out perfectly clean;
we use a deep penetration primer (with such a marking!) - we cover the entire cleaned surface;
glue the putty mesh on the entire prepared surface;

Note:it is necessary to cover the entire area of damage on the wall with a special mesh - even small sections of cracks should not protrude beyond it.

We apply a small layer of putty on the grid and leave it to dry completely.

Only after the putty layer has completely dried, you can start grouting the surface and gluing wallpaper or other finishing materials.

Elimination of a crack in the house from the outside of the wall

In the event of the appearance of small cracks outside the house, you should proceed according to the same principle as in the above option. Procedure:

the place of the crack is cleaned from plaster or debris;
we apply a layer of deep penetration primer and glue a putty mesh on it;
put putty on. But! In case of repairing a crack on the outer walls, it is advisable to use a special reinforced putty - it is resistant to the negative effects of atmospheric changes.

If the cracks on the outer side of the walls of the house went not only through the plaster, but also spread to the brickwork, then much more effort will have to be made. And in this case, the algorithm of actions will be as follows:

Note:the metal mesh should cover the entire surface intended for applying a new layer of plaster. Thus, the new plaster will not blur, which will allow you to flawlessly apply finishing materials.

This situation means only one thing - it is urgent to take drastic measures to eliminate such a problem. If you ignore all the recommendations of specialists, limit yourself only to the above repair options, then the result will be the collapse of the whole house. But a beginner can also cope with the work of eliminating such complex active cracks - the main thing is to strictly adhere to the following instructions:

All plaster from the wall at the location of the crack is knocked off - be sure to maintain a distance of 50 cm on each side of the crack.
The crack is cleaned of mortar and dirt - this can be done with a metal spatula.
The cleaned crack is filled with mounting foam.
Fastening metal plates that will tighten the crack, preventing it from spreading further. In doing so, the following points must be taken into account:

the plate must be chosen from a thick, high-quality metal;
to obtain an optimal result, you will need to tighten the crack with at least 3 plates, and if the crack is long, then 4 or 5 metal plates may be needed;
plates are fastened with self-tapping screws, but with the use of dowels.

After applying the fastening metal plates, you can continue to work according to the usual algorithm - priming / fixing the reinforcing mesh / applying new plaster.

But keep in mind that such measures serve as a temporary measure, since without a specific formation it will not be possible to determine the cause of the appearance of active cracks. Most often, in the future, it will be necessary to carry out corrective work on the foundation - it is either strengthened / strengthened, or the walls / roof of the house are raised and the base is completely replaced.

Prevention of cracks in the house

In order not to have to deal with cracks in the house, you should familiarize yourself with the prevention of such a phenomenon.

Firstly, if only a house is being designed, several points must be taken into account.:

conducting geodetic surveys should be mandatory - this will help determine the type of soil, the location of the aquifers, the depth of the groundwater;
even at the stage of drafting the project, it is necessary to provide for the possibility of building a subfloor / cellar under the house - this will entail serious structural changes;
be sure to familiarize yourself with the depth of freezing of the soil - the depth of the foundation will depend on this.

Secondly, when buying an old house, pay attention to the existing walls, invite specialists to assess their condition - often serious problems in the stability / reliability of the entire structure are hidden behind the small size of the cracks. Another point - there should be a blind area around the whole house - this will prevent moisture from entering the foundation, and therefore, will serve as a prevention of its destruction.

Today, a turnkey frame house in Vologda is ordered very often. If there is a crack in the wall of the house, it is absolutely impossible to treat it negligently. After all, this is all due to the fact that a technological error was made during the construction of the foundation, or the wall of the building! But, having noticed such a nuisance and figured out what was the matter in time, you can eliminate the problem before serious negative consequences begin.

Causes of cracks in the wall of the house, and what to do?

When the foundation of the building is done correctly, it will stand firmly, despite the movement of soil layers in different directions. But if cracks appear on the walls, then something is wrong with the foundation ...

In addition, there are other reasons due to which a crack may appear in the wall of a brick house, or a panel one. For example, due to the fact that the design of the entire structure is absolutely imperfect, or errors were made in the design, and maybe shortcomings in the process of construction work.

The first thing to say about the heterogeneity of the soil under the foundation. And the most interesting thing is that soil density changes over time!

Well, before you repair the cracks in the walls of the house, you need to understand where they came from.

How to understand the causes of cracks on the walls of houses

Be sure to record during this period what temperature regime and the amount of precipitation. It is advisable to keep this record for a whole year.

In order to clearly see what changes are taking place, alabaster lumps must be attached to the crack, having previously soaked them. They will resemble plasticine in consistency. With an interval of 1 meter, it is necessary to install beacons along the entire crack. Well, by checking such marks with a certain interval, you will determine the reason:

Naturally, if the label cracks, or maybe even falls off, the crack grows. Based on the gap, draw conclusions about how quickly cracks increase.
The label may crack, leaving no gap, dynamic loads are applied to the wall, and there are no stresses and further discrepancies in the material.
The mark is intact, and there is no tension in the wall. This means that the crack appeared as a result of the fact that shrinkage occurred one-time.

At the same time, it can be quite difficult to determine the causes of cracks on your own. Therefore, in many cases it is still worth contacting professional craftsmen. After all, it's a pretty serious matter.

Of course, the most dangerous case is precisely the one when the crack grows. This means that either the foundation or the walls will be destroyed in any case. Of course, there is always a way out. For example, rebuild the emergency section of the house. But, if you notice the problem in time, then you can save yourself with such an option as tight fitting.

In general, this is a fairly simple process:

It is necessary to install steel corners on the outer corners, they must be with shelves of 10 cm.
On the walls, on crutches, it is necessary to lay at least a couple of smooth reinforcing lines (top and bottom).
Cut the threads on all the rods, and screw the nuts onto the reinforcement, welded to the steel corners.
On the side of the reinforcement bars, at a distance of 1 m, small rods should be welded to transmit rotation using an ordinary adjustable wrench.
When the tightening is completed, the two need to simultaneously twist the bars, while the tension must be gradually increased.

In this case, cracks can be immediately avoided and they will not even be visible.

To strengthen the wall in problem areas, you must use:

External reinforcement with steel or carbon fiber mesh.
Anchors, metal frames.
Embedded reinforcing elements along the strobes.
injection method.

To close any crack, you need to completely clean it and expand it to 1.5 cm. Next, the gap needs to be angry with a solution.

If there are cracks in the walls panel house, brick or in the foundation, it is necessary, and as soon as possible to take the necessary measures to eliminate them. For example, you may need to strengthen the foundation. This can be done with screw piles, as well as side or bottom grouts. Only after the construction expertise has been carried out, you will be able to determine ways to strengthen the foundation, and indeed, eliminate the problem of cracking.