The brick wall of the house has cracked with something to repair. How and how to repair cracks in the walls of a brick house: reasons for the appearance and repair

Foundation crack

If in a private house, garage or dacha cracks have gone along the walls, the foundation has cracked - it is not necessary to despair, you can fix the damage that has arisen. The reasons for the appearance of such defects are uneven soil settlement, the assumption of structural miscalculations at the design stage, errors during construction work, or the influence of natural, mechanical influences on the base structure. Cracks in the foundation must be eliminated, otherwise the bearing capacity of the house structures may be disrupted and an irreversible consequence of collapse will occur.

Base cracks can be classified according to their location:

A horizontal crack in the foundation refers to a common type of fracture that occurs due to errors in the technology of masonry work, improper selection of the composition of mortars. Most often, horizontal cracks appear on tape structures erected in stages. Horizontal cracks do not pose a significant threat; nevertheless, it is recommended that cracks be repaired in a timely manner in order to prevent their further development.
A vertical crack appears due to deformation of the base structure under the influence of soil swelling forces and from an increase in the water table. The appearance of vertical cracks indicates the beginning of the process of destruction of the supporting structure, therefore, they should be quickly eliminated as soon as possible. If the foundation is cracked vertically, it is recommended to strengthen the base of the structure cushion.

In order to prevent the appearance of cracks in the supporting structure of the house, it is recommended at the design stage to conduct a thorough assessment of the geology of the foundation soils, not to save on the purchase of high-quality building materials, to correctly calculate the ultimate loads and take into account the possibility of soil changes under the influence of various natural factors.

Horizontal destruction of the foundation

Causes of foundation deformation

Before starting the repair of the base structure, it is necessary to determine the reason why the foundation cracked and choose the right method for eliminating the violations that have arisen. The most common reasons due to which the foundation could burst could be the following factors.

Technological reasons

If during the construction work on the construction of the foundation, violations of the mandatory technological process are made, then all these errors will lead to the occurrence of destructive deformations. Therefore, it is so important to correctly perform the reinforcement of the base, to consistently mount the formwork system, to select the correct grade of concrete mix, to take into account the depth of freezing and the level of ground water at the site.

Operational reasons

Another reason for the opening of cracks in the foundation can be a violation of the operating mode of housing construction. For example, the homeowner decided to add a second floor to the existing foundation of a one-story house. Such an increase in load can adversely affect the bearing capacity of the base structure and significant damage will appear on the foundation of the house.

Increased humidity in the basement of the building and the lack of drainage from the building - all these factors can be attributed to the operational reasons for the occurrence of cracks.

Structural reasons

Diagram of the occurrence of cracks in the foundation

At the design stage of the building, it is necessary to conduct a geological study of the soils of the base of the building plot, to correctly calculate the load on the base structure. If, for some reason, such miscalculations were made, then significant deformation changes in the base structures can surely occur.

Seeing cracks

When a crack appears on the foundation, experts advise observing the change in the size of the crack rupture, whether it will increase over time. The process of revealing the nature of fracture of a crack occurs in the following order:

An open crack should be carefully cleaned from plaster residues, dirt and dust.
Small plaster beacons with a thickness of no more than 5 mm are installed with a certain step. After that, we observe their condition.
If, within two or three weeks, the lighthouses did not crack and new deformations did not appear, then the foundation structure is not in danger and the crack on the surface is most likely formed from the shrinkage of the building.

A video tutorial of installing beacons can be seen:

Sealing simple cracks

Repair of simple cracks from shrinkage is carried out in several stages:

First, the crack cavity is cleaned of dust and rinsed with water.
After the dry crack is covered to the entire possible depth with a primer for outdoor use.
The crack cavity is filled with special sealants or cement mortar with a cement grade of at least 500.

Clearing a simple crack

Crack repair methods

Methods for repairing cracks in the foundation are selected depending on the type of materials of the main walls of the building. For stone, brick or wooden walls, there are special schemes for sealing cracks:

The foundation of a stone or cinder block house is strengthened with reinforced concrete clips, which are mounted on both sides of the foundation.
The foundation of a wooden house is rarely covered with deformation cracks. But if this happened, then you can use jacks to raise the wooden building, having previously freed all the rooms from furniture.
When strengthening the foundations of brick houses, it is possible to use two methods: pour the basement wall with a concrete mixture along a metal frame previously installed around the entire perimeter, or install bore-injection piles. The second method is very effective, in this way you can restore an almost destroyed foundation, but the price of such strengthening is quite high.

Video example of strengthening the foundation of a wooden house:

Ways to strengthen the base

Before strengthening the foundation, if there are cracks on the walls, it is necessary to choose the most suitable method for eliminating the occurrence of deformations. Modern construction technologies for sealing cracks in the foundation give optimal recommendations on what to do in such cases. The following methods of strengthening the foundation are usually used.

Reinforced outsole with new construction

First, the burst foundation is pre-cleaned of dirt and dust, the cracks are filled with repair mortar. A small trench no more than 60 cm wide is dug under the deformed section of the structure in a checkerboard pattern to a depth of 200-300 mm below the base of the foundation. The open base of the foundation must be filled with concrete and carefully compacted.

After backfilling and compaction of the soil, thus reinforced in the base section, it is possible, after a distance of 60 cm, to repair the next cracked section.

Reinforcement with special piles

The pile method of strengthening a cracked foundation is the most effective way. There are several types of piles according to the method of their installation:

Screw piles. The simplest and most common type of strengthening cracked foundations, which does not require special skills. The pile structure looks like a pipe with helical blades at the end. When installing, the pile is screwed into the ground, only the head remains visible on the surface.
The bored piles have a hollow structure with a height of 2 m, into which metal reinforcement is inserted, and after that the entire cavity is filled with a concrete mixture. Before installing the bored piles, wells are drilled with a step of 1.5 to 2 m.
The use of the driven pile installation method is not suitable for a dilapidated structure, since the walls of the building may crack from the blows of the pile driver.

Strengthening the foundation with screw piles

Additional reinforcement when strengthening the base

Strengthening a burst foundation by means of additional reinforcement consists in tying the entire basement part of the structure with a reinforcing mesh of longitudinal and transverse metal reinforcement, installing formwork and pouring a concrete mixture of at least 200 grade. This technology of strengthening the foundation is the most popular and less laborious than other methods.

When cracks appear in the foundation, you should carefully study the recommendations and instructions for their elimination. Of course, it is always difficult to repair than to build, so it is better not to make mistakes and not disrupt the technological construction process. Then there will be no need to strengthen the foundation.

All cracks appearing on the foundation of the house indicate that the base of the building needs to be strengthened or repaired. But in order to do this with your own hands, you need to know about the reasons for the destruction of the base, as well as how exactly restoration work should be carried out.

Why are cracks dangerous?

If the foundation of the building is cracked, you must immediately begin work to restore it. If this is not done, after a while, due to the skewing of the house, the doors and windows will start to jam. If the house is made of bricks, the crack can spread to the wall, causing the entire structure to collapse. That is why it is necessary to begin work on strengthening the foundation as soon as possible.

Before starting restoration work, it is worth determining the type of crack. To do this, it is enough to clean it from dust and rinse it with water. After that, you need to install a beacon on the fault. The date of consolidation is applied to it. This is necessary to determine the rate of destruction of the base. If the lighthouse remains intact within two weeks, the crack can simply be repaired with concrete. If the lighthouse breaks, it is necessary to begin work to strengthen the base.

Usually cracks begin to appear in winter or spring, since it is at this time that an improperly created foundation begins to rise or settle unevenly. It is worth remembering that the foundation can burst due to many reasons, so you need to think about this problem even at the design stage of the house.

Causes of faults

Before starting the restoration work, it is necessary to determine the reason due to which the destruction began. If these actions are neglected, even after repair, the base will gradually collapse. The causes of destruction can be divided into several groups:

Technological. An example is the creation of the foundation of a house with violations of the reinforcement or installation of formwork. Also, mistakes can be attributed to the choice of the wrong grade of concrete. The laying of the foundation above the water table is also considered a technological error.
Operational. Such mistakes are made already in the process of using the constructed structure. For example - an increase in the load on the foundation as a result of the creation of the second floor. Also, a violation is an increase in humidity in the basement or poor-quality installation of a drainage system near the house.
Structural. An example is the compilation of incorrect calculations during the design of a structure. Often, the foundation begins to collapse ahead of time due to the fact that geological studies were not carried out before the start of construction.

Important! In order not to face the described problem before building a house, it is necessary to accurately calculate the load on the foundation.

Crack types

Cracks in the foundation of a wooden house, which can occur on the foundation, are divided into several types:

Hairy. Such cracks are hardly noticeable and have a thickness of no more than 3 mm. Their presence speaks only of a change in the outer layer of the base. Such flaws can be corrected quite easily.
Horizontal. Such defects do not affect the integrity of the foundation.
Shrinkage cracks. Such defects occur when the rules for creating a foundation are violated.
Vertical. It is these cracks that are a sign that the foundation needs repair. Often they appear under the influence of groundwater on the base or due to heaving of the soil.

How to fix the problem

If you notice that the foundation of the house is cracked, you need to start strengthening it as soon as possible. Such work is carried out as follows:

first, with the help of a jack, the sagging parts of the base are raised to the design level;
after that, pits are drilled, the diameter of which ranges from 20 to 40 cm;
the resulting void is filled with liquid glass, cement laitance or hot bitumen.

This reduces the permeability of the soil, which will make the soil more stable. The described strengthening method can only be used with the use of special equipment, therefore, professional builders must be hired for such work.

Strengthening the foundation of a stone house

The main task of repairing the base of a house is to stop the process of settling the structure. therefore, it is impossible to dig under the foundation without securing it. A method of strengthening is often used, in which a reinforcing concrete belt is erected from all sides. Such work is carried out as follows:

A trench is dug along the strip base of the house, the width of which is approximately 45 cm. During such work, the sole of the foundation must not be exposed.
After that, the foundation is cleaned of dirt and dust. In this case, all cracks must be opened with a spatula.
Then the falling off parts of the old foundation are removed.
In the next step, the concrete surface is treated with a primer. It is worth remembering that you need to choose formulations of deep penetration.
After that, holes are drilled in the foundation. The distance between them should be about 60 cm.
Anchors are driven into the created holes, which are subsequently welded to the reinforcement cage. The diameter of the reinforcement should be approximately 12 mm.
At the last stage, the concrete mixture is poured into the created trench. In order for the concrete solution to be evenly distributed over the trench, it is necessary to use a construction vibrator. It also helps to fill cracks in the old foundation. If this stage of work is neglected, voids can remain in the concrete, which will subsequently cause the foundation to collapse.

Backfilling of the soil occurs only after the concrete has completely solidified. If the cracks are not caused by subsidence or deformation of the foundation, they can be repaired with mortar and plastered.

It is worth remembering that if the work is carried out with an error, the foundation will quickly begin to collapse, even if there are additional reinforcing elements of the structure.

Repair of the base of a house made of wood

The cracked foundation of a wooden house can be strengthened quite simply, since such structures can be lifted with a jack and installed on temporary supports. But it is worth remembering that if the lower logs are rotten, the structure cannot be lifted.

If the crowns are unreliable, rotten areas are cut out in them, after which the house is raised. After that, you can restore the foundation in one of the common ways. Often, owners of country houses install a concrete bandage around the base. You can also dig under the base and pour concrete pillars. This will make the foundation resistant to significant loads.

It is worth remembering that before raising the house, it is necessary to disassemble part of the roof in the place where it connects to the chimney. To carry out such work, it is better to invite professional builders.

Reinforcement with piles

In some cases, it is not possible to increase the density of the soil under the structure. In such a situation, it is necessary to strengthen the base with piles:

If the house is wooden, the whole structure is raised on temporary supports, after which a bunch of heads with a grillage occurs. After that, the structure is lowered onto a new foundation.
In the case when it is necessary to strengthen the base without raising the house, "bulls" are used. They are piles that are driven obliquely from different sides of the corner. Beams are welded onto the heads of these elements, which will serve as a support for the structure.

When using piles, it is worth remembering that their length must be sufficient so that they abut against solid ground.

Monolithic slab repair

Monolithic foundations are destroyed quite rarely, but under certain conditions it is possible. If a serious crack appears on such a base, it can only be replaced with a new plate. No way will help stop the destruction of a monolithic foundation if it is already beginning to deform.

Conclusion

If it is impossible to completely replace the foundation for some reason, the walls are strengthened and the old sections of the slab are removed. In these places, concrete solution is poured, which helps to temporarily preserve the integrity of the structure. you can also install concrete blocks or piles as supports.

Foundation device for a private house
How to sheathe the foundation of a house outside
Pile foundation with grillage
Strengthening the foundation of a private house

Strengthening the foundation of a private house is necessary in two cases:

the foundation or wall of the house has cracked;
the reconstruction of the house with an increase in its mass is ahead, for which the existing foundation is not designed.

The first case is obvious. If there is a crack in the foundation, it means that something was done wrong, and an urgent need to correct the situation. And the second one is not so critical, but requires minimal preliminary calculations.

And the situations are different.

As cracks are different, so are their consequences.

In this case, there is nothing to save, but such catastrophic consequences, as a rule, if it is not the result of a serious earthquake, are preceded by primary signals in the form of small, sometimes subtle, cracks in the foundation.

There was a crack on the wall. How to react, do you need to immediately strengthen the foundation?

The formation of small cracks on the wall does not mean that you have problems with the foundation.

Often, such cracks appear on houses made of gas silicate blocks or with the use of other cellular concrete technologies and may be associated with a violation of the technology of their laying or even the technology of their production.

The material itself has a high moisture absorption, which leads to too active drying of the plaster and increased cracking.

Large waterlogging of blocks due to poor waterproofing can also lead to these consequences.

And on other buildings, it is often not the wall that cracks, but the finishing layer. Therefore, first of all, investigate the base. And if everything is in order with him, continue observing until you are finally convinced that the finish is cracking or symptoms of obvious weakness of the base appear.

If this happened, we propose the following algorithm of actions.

Identification of destruction processes

1.Create the crack by removing the plaster around it.

2. At certain intervals, install gypsum beacons with a thickness of 3 - 5 mm and observe their behavior.

3. If, after 2-3 weeks of observation, not a single lighthouse cracks, you can sleep well, and in the intervals between sleep, choose a way to eliminate the problem.

But at the same time, it is desirable to extend the observation period to several months, and it is even better to survive the off-season in order to exclude the cause caused by the seasonal rise in groundwater.

But, above all, about natural causes. Few people know, but any, even a monolithic brick house, shrinks within 1 - 5 years from the date of construction, therefore, it is possible to plaster and put windows and doors in it after at least 1 year, or even more, which is often violated ... Uneven shrinkage is possible due to differences in the recipe or ingredients of masonry mortars, and the brick itself. It is in this case that cracks can appear and the foundation has nothing to do with it.

If the reason is precisely in him, and you are convinced of this, do the same procedures with beacons with him. Perhaps this is a one-time insignificant subsidence due to the presence of small voids in the ground under it, which stopped after a slight subsidence of a part of the base.

So, what to do if cracks formed in the wall and foundation do not grow for a considerable time?

Easy repair of cracks in the wall

If cracking has not increased and cracks are small:

Remove small fragments from it and dust as much as possible with a vacuum cleaner.
Prime to maximum depth with a deep penetrating primer.
Fill the crack with polymer or polymerised cement mortar available from home improvement stores.

For more complex methods, such as injection, it is better to invite specialists with the appropriate equipment and devices.

If the crack in the foundation increases, look for the cause.

The reasons for the destruction of the foundation and how to eliminate them

They can be both local (sometimes trite) and global.

If you have long horizontal cracks in the basement, then the reason may not be in the foundation, but in the blind area that you connected to it, and which rises by the forces of frost heaving, transferring deformations to the outer part of the basement.

It is clear that it will need to be redone, installing a damper tape, and repair the base.

If your corner of the house sags and there is a water drainage pipe in this place, you can call yourself a bad word and get down to the device of a point drainage. In many cases, this will stop the process.

If your foundation has cracked for no apparent reason, you should make pits in the ground at the place of the crack, as well as on the sagging coal, on both sides of it at a distance of about half a meter, to a depth just below the foundation deepening level.

If water appears in the pits, then you need to immediately start building a drainage system, otherwise no strengthening of the foundation will save you. How to do it see here.

The foundation can crack if underneath there are so-called. voids in the ground, unnoticed during construction, because few people conduct serious geodetic studies when building individual housing. It can also happen due to incorrect calculation of loads or violation of the technology of its device.

In these cases, it needs to be strengthened.

How to strengthen the foundation with your own hands

How to strengthen the foundation if there is a crack in the wall? Let's make a reservation right away, we will describe the methods that you can apply yourself, without the involvement of specialized organizations, and to strengthen the foundation of a brick house, and to strengthen the foundation of an old wooden structure. If none of them suits you, contact the professionals.

Let's consider the ways.

1. Tying the basement of the house.

It is used if the foundation has cracked in many places or before the reconstruction of the house with an increase in the load on its foundation.

At the same time, it is rarely possible to strap the foundation tape on both sides. The exception is strip foundations under wooden or frame houses, which can be completely evenly lifted on jacks.

In other cases, the foundation is tied from the outside. For this:

they dig a trench along the foundation along the perimeter of the building to a depth below its occurrence by 150 - 300 mm, and if possible, then under it by 1/3 of its width;
make a drainage cushion from a layer of sand (up to 100 mm) and crushed stone (up to 100 mm);
they carry out a spatial strapping of reinforcement of 10 - 12 mm, connecting it to the existing foundation by drilling holes in it and hammering in pieces of reinforcement;
they expose the external formwork and fill with concrete of a grade not lower than M200.

A variant of such a strapping in the video:

2. Reinforcement of the foundation with a double-sided bench.

This method is also good when it is possible to lift the entire building.

Or it must be produced in sections, gradually tearing off the foundation tape so that a constant support remains on the existing foundation.

This type of amplification can be done in two ways:

with the chipping of the existing foundation and the establishment of the unloading beam in the groove;
bringing the beam under the foundation strip.

In any case, its basis is a banquet made of monolithic reinforced concrete, fed under the tape of the existing foundation, and several support and unloading beams, which are subsequently concreted outside together with the banquet.

3. Strengthening the foundation with screw piles.

For this:

tear off a section of the foundation that needs to be strengthened;
screw piles under it at an angle;
concreting both the place around the piles and under the foundation.

4. Reinforcement of the foundation with a reinforced concrete pad.

Most often, in this way, the sagging corner of the house is strengthened, although it is also possible to eliminate the cause of the local subsidence of the foundation section, which was formed as a result of water supply or sewage leaks that were not detected in time.

Work order:

to open the foundation on both sides of the corner by at least a meter, with an indent from it by half a meter and deepening under it by half a meter;
arrange a drainage cushion as described above;
make a spatial frame from reinforcement of at least 10 - 14 mm with a connection to the existing foundation by drilling it;
concreted to a height just below ground level.

And here is the video. It is somewhat long, but informative, and most importantly: everything was done without errors.

Elimination of cracks in the wall after repairing the foundation

After strengthening the foundation or strapping the basement, the crack in the wall must be repaired. If it is small, you can use the method described above, as well as for filling cracks in the foundation. And if it is too large, then:

fill the gap with a polymerized cement-sand mortar, you can tighten it with temporary (or permanent) screeds, filling a possible gap above the foundation with the same solution;

having pierced the wall across the crack in several places, install hidden metal screeds with pins deep into entire sections of the wall and seal it with the same polymer-cement-sand mortar.

Of course, it is better to eliminate the consequences of such repairs by combining it with the decoration, or even insulation of the facade of the house.

Dear readers, if you have any questions, ask them using the form below. We will be glad to communicate with you 😉

Sometimes cracks form in the foundation of a house. And the owners of the building, quite reasonably, begin to wonder what to do in such a situation. Not in all cases, a bursting foundation has a negative impact on the integrity of the building. But in most situations, it will not be superfluous to repair it. Even if the cracks are still very small, they are hairy.

What are the cracks in the base fraught with?

If the foundation of the house is cracked for some reason, it is recommended that the crack be repaired immediately. After all, if the problem is not eliminated at the stage of its occurrence, the consequences can be the most undesirable. In the best case, windows and doors will start to jam, and in the worst case, the crack will spread to the wall of the building, and the latter will collapse in the shortest possible time.

To avoid problems, the first thing to do is to determine the type of crack. To do this, the crack should be thoroughly cleaned of accumulated dirt and dust and rinsed with water. After that, you need to prepare a plaster beacon. It is marked with the date when the foundation cracked (or when it was first noticed). The lighthouse is set in a crack and observation begins. The behavior of the problem area of the foundation should be monitored for a sufficiently long period of time. If the beacon remains intact as a result, then the foundation is not cracked through and through and the crack does not pose a great danger. For purely aesthetic reasons, it can be sealed with cement mortar and forget about the problem.

The beacon will also help to track whether the break in the foundation is increasing. If this happens, then the foundation is cracked through and through, and something should be done immediately.

Most often, the base of the house begins to crack during the winter or spring periods of time. So, if the foundation of the house is installed incorrectly, in winter it will inevitably begin to rise unevenly, and in the spring it will also settle unevenly. For a certain period of time, the structure will successfully withstand such overloads, but after a few years a vertical or horizontal crack will surely appear.

Reasons for cracking the base

If the foundation of a brick or wooden house has cracked, you should figure out why this happened. There can be many prerequisites for base cracking:

Technological reasons

The foundation that broke for a technical reason was most likely incorrectly poured during the laying process. Another reason for the appearance of cracks can be improperly mounted formwork, deep freezing of concrete in the winter, insufficient amount of used reinforcement, and much more.

Operational reasons

If the foundation suddenly cracked due to operational reasons, most likely this was due to the superstructure of the building. But in some case, the bursting of the basement vault is explained by the lack of a drainage system around the house and an increase in the level of humidity in the basement.

Structural reasons

How to strengthen the base of a building

If you do not know how to strengthen the base of a building and what to do so that even hairline cracks do not appear on it, some useful tips are unlikely to be superfluous.

Often, to strengthen the base of the house, the injection method is used using synthetic resin or ordinary cement.

To implement this method, it is necessary to drill a hole in the body of the foundation, the diameter of which is about 30 mm and maintain a distance of about 0.5 m. The depth of the hole should be selected depending on the size of the protective layer. An injector is immersed in the resulting wells and the space is filled with a solution under pressure. If there is a need to identify weak-bearing soils under the base of the house, it is additionally necessary to cement the soil under the foundation.

Eliminating gaps in pile foundations

Strengthening pile foundations and preventing their cracking is often done by converting from a pile foundation to a strip one. To carry out such an operation, concrete lintels are installed. In some cases, such lintels must be made to the full height of the base of the structure. This makes it possible for the foreseeable future to equip a basement without unnecessary difficulties.

Eliminating gaps in tape bases

If the strip foundation is cracked, in order to repair it, you will need to apply a whole range of restoration methods. In this case, it will not be enough to seal the cracked area with cement mortar, since this step will not solve the problem. It will be more expedient to strengthen the base with bored piles, the soil - with a drainage system and the arrangement of a heat-insulating blind area.

Piles, installed under the sole of the base of the house in the form of a support, reliably keep the foundation tape from subsidence. As for drainage, if everything is done correctly, it will contribute to an increase in the depth of freezing of the soil and thereby prevent the base from sinking over time.

Cracking can also be avoided by screeding the tape masonry. This technology uses the introduction of two special crutches directly into the body of the base, which are connected to each other by means of a clamp. This design works both as a screed and as a shock-absorbing element. In this case, the crack can be repaired with concrete or reinforced with epoxy resin.

After the blind area, support or screed is installed, it is necessary to use a marker-marker (flag), which will fix the state of the cracked area. To do this, along the edges of the fault, you will need to attach a certain amount of epoxy resin, on which an ordinary wire is pulled. If, when the seasons change, the thread does not break, and the base of the house does not continue to sag, then the destructive process has been successfully prevented.

Elimination of plate break

If you need to close the gap in the slab foundation, you should be prepared for the dreary work ahead. The only good news is that this will only have to be done in an exceptional case, since the plates rarely crack. But if the rupture of the slab does occur, a complete or partial replacement of the base will be required.

Long-term practice clearly demonstrates the fact that it is not possible to stop the destruction of the slab. Therefore, you will have to dig under the slab, make reinforcement in those places where the split occurred, remove the damaged parts and re-fill the damaged area and mount pile or block supports.

Unfortunately, even such manipulations will not be able to give one hundred percent guarantee that the plate will not continue to collapse. Therefore, in some cases, it may be necessary to rebuild the house again.

Thus, it turns out that it is much easier to avoid the occurrence of base breaks than to deal with them.

Any violation of the technology for the construction of supporting structures is fraught with the opening of cracks. In 90% of cases, the reason is the foundation of the house (ground) or the foundation, which it is enough to strengthen using one of the technologies below.

If the crack on the wall surface is horizontal (encircling, local), the foundation has nothing to do with it. The reason often lies in the sagging of the jumpers or the rafter system. In the absence of puffs, the hanging rafters try to push the opposite walls apart.

There are several main reasons if the foundation has sagged, cracks have appeared in the house. The main ones are traditionally:

areas under the base, consisting of subsiding soils - rupture of the foundation tape, change in the geometry of the structure;
swelling forces - uneven loads tear the foundation, walls warp;
violation of construction technologies - low grade of concrete, loading of the foundation up to 70% strength, low coefficient of reinforcement, corrosion of reinforcement, winter concreting without heating.

If the foundation has lost its integrity, restoration is necessary; in other cases, it is enough to strengthen the base under the sole of the tape in separate areas. There are several technologies for this.

Attention! A crack is a "pointer" that makes it easier to find the boundaries of subsiding or swelling soils. This makes it easier for specialists to localize repair work.

There are inclined and vertical cracks with upward or downward divergence, most accurately indicating the nature of the deformation:

a vertical gap, diverging upward, in the middle part of the wall - swelling of this particular area;
the gap is vertical, the divergence from top to bottom - subsidence of soil in the middle of the house;
a similar defect with a downward divergence - swelling on both sides of the wall due to lateral freezing;
an inclined crack from the corner to the center of the facade - the backfill of the neighboring wall has subsided;
oblique crack from center to corner - the shrinkage funnel is directly below this crack;
cracks converging in the form of an arch - soil subsidence in the central part of the foundation tape.

A crack on the wall extending upward.

After determining the reason, in any case, you will have to bare the foundation with a trench close to the tape for carrying out measures to strengthen the soil, lay drainage, establish "bulls", make a holder and other work.

Soil strengthening

If the foundation has vertical movements on soils with a low design resistance to loads from the weight of the building (embankment, peat, dusty sand), it is necessary to strengthen the foundation according to the technology:

lifting the foundation with jacks - up to the design level in compliance with safety measures (partial or complete unloading with props), meaning the lifting of sagging parts;
drilling of pits - for immersion of injectors with a diameter of 20 - 40 mm;
filling of voids - with liquid glass (silicatization), cement laitance (cementation), synthetic resins (resinization) or hot bitumen (bitumenization).

These substances reduce water permeability, fix unstable soils, and increase the design resistance (bearing capacity) of the base. The disadvantage of this technique is the need to use professional equipment capable of pumping binders under a pressure of 5-10 atmospheres. Other methods are not available for an individual developer, they are used by restoration teams for architectural monuments.

Attention! These actions may not be enough, since if the foundation sagged in a separate area, this in 70% of cases means its destruction. Instead of costly demolition of the building, tape recovery methods are used.

Strengthening the foundation

There are several ways to strengthen the foundation tape, depending on the state of the reinforced concrete structure:

unloading - inserting beams into the load-bearing walls to support the masonry;
restoration of bearing capacity - drainage for drainage of ground, soil, surface water, re-laying, replacement, protection from mechanical destruction (weathering, corrosion);
increasing the bearing capacity - casings made of monolithic concrete, brickwork, reinforced concrete slabs;
hardening - epoxy, polymer resins, cement mortar, penetrating compounds are introduced into the drilled holes;
special methods - screw, pressed piles, "bulls" in the corners, injection of cement mortar into the masonry.

If the foundation has non-through cracks caused by weathering, the surface is plastered or tarked, covered or impregnated with penetrating mixtures. Tarketing is called pressure (0.4 - 0.6 MPa) spraying with cement milk with a minimum amount of quartz sand.

To strengthen the prefabricated foundation with a clip, the following technology is used:

exposing the tape - a trench along the wall to a depth just below the sole;
reinforcement - its own frame, by analogy with a strip foundation, installing rods in holes drilled in the foundation, connecting them with frame rods;
formwork - below the blind area or to the entire height of the basement part;
concreting is the standard laying of the mix.

After stripping, the upper part of the clips, towering above ground level, is protected from moisture by low tides.

Attention! In contrast to the underlying layer created during the construction of the foundation, nonmetallic materials under the broadening (cage) are tamped into the ground without laying geotextiles.

Reinforcing clip around the foundation.

When manufacturing reinforced concrete clips, the following points should be taken into account:

width - from 15 cm on each side for reinforced concrete, from 20 cm for concrete;
the thickness of the underlying layer - from 10 cm of crushed stone or sand;
anchoring with the existing tape - rods with a diameter of 20 mm to a depth of 12-25 cm, rod length 25-40 cm, step 1 - 1.5 m;
reinforcement of the clip - a mesh with a cell of 15 x 15 cm for the lower belt, 10 x 10 cm for the upper belt;
concrete - class B10 - B15.

When restoring brick strip foundations, it is necessary to remove the crumbled stone. When repairing reinforced concrete structures, remove the oxide film from the surface, increase the roughness with a notch.

If it is not possible to increase the bearing capacity of the soils under the foundation (the thickness of the loose layer is significant), the technology of reinforcing the underground structure with piles is used:

short driven ones - pipes with a diameter of 57 - 89 mm with a pointed tip made from their body (analogous to SHS, but without a blade) are driven in next to the foundation, embedded in the cage;
outboard screw - SHS are immersed along the perimeter, the building is raised, the heads are tied with a metal grillage, the house is lowered onto a new foundation (suitable for wooden houses);
"Bulls" - the method is used for subsidence of corners, screw piles are screwed obliquely from both sides of the corner, a beam (I-beam, channel) is welded onto their heads, on which the corner of the foundation rests.

The advantage of the technology is the unloading of the existing foundation. The piles are guaranteed to pass through unstable horizons and rest on a high-resistance bearing layer.

These measures are usually carried out in a complex, since with the subsidence of individual sections, the integrity of a monolithic or prefabricated structure is violated. For example, if the foundation partially rests on subsiding soil, the foundation is first strengthened, after which the reinforced cage is poured. When using screw piles, there is no need to strengthen the foundation, however, after raising the foundation to the design level, the voids formed under it must be filled with concrete or cement mortar.

Another option for strengthening the foundation with piles.

When the cage is deepened by 0.7 or more meters, standard thermal insulation measures are taken. This is necessary to reduce the pulling forces during swelling:

the vertical surface of the cage with high-density EPSPS foam + horizontal thermal insulation of the blind area 0.6 - 1.2 m wide at a depth of 0.3 - 0.4 m;
sand, crushed stone of the sinuses of the trench + at the level of the sole of the clip;
or wrinkle-sliding thermal insulation - rigidly fixed on the vertical surface of the EPPS cage, polyethylene film (attached only in the upper part), PSB-S expanded polystyrene without attachment to the cage (pressed against the film with backfill material).

In some cases, it is possible to sufficiently strengthen the foundation in certain areas and strengthen the foundation in one of the indicated ways, but sometimes this may not be enough either.

There are a lot of reasons leading to the appearance of cracks in brick houses. This is unforeseen seismic activity, and mechanical damage, and mistakes made during construction. For example, cracks can occur due to incorrect strapping of the brickwork of the load-bearing walls of the house. What to do if a crack in the wall of a brick house has already appeared? In any case, the house will need both superficial, cosmetic and thorough repairs to eliminate the causes of damage if they appeared due to a violation of construction technology. If the base 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 for which 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 can be erected on a specific type of soil) and natural shifts.
Subsidence and further cracking of the foundation due to regular erosion of groundwater or poorly distributed load, which gives a bias by one point.
Freezing of the foundation and further destruction after the next change in temperature.
Heavy load on the brickwork. Under such circumstances, cracks appear not only on the walls, but also on the pillars. A characteristic feature of cracks that have appeared due to excessive pressure is vertical direction and closeness.
Violation of the pouring technology at the stage of building the foundation of the house, poor-quality materials and their incomplete drying.

Cracking

Strengthening the foundation

Serious structural integrity issues involve a total foundation overhaul:

Strengthening the foundation of the house

First of all, along the wall with a crack to the level of the base horizon, you need to make a deep trench. The width of the trench should not be greater than the thickness of the foundation.
After that, the crack needs to be slightly widened, cleaned of weakly fortified stones and cement that adheres them.
The extended and cleaned section is drilled for the reinforcement horizontally and vertically. Reinforcement rods of suitable size must be intertwined with anchors and secured by welding. The distance between the rods depends on how wide the crack needs to be repaired.... This reinforcement is made as a further connection with the skeleton of the new reinforcing base.
Now you can make the formwork and pour concrete into it. In order to prevent new cracks, all work with the base is carried out only after it dries.... You can also sprinkle it with water occasionally so that it hardens evenly.

The solution will dry for a very long time - at least a month, only after this time you can 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, you can proceed to the direct elimination of defects.

Elimination of defects

Reconstruction of a brick wall

After strengthening the foundation, cosmetic filling of cracks in the brick walls is performed... 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 piece of paper does not break, you can start restoring them.

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

Sealing 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, you need to completely disassemble the entire area with a crack, starting with the top rows. All unstable and crumbling bricks must be replaced with new ones. When laying new brickwork, they need to be additionally reinforced. If a rupture occurs in a brick wall assembly, 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 disassemble the wall, the filling of cracks in the brick walls is carried out by throwing crushed stone with cement mortar into large crevices and strengthening with a metal strip fixed with anchors.

a - installation of a brick castle; b - brick castle with an anchor; reinforcement with plates with tension bolts (c - flat wall; d - wall corner); e - repair of a through crack with steel staples; e - repair in the place of support of the floor slab; g - strengthening of the cracked pier. 1- brick wall; 2- crack; 3 - brick castle; 4 - cement mortar; 5 - tie bolt; 6 - channel (anchor); 7 - steel plate; 8 - staples (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 reinforcement of the wall. Steel rods are installed along the perimeter of the house from the outside and the inside. The result is a kind of powerful steel belt that encompasses the entire building.

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

If the crack is too deep, you can also use the cement injection method: for this, 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 construction syringe, the solution is injected into the crack, filling it with itself.

Injection method

In addition, some builders use polyurethane foam to fill large cracks.... To do this, it is blown into the depth of the crack, dries and is fixed on the outside with cement.

Sometimes cracks and breaks are so catastrophic that the wall cracks through and through. In such cases, it is also necessary to reinforce the wall from the inside. To do this, you need to deeply moisten the gap, fill the gap formed with cement and crushed stone and install metal linings fixed with anchors. After the solution has dried, you can start finishing the inside of the cracked wall.

So, repairing cracks in brick walls is an important and difficult task that requires large physical and material costs. Nevertheless, if such defects are not repaired in time, the house will soon simply be warped or deformed irrevocably.

If a crack appears on the wall in your apartment, then the main thing is not to panic. First you need to understand how dangerous it is, and then ask yourself the questions: "how to patch up the cracks in the wall of the apartment?" or "who will pay for the repair of cracks in the wall in the apartment?" You can determine the degree of danger by the size of the formed depression.

If it is less than one millimeter, then most likely there is nothing wrong. For new buildings, within five years, this is normal. The house just shrinks.

If, on the contrary, the building is too "old", then this may indicate that it is dilapidated, worn out, and it is time to assign it the status of emergency. In general, the reasons can be very diverse.

Crack in the wall in the apartment. What to do and who is to blame?

Any crack that appears on the wall in the apartment is an alarming symptomatology, which indicates the stress state of the enclosing structures. Before asking the question: "how to patch up cracks in the wall of an apartment?" you need to understand the reasons for their appearance.

The reasons for this may be different, but they are usually associated with the deformation of the foundation. Such damage reduces the structural reliability of the building, as well as its operational properties. In order to understand the cause, it is necessary to determine the type of crack, its direction, opening width, shape.

Crack direction:

Vertical crack in the apartment on the wall;
Inclined crack in the apartment on the wall;
Horizontal crack on the wall in the apartment.

By outline:

Curvilinear;
Closed;
Straight.

Depth:

Surface;
Through.

Reasons for the appearance:

Shrinkage of the building;
Deformation of the foundation;
Temperature;
Due to the deterioration of the building;
Weathered walls.

For example, with uneven soil compression, inclined cracks appear. There may be various reasons for this:

Superstructures or extensions can increase the load on the base, resulting in excess compressive stress and foundation settlement. In this case, inclined cracks may appear on the walls, opening upwards;
If you dig a pit too close to an existing building, then the building can be either near the slope, or on it. In this case, ground shifts and the appearance of inclined cracks in the wall from the side of the pit cannot be avoided.

Vertical cracks can occur if:

Freezing of soils, followed by thawing, can force the building to "walk" and cause cracks, both inclined and vertical;
Overloading the walls due to the superstructure can lead to crushing of the masonry. The result is very dangerous vertical cracks that can destroy walls.

Horizontal cracks are serious:

The reasons can be very different, for example, such a state of affairs can be caused by such mistakes of the developer as a too heavy roof in combination with an incorrect construction of the building.
Overloading of walls from one side.

A crack appeared on the wall in the apartment. What to do?

How dangerous this or that crack can be eloquently indicated not only by its location and direction, but also by its behavior. Before repairing a crack in the wall of an apartment, it is worth examining its nature. If it is rapidly increasing in width and depth, then this is a very dangerous sign. It is necessary to sound the alarm as soon as possible and contact specialists. If a crack appears in the wall in the apartment, when asked "what to do?" experts in the field of construction can give. It is best to contact them, as well as the housing inspectorate. You may have to draw up an act in which it will be clearly indicated who is to blame, as well as who is obliged to take on financial obligations to eliminate deficiencies. For example, the neighbors from above, violating all the redevelopment rules, removed the load-bearing wall, and your wall cracked in your apartment, where to go? It is clear that it is not you who should pay for the repair of cracks in the wall in the apartment. By the way, with sufficiently distinct indentations, self-sealing of cracks in the wall of an apartment is highly undesirable. After all, in this way you can disguise a serious problem, which can have extremely unfavorable long-term consequences.

Cracks in the wall of the apartment, where to go?

If there are serious cracks in the wall of the apartment, where to go, no matter how in the housing and communal services. Experts must diagnose the formed deepening and eliminate the deficiencies. If this measure, for some reason, turned out to be insufficient, then the owner has the right to appeal to the interdepartmental commission to recognize the premises as emergency. The commission must draw up an expert opinion, which stipulates the further possibility or impossibility of using the premises. Now, in the case of a deep crack in the wall of the apartment, you already know where to go. And what to do if you can see with the naked eye that there is nothing serious. How to repair cracks in the wall of an apartment at home without assistance?

If the wall in the apartment is cracked, where to go if the appeal to housing and communal services does not bring results?

Of course, the repair of cracks in the wall in the apartment should be carried out by housing and communal services employees, and in the event of such problems, citizens, first of all, turn to them. But what if such calls are ineffective and repairs are postponed under various pretexts. In this case, it is worth sending your just indignation to the State Housing Inspection. There they will consider the complaint and influence the management company. If this did not work, then you can go to the prosecutor's office or court. But as a rule, it does not reach this stage, since the problem is solved earlier.

We figure out how to repair cracks in the wall of an apartment at home on our own

If you had a nightmare in which you started repairing cracks in the wall in an apartment, then wake up and carefully examine the room in which you live. If in reality everything is in order, then you urgently need to type in a search engine: the dream book is a crack in the wall of the apartment.

And if in reality there is a crack, then for a start it is important to understand how dangerous it is. To assess the full degree of danger, it is necessary to apply a palm-wide mark of plaster across the crack. Then you will need to observe the mark for a month. If nothing has cracked on top of the gypsum, then the crack is stable enough to be repaired.

But first you need to clear the problem area down to the slab or brick itself, then wipe it with a damp cloth and let it dry thoroughly. It should be borne in mind that sealing cracks near electrical outlets in the walls of an apartment requires special care. Make sure the wiring is not damaged. Relocate the electrical outlet if necessary. By the way, before repairing problematic cracked areas near electrical outlets, you must definitely de-energize the room. Do not forget about alternative lighting, because it can get dark before you have time to finish the work.

How to repair a crack in a wall in an apartment?

It all depends on the size of the resulting cracked cavity. If the indentations are very small, less than a millimeter, then you can get by with a primer and putty. If a little more, up to three to five millimeters, then you will also need a cement mortar. The sealant is also a wonderful tool, it is injected into the recess using a special pistol. The best option for cracked problem areas is fiberglass. It is glued to the wall with a special glue on a primed dry base, then the finishing putty is used. Fiberglass is good because it reinforces the surface. If the crack is not stable and not dangerous, then, in principle, sealing cracks in the wall of an apartment is not particularly difficult.

The main thing here is to learn one rule: the earlier you start working on the problem, the faster and with the best result it will be resolved.

By the way, these same problems are easily detected at the moment of removing the old wallpaper. It was already mentioned above which material is better to seal up cracks, but it was not said that the method of repair largely depends on the material of the walls.

Brick wall

In order to remove a crack in a brick wall, it must be cleaned, deepened and expanded at an angle of forty-five degrees. Then prime. A sealant is well suited for sealing here, since when it dries it acquires a slightly rubbery consistency. Place the sealant in the seam and remove the excess with a spatula. You can use cement mortar instead of sealant. Before placing it in the gap, it must be moistened with water.

Plasterboard wall

Although drywall is considered a versatile material, cracks can also appear on it during operation. The drywall sheets themselves are just material, not construction. They are mounted in the desired design position using a frame or glue. Problems arise, as a rule, due to the base, which was incorrectly installed or due to a defect in the sheets themselves.

If the builders made mistakes when installing the frame, then cracks can go along the entire plasterboard wall. This problem can be eliminated only after dismantling several sheets or even a frame.

If the crack is not very large and not related to installation, then you can try to seal it with putty.

Concrete wall

Cracks in such a wall are not uncommon. PVA glue is perfect for sealing cracks in a concrete wall. It must be applied to the depth of the crack. Then fill the cavity with cement mortar and smooth it with a spatula.

If the gap is too wide, then you need to use an additional reinforcing mesh.

What to do if the ceramic tile wall is cracked?

Not necessarily, when the house shrinks, the walls in the rooms will crack. After all, they can crack in the bathroom or toilet, that is, where there is ceramic tile. What to do in such cases?

We remove the cracked tiles. To do this, we break it into small parts with a heavy metal tool, a hammer with a chisel or a perforator with a lance;
Next, remove all fragments and clean up the surface. After that, you need to vacuum the area cleared of tiles and repair the crack in the wall using the appropriate method described above;
Then, we put the new tiles on the glue using the spacer crosses.

The crack in the apartment is not yet a reason for panic. The main thing here is not to get lost, but to start acting. Either independently, or, if there is no self-confidence, with the help of specialists. Moreover, all this can be solved. It is worse when a crack happens in a relationship with loved ones. Indeed, according to the dream book, a crack in the wall of an apartment is not dreamed of in vain. This means that some important part of your life is bursting at the seams. This is already a reason to think about your life.

And you already know how to repair cracks in the wall of an apartment. So there is nothing to be afraid of. Everything will work out for you.

The content of the article:

Cracks in the walls are a diagnostic sign of a change in the stress state of the enclosing structures. The reasons for the appearance of these shortcomings can be very different, but their overwhelming number is associated with deformations of the foundations that exceed the maximum permissible values for load-bearing walls. Such damage can reduce the structural reliability of the building and its performance. If cracks are found in the walls, they are examined, the nature, place and cause of deformation is established. Based on these data, planning and implementation of the necessary technical measures are carried out.

Types and causes of cracks in the walls

Wall cracks can be classified by dividing them into groups:

Due to: shrinkage, deformation, temperature, structural, and also caused by wear or weathering of walls.
Destruction: cut, crush and rupture.
Directional: oblique, vertical and horizontal.
By outline: curved, straight and closed (not capturing the edges of the walls).
By depth: through and surface cracks.
According to the degree of risk: dangerous and not dangerous.
Time: stable and unstable cracks.
By the size of the opening: large - more than 1 mm, small - up to 0.3 mm, hairy - up to 0.1 mm, developed - up to 0.5 mm.

The main causes of wall cracks can be:

Uneven soil compression... At the same time, the cracks on the walls are inclined and reach their edges. By the size of the opening of cracks and their direction, one can determine the type of settlement and deformation of the building, as well as find the place of the cause of the defect. In addition, precipitation can occur from uneven loading on foundations, soil leakage into old pipes, damage during construction, and for other reasons.
The presence of add-ons or add-ons... They cause a change in the state of the foundation: an additional compressive stress appears in the ground under the building, as a result of which the foundation settles. In this case, the adjoining walls can have inclined cracks in the direction "down", and opening - "up". The same phenomenon often occurs when a partial superstructure occurs along the length of the building.
Uneven load on the foundation along the length of the building... Longitudinal walls of buildings often have glazed areas of considerable size, passing into blank parts of aboveground structures. All of them create different loads on the foundation, making its settlement uneven. With a high floor load on the longitudinal internal walls, settlements can also occur. In this case, cracks appear in the corners of the transverse walls.
Construction of a pit near an existing building... In this case, the building is located near the slope or on it. Soil displacements cover the area of the foundation, and oblique cracks appear in the walls from the side of the pit. Sometimes the slope of the adjoining wall is associated with the threat of its collapse.
Interaction of adjacent foundations... In this case, the stressed sections of the foundations are mutually superimposed and increase the local compression of the soil. They have a tilt to each other, provided that buildings are erected at the same time, if buildings are being built at different times, the tilt occurs towards the building that was erected later. An existing building on piles, for example, can get settlement and inclined cracks in the walls when a new building is located close to it on a natural foundation.
Impact of surface loads... They can arise from storage near walls of industrial raw materials, building materials or products. From the impact of such loads, soil compression and foundation settlement appear, causing cracks.
Dynamic influences... These include the movement of loaded vehicles, pile driving, the operation of compressors and hammers in production shops, etc. Such influences affect the soil of the foundations and can lead to the formation of cracks in the aboveground structures. At the same time, sandy soils are compacted, and clayey soils soften. As a result of such processes, foundation settling occurs.
Freezing of soils and their thawing... Freezing of foundations can cause the foundations to be lifted by heaving forces. This process is especially dangerous for buildings under construction, when their walls are lightweight and have low bending stiffness. The walls on which all other floors need to be erected receive numerous cracks, which negatively affects the further production of work. The settlement of foundations during thawing of the soil is greater than during its freezing, while the walls may receive new cracks. The presence of basements often aggravates the situation: it is possible for the outer walls to separate from the transverse partitions. In this case, cracks occur along the entire height of the structures and can cause a violation of their stability.
Thermal deformations... They can cause cracks if the building is long and free of expansion joints. Damage in this case occurs in the middle of the structure, cracks have a vertical direction.
Shrinkage deformations... Cracks arising from their impact usually appear in the corners of wall openings of large-panel buildings and have a radial direction. Such damage is not dangerous. On plastered walls, small closed, chaotically located or oriented cracks sometimes appear that do not reach the corners. They are caused by the shrinkage of the high-fat solution.
Overloading the walls... It leads to crushing of the masonry and is accompanied by the appearance of cracks in the supporting structures, pillars and walls. In this case, the cracks are closed and have a vertical direction. They are the initial sign of wall collapse and are extremely dangerous. Local deformations during overloading of structures of old buildings are manifested by cracks in the places of supports of beams and trusses.
Material wear... Periodic changes in temperature and humidity affect the integrity of brick walls. Due to weathering, small cracks may appear on them over time. They are shallow and are not dangerous for massive structures.

In addition to the above reasons, cracks can appear at the junction of old and new walls, depend on the sequence of masonry, etc. Such cracks are straightforward, open along their entire height and are not dangerous. Sometimes cracks may also appear at the joints of the partitions and the ceiling. They indicate beams deflection, floor settlement, or wall material shrinkage.

Cracks in the wall should be examined carefully before repairing them. During visual inspection of cracks, the depth of their opening, age, location and direction are determined. When wall damage appears at different times and for various reasons, their analysis becomes much more complicated.

For him, you need to have documentation on the history of design, engineering geology, operation of the structure, the location of underground communications and a working project. For a visual representation of the results of the survey, the cracks are indicated on the drawings of the internal walls, facades, then they are numbered indicating the beginning of their opening at a given moment in time.

Wall crack elimination technology

After diagnosing wall cracks and eliminating the causes of their appearance, sealing problem areas can be carried out in various ways.

Sealing stable cracks in the wall

Shallow cracks can be repaired by plastering with mortar. When mixing, cement putty or PVA glue should be added to it. Plastering must be carried out on a previously prepared area of the defective surface. To do this, before eliminating the crack in the wall, the problem area and the area adjacent to it must be cleaned of destroyed fragments and dust, primed, and a special reinforcing tape must be applied to the gap.

Medium-sized cracks are repaired with a metal mesh. In this case, the destroyed wall covering must be removed, and the resulting solid base must be primed. Then, along the crack, drill holes in 30 cm increments for mounting the dowels, insert them and fix the mesh with screws equipped with wide washers.

The size of the mesh of the metal mesh is 5x5 cm. If several strips of mesh are to be applied to a large emergency area, they should overlap at least 10 cm. The plaster should be applied to the wall through the mesh. After that, the surface should be slightly leveled, wait until it is completely dry and apply a finishing layer of plaster.

It is possible to effectively eliminate cracks in the walls with polyurethane foam. During polymerization, it somewhat increases in volume, so its dried excess must be cut off with a knife, and then the problem area should be covered with any suitable finishing material: plaster, paint, etc.

Elimination of unstable cracks in the walls

It is not difficult to identify a progressive crack. This requires strips of paper to be pasted in the middle, bottom, and top across the crack. If after a while the strips break, you will need to look for and eliminate the causes of the defect.

It is possible to stop the development of large cracks with significant opening by installing a channel (anchor) or metal plates. The work is done in this way:

First, it is necessary to knock down the plaster from the emergency section of the wall, focusing on the length of the selected plate. If it is 1 m, then the surface should be cleaned 50 cm on each side of the crack. The depth of the resulting groove should be equal to the thickness of the plate.
Its fastening is carried out, depending on the material and wall thickness, by means of dowels or long bolts. For the latter option, through drilling of the structure is performed.
The crack and grooves should be cleaned and filled with foam, and then the anchor should be inserted into the recess and secured with fasteners. The screed system is recommended to be installed in three places of the problem area: across the end and beginning of the crack, as well as in its middle. After that, you need to fix the reinforcing material in the emergency area and perform plastering.

A similar operation can be performed using staples instead of plates:

They can be made from fittings. After selecting the rods of the required length, their ends should be bent at a right angle by 15-20 cm.
Then, grooves must be made across the crack in several places so that the staples sit in them deeper than the level of the existing wall surface. For example, with a reinforcement diameter of 10 mm, the depth of the grooves should be 13-15 mm.
The ends of the staples must be inserted into the pre-drilled holes. Plugging of staples is excluded, as this process can lead to expansion of the crack.
After installing the required number of brackets, you need to follow the standard procedure: surface cleaning, priming, reinforcement and plaster.

How to remove cracks in a drywall wall

Such coatings are characterized by small cracks. Defects in the form of a cobweb indicate that when decorating the walls, an excessively large layer of gypsum putty was applied to the gypsum board sheets or the thermal regime was violated when it dries with the use of heaters and hair dryers. Vertical or horizontal cracks usually occur at the joints of the sheets. The sources of the appearance of such defects may be the weakening of the metal frame of the wall or the absence of a reinforcing tape at the seams of the gypsum board.

You can get rid of the "cobweb" only by removing the damaged layer and applying a new one, its thickness should not exceed 2 mm. If you need to apply another layer, you need to wait until the previous one dries.

When the frame is weakened, sealing cracks in the gypsum plasterboard wall is very problematic. And with reliable fastening of the coating, its defects can be easily eliminated:

Cracks need to be cut at a 45-degree angle with a sharp knife.
The resulting grooves should be filled with plaster mix.
Apply a serpentine reinforcing tape on top of the closed crack, then level the surface with a putty and sand with an abrasive mesh.

How to repair wall cracks in plaster

Before covering the cracks in the wall, peeling plaster must be completely removed, and then primed and re-coated. Before doing this work, you should read the instructions on the packaging of the material. It indicates the mixing ratio and the recommended layer thickness.

You can hide the existing cracks in the plaster with the help of fiberglass. It will resist the expansion of old cracks and the formation of new ones. Before starting work, deep recesses should be repaired with gypsum plaster and a penetrating primer should be applied to the wall.

How to remove cracks in the walls of log cabins

Cracks in the walls of wooden buildings arise from the influence of moisture in the inner layers of a log or timber. The formation of such cracks can be minimized by means of a compensation recess, which is cut along the entire length of the log to a depth of no more than 1/5 of its diameter.

The formation of large cracks in old wooden buildings is not a cause for panic. These defects do not pose a danger and do not at all affect the performance of the walls. An example of this is the cracked log cabins erected in remote villages decades ago.

Therefore, the repair of cracks in the walls of log cabins is only aesthetic in nature. You can use a variety of materials for this, but none of them differ in durability.

The sealant does not provide long-term adhesion to wood, cracks in it will have to be repaired every 2 years, applying new layers on top of the old ones. Wood, absorbing and releasing moisture depending on the season, periodically changes its volume. For this reason, any sealing material will flake off.

The optimal solution for filling cracks in timber or logs is to caulk the cracks with linen hemp braids or moss.

Preventing the appearance of cracks in the wall

As mentioned above, the main reasons for the appearance of dangerous cracks are the deformations of the foundations. Therefore, when designing them, it is necessary to comply with a number of requirements:

Columnar foundations located in heaving soils must be fastened with lower straps or grillages.
In houses with basements or technical basements, it is better to make recessed walls in a monolithic design. At the same time, it is not recommended to connect them with reinforcement into an integral structure with a slab foundation.
The foundations of heaving soils should not freeze under the slab foundations when the box is built at home.
The broadening of the drilling supports should be located below the freezing level of heaving soils.

To prevent the appearance of cracks, the following measures can be applied:

Dismantling of emergency walls and installation of new block or brickwork;
Manufacturing of a monolithic concrete reinforcing belt;
Replacement or strengthening of supports;
Restoration of the blind area;
Increasing the length of the load-bearing walls and strengthening the walls.

How to remove cracks in the walls - watch the video:

Most of the cracks appearing on the walls of houses are caused by violations of technical conditions, rules, building codes, lack of supervision over their observance or low qualifications of performers. Therefore, when erecting buildings, it is important to avoid all this. Good luck!