Cracks in the wall.

[CNXexpat]

1 hour ago, thailand49 said:

From my experience your house was built on a piece of land below grade they came in and dump sand etc to build the height up but started building  before the fill had completely settle so now you have settlement. This is happening on the Darkside with many of the townhouses being build quickly and cheaply or should I say way overpriced.

 

Then you add the cheap material being used not to mentioned the cheap unskilled labor. The best solution I've found patching cracks is first get a blade or screwdriver and scrape and enlarge the cracks then get yourself a can around 300 baht of the foam insulation inject it into the cracks the foam will expand this will provide better enforcement than what has been suggested in my opinion. Once dry take a knife and trim off the excess. Then sand smooth, clean, prime and paint.

No, my house was built on a very stable ground. But generally you are right. 

[mogandave]

I believe cracks such as this are common because the building “frame” is separate from the walls and as such they settle at different rates. As long as the cracks are in the walls or between the frame and the wall there is no real issue. 
 

Were it my home I would scrape out the cracks and fill it with acrylic sealant. Fill the cracks,  wipe it smooth with a wet sponge. 
 

I would recommend not using acrylic filler or wall putty for cracks, as it dries hard and will crack again. It is cheaper than sealant, it’s easier to work with and it’s great for small holes, but it’s not very good for cracks. 
 

I like the TOA product and it paints over very well. 
 

 

Edited November 28, 2019 by mogandave
G

[thailand49]

2 hours ago, CNXexpat said:

No, my house was built on a very stable ground. But generally you are right. 

The cracks are separations you showed are indication of settlement which is not unusual it is so slow can't be detected by the naked eye so saying "NO" so quickly unless you know exactly the land prior to being built.  I seen land in this manner once the sand has been placed then packed down with a traitor and allow to sit through a season of rain.

If you patch and seal and it happens again you might be looking at a larger problem. Good luck only time will tell. Earthquake cracks do not show up in this manner. 

Edited November 28, 2019 by thailand49

[jojothai]

On 11/28/2019 at 8:27 AM, Momofarang said:

When I have this sort of issue I prefer to keep the building under observation for a few years before filling the cracks. I once had an issue of that sort on a new house and made a claim to the mandatory building malpractice insurance. The expert who came placed gauges on the crack and monitored for a few months before settling the claim. Interestingly the cracks seemed to open and close with the seasons.

Cracks will open and close with seasons. When the weather is hottest concrete expands and should close the cracks. They open up again when it gets colder and concrete shrinks a little.

As stated in many posts, the cracks do not look any problem. You should keep a watch that they do not start to increase in size, or reoccur if you fill them. You should fill them to prevent moisture ingress. If it gets to reinforcing in the concrete it can become more of an issue.

You can measure relative size of the cracks by yourself. Get a good image of a visual crack guage and print on a high quality printer. Its good enough for what you would need. You only need to judge if the crack starts increasing in size.

 

[CNXexpat]

18 hours ago, mogandave said:

I believe cracks such as this are common because the building “frame” is separate from the walls and as such they settle at different rates. As long as the cracks are in the walls or between the frame and the wall there is no real issue. 
 

Were it my home I would scrape out the cracks and fill it with acrylic sealant. Fill the cracks,  wipe it smooth with a wet sponge. 
 

I would recommend not using acrylic filler or wall putty for cracks, as it dries hard and will crack again. It is cheaper than sealant, it’s easier to work with and it’s great for small holes, but it’s not very good for cracks. 
 

I like the TOA product and it paints over very well. 
 

 

It´s not similar to the Wall Putty? So I will change it at Global. Thanks for your advice.

Edited November 29, 2019 by CNXexpat

[sandyf]

On 11/26/2019 at 3:03 PM, CharlieH said:

From the images it would appear to be just the render coat that has split, therefore very minor and the wall putty would be adequate, (imho)

I would agree. Thai houses are normally built on a pillar arrangement with blocks in between and then rendered over both inside and out.

The rendering over the blocks dries quicker than that over the concrete and differential shrinkage cracks appear.

The cracks should be filled and if they reappear there could be an on going problem from movement.

You need to bear in mind the filler may also shrink so it may need a few times. I find the best filler for small cracks is a few coats of paint that has gone a bit thick.

[sandyf]

19 hours ago, mogandave said:

I believe cracks such as this are common because the building “frame” is separate from the walls and as such they settle at different rates.

 

This is not true, the walls are tied to the concrete frame. Zig zag cracks in the wall are fairly common, this is where one part of the frame has moved with respect to another and the blocks have started to separate, something completely different.

On the exterior walls the rendering is flush with the frame and you will notice that it is normal practice to have a rounded groove in the rendering alongside the frame. This is to reduce the thickness of rendering and lower the risk of cracking.

Internally the frame is normally proud of the rendering so the same technique cannot be applied and cracks in the corners are almost inevitable.

[sandyf]

Further to my previous post regarding the walls being tied, in the photo you can clearly see pairs of ties in the pillars.

I have no cracks externally as the bricks were shaped over the frame but quite a few shrinkage cracks in the internal corners. Also a few in the bathroom tiles as they did the tiling before the concrete had dried properly.

[mogandave]

18 hours ago, sandyf said:

Further to my previous post regarding the walls being tied, in the photo you can clearly see pairs of ties in the pillars.

I have no cracks externally as the bricks were shaped over the frame but quite a few shrinkage cracks in the internal corners. Also a few in the bathroom tiles as they did the tiling before the concrete had dried properly.

 

I may be wrong, but it looks to me like the walls are just mortared to the frame, not weight bearing, and not an integral part of the structure.
 

To be clear, there is nothing wrong with this type of construction, but it is what it is.

 

Concrete doesn’t dry, it cures.

 

[Don Mega]

I'd just leave the cracks and monitor them, if they get worse I'd be looking to underpin the house.

[mogandave]

21 hours ago, CNXexpat said:

It´s not similar to the Wall Putty? So I will change it at Global. Thanks for your advice.

it’s similar in that both are used for patching walls, but putty dries hard and sands nicely, and sealant dries somewhat rubbery and does not sand well. Both hold paint well, and both shrink. Putty generally takes an extra coat of paint to seal well if you’re painting gloss. Best to have and use both.

Also, for bigger holes and repairs mortar is best as it’s easy to work, cures completely and does not shrink.

[mogandave]

11 minutes ago, Don Mega said:

I'd just leave the cracks and monitor them, if they get worse I'd be looking to underpin the house.

Absolutely, the cracks will be afraid to get worse!

 

[jany123]

19 hours ago, sandyf said:

Further to my previous post regarding the walls being tied, in the photo you can clearly see pairs of ties in the pillars.

I have no cracks externally as the bricks were shaped over the frame but quite a few shrinkage cracks in the internal corners. Also a few in the bathroom tiles as they did the tiling before the concrete had dried properly.

Lordy Lordy.... double brick! You must be one fancy falang.

[Morakot]

19 hours ago, sandyf said:

 

A sensible build. Love the way you hide the frame (and conduits) and have a continuous outer wall. Well done!

[CNXexpat]

1 hour ago, mogandave said:

Best to have and use both

How to use both to fill the cracks?

[sandyf]

4 hours ago, mogandave said:

I may be wrong, but it looks to me like the walls are just mortared to the frame, not weight bearing, and not an integral part of the structure.
 

To be clear, there is nothing wrong with this type of construction, but it is what it is.

 

Concrete doesn’t dry, it cures.

 

Nit picking for the sake of it. I never said the walls were load bearing, someone else said the walls were separate from the frame,which is not the case.

As for the concrete, that is really pedantic, not everyone knows it is a chemical reaction, just that it changes from a damp appearance to that that looks dry.

The term "cure" is only used by those trying to be superior. I worked as a contractor for Marshalls for 7 years and nobody ever used the term, product was quarantined for a week to "set", "go off", "harden" or "dry out".

[sandyf]

4 hours ago, Morakot said:

 

A sensible build. Love the way you hide the frame (and conduits) and have a continuous outer wall. Well done!

Thanks, also internally the external walls are flush with only 2 pillars visible in the bedrooms.

The windows are not very big and with the 10 inch walls temperature inside is relatively cool.

It was a bit of a job getting a Thai builder to take it on and I did a lot of the finishing off myself including a European kitchen. All told came to about a million baht and just about 10 year old now. never been a problem.

 

[CharlieH]

over analyzing - off topic posts removed.