Cracks In Cement Walls

[jaideeguy]

This dry spell and poor foundation is causing more and more cracks on my cement walls. I can fill temporarily with acrylic caulk and filler, but the cracks keep expanding and lengthening. My house was 2 yr old when i bought it 10 yrs ago and crackless, but now have too many unsightly cracks. Walls are double 4inch blocks with cavity and some cracks can be seen from inside and out following the same route, mostly radiating from windows and doorways.

The only solutions that come to my mind are to continue to fill with acrylic filler and repaint....using a standard color, preferably white for the exterior.

For the interior??? fill with acrylic and wallpaper??

any other ideas???

[Gary A]

Unfortunately I think you are stuck with the cracks. My wife fought them for a year or so and has just given up. They were filled with plaster, acrylic caulk and even silicone rubber caulk. It looks good for a couple months then it looks as bad as ever. She is of the opinion that if we want to get rid of the cracks we will need to build a new house.

[rgs2001uk]

You have already answered your own question with your remark about poor foundations.

What would be of more concern to me is your remark about the cracks radiating from windows and doorways.

Its a sign your 12 year old house is slowly sinking.

[jaideeguy]

Sinking in one corner for sure, as wife ran the drain from the laundry to water some bamboo in that cornerand can see the effects of that corner sinking.

Building on the rice paddies of LOS presents a whole basket of problems. Even if the housepad was raised 1mtr and rolled flat and proper ground beams were laid, the ground under still moves.

I built a small bungalow the above [proper] way and still cracks. Foundation beams were laid with steel rebar and 1 mtr deep, and in a year there were cracks following posts.....meaning the ground beams broke.

next house will have pilings driven into the soil for ?? mtrs and foundation beams tied to pilings.

But that still doesn't solve my immediate problem of existing and growing cracks and how best to hide them??

[Donnyboy]

we had some hairline cracks as well that started to widen outside our kitchen

the developer ws called in and they fixed the problem by smashing/removing all the red bricks under all the rendering cement and redoing it

that was 2 years ago and nothing since, hopefully our land has settled out now

[trogers]

The sinking problem arises from using the same building technology of traditional timber frame houses to construct the concrete structure and brick homes. The latter impose much more dead weight on the soft soil, and thus sink.

[jaideeguy]

"The latter impose much more dead weight on the soft soil, and thus sink. "

But......the cracks seem to come on much faster and friequent during this dry season when the clay soil is rock hard. I think it has to do with contraction and expansion of soil.

but, HOW TO HIDE IT?? inside and outside??

[trogers]

"The latter impose much more dead weight on the soft soil, and thus sink. "

But......the cracks seem to come on much faster and friequent during this dry season when the clay soil is rock hard. I think it has to do with contraction and expansion of soil.

but, HOW TO HIDE IT?? inside and outside??

Wet soil consolidate more than dry or firm soil due to dead load exerting pressure on to the soil and squeezing out the water trapped in it. The soil loses more water in the dry season due to fall in hydrostatic pressure from low water table. Soil may expand a little when the rainy season comes, but will not lift the structure back up to original condition.

If cracks are occurring only in architectural elements ( and not structural), I recommend carrying out repairs at the peak of the dry season (mid-late April) and fill the cracks with some elastic compound (Google Sika Thailand) and then repaint over. Cracks should be repair where visible, both inside and outside.

Edited February 20, 2010 by trogers

[Beardog]

Our house settled & created sets of cracks in the walls. My girls dad was up here & told us the easiest & best way was to take a chisel & open the gap wider & fill with mortar using a finishing trowel. If you work neatly you can blend in the repair to look decent(not 100% perfect but definitely passable. I saw her dads repair & was a lot better than Bosni's patch repair & caulking. The mortor holds the cement without stretching. You have to make sure the house has fully settled or it will crack again till it is settled.

[thaibkk]

my 2 cents, i live in gated comunity and they still are building new houses all over (very annoying)

Nothing, but than nothing that is developped or produced in thailand is ment to last very long

our new house also has cracks and most of all other houses

they only give 1 year warranty (1o or more in my home country)

if you see how those poor (really poor) bastards make the homes for a salary of 100-200 baht per day

and the owner of the whole village / salesperson asking 6-20 million baht per house

than you know why they keep building and building, pure profit

problems, cracks or whatever... after 1 year it is on your money anyway

[rgs2001uk]

"The latter impose much more dead weight on the soft soil, and thus sink. "

But......the cracks seem to come on much faster and friequent during this dry season when the clay soil is rock hard. I think it has to do with contraction and expansion of soil.

but, HOW TO HIDE IT?? inside and outside??

I dont have time for a physics lesson, however you are dealing with kinetic energy.

The foundations dont support the weight of the house, in the rainy season the soil is wet and offers no resistance, thats why your house is sinking.

In the dry season, the soil is dry and compact and not as malleable, therefore offering resistance.

The downward motion of the house sinking and meeting resistance results in pressure which is released in the form of the cracks you now have.

The cracks you have are an indication of structural damage brought on by the foundations being woefully in sufficent to support the weight of the house.

I wont even ask if planning permission was applied for, or who signed it off.

But building a house in a rice field is asking for trouble, how deep are the foundations?

As mentioned by other posters, products are available from places such as Homepro.

I fear it may well be an exercise in futility, if you have structural damage, I would advise giving the house a makeover and selling it asap, even if at a loss.

As mentioned by previous poster, take a look at some of the new houses being built and sold in Bkk, I wouldnt touch them with a bargepole, they are wrecks waiting to happen.

Better off buying a second hand property at least 5 years old, the house has had time to settle and you can see exactly what you are getting, and also a chance to compare other houses of a similair age in the same street, that should eliminate any nasty surprises.

[Garret]

Next Time.....What I did when I was having my house built was to use steel mesh in all the corners. Put it right into the wet rendering...5 years later no cracks.......

[excaliber]

"The latter impose much more dead weight on the soft soil, and thus sink. "

But......the cracks seem to come on much faster and friequent during this dry season when the clay soil is rock hard. I think it has to do with contraction and expansion of soil.

but, HOW TO HIDE IT?? inside and outside??

I dont have time for a physics lesson, however you are dealing with kinetic energy.

The foundations dont support the weight of the house, in the rainy season the soil is wet and offers no resistance, thats why your house is sinking.

In the dry season, the soil is dry and compact and not as malleable, therefore offering resistance.

The downward motion of the house sinking and meeting resistance results in pressure which is released in the form of the cracks you now have.

The cracks you have are an indication of structural damage brought on by the foundations being woefully in sufficent to support the weight of the house.

I wont even ask if planning permission was applied for, or who signed it off.

But building a house in a rice field is asking for trouble, how deep are the foundations?

As mentioned by other posters, products are available from places such as Homepro.

I fear it may well be an exercise in futility, if you have structural damage, I would advise giving the house a makeover and selling it asap, even if at a loss.

As mentioned by previous poster, take a look at some of the new houses being built and sold in Bkk, I wouldnt touch them with a bargepole, they are wrecks waiting to happen.

Better off buying a second hand property at least 5 years old, the house has had time to settle and you can see exactly what you are getting, and also a chance to compare other houses of a similair age in the same street, that should eliminate any nasty surprises.

Your statement about the foundations not supporting the house, not sure what you mean.."the house". What I think you mean is: the house walls are supported by the grade beams while the roof and roof structure are being supported by the foundation (including piles) and support columns and possibly an upper wall beam.

It's fair to say that the cause of the cracks are "unknown" since there is no indication of soils test or structural examination. I your house is build on clay without piling then the problem is obvious....clay shrinks quite a bit during the dry season and leave voids.

Doors & windows normally crack at the corners if steel (or fiberglass) mesh wasn't used under the rendering.

The other thing we don't know is if the floor is resting on the grade/floor beams or not.

Unfortunately, in most concrete/mortar applications (in Thailand) they tend to put way to much water in the mix which only lessens the strength and integrity of the concrete, hence, cracks.

and your last statement/words of advice about buying a house 5 years old where you will see exactly what you're getting...

doesn't take long to patch existing cracks and slap some paint on the wall....and unless you have xray eyes you won't know anything about pending structural problems without a thorough inspection.

Don't sell your house....there's always a way to repair even the most critical problems unless you do want to move....

Edited April 19, 2010 by excaliber

[craigt3365]

my 2 cents, i live in gated comunity and they still are building new houses all over (very annoying)

Nothing, but than nothing that is developped or produced in thailand is ment to last very long

our new house also has cracks and most of all other houses

they only give 1 year warranty (1o or more in my home country)

if you see how those poor (really poor) bastards make the homes for a salary of 100-200 baht per day

and the owner of the whole village / salesperson asking 6-20 million baht per house

than you know why they keep building and building, pure profit

problems, cracks or whatever... after 1 year it is on your money anyway

The developer of our village just spent well over 1M Baht on his stereo...and all of us here are dealing with major problems due to poor construction. Ya really gotta watch these guys...

[binnsy]

Get a electric tile cutter and approx 1 inch either side of the crack go down in a straight line then chisel out the crack remove the mortar and re do the wall.

[rgs2001uk]

Get a electric tile cutter and approx 1 inch either side of the crack go down in a straight line then chisel out the crack remove the mortar and re do the wall.

You are treating the symptoms not the cause.

The op has already stated the house is "Sinking in one corner for sure".

[dazk]

you could look at stitching the cracks with helical bars, not sure if they are available in thailand

[jaideeguy]

"Get a electric tile cutter and approx 1 inch either side of the crack go down in a straight line then chisel out the crack remove the mortar and re do the wall."

wow, that's big money and even bigger mess with all that cement dust flying all over the place. In my situation, it would be almost every room.....inside and outside.

We have double 2 inch hollow block walls and I just did an experiment of jamming in some vertical reinforced steel and some horizontal pieces and made up a soupy rich mix of cement and poured it into the cavity until it reached the top. that was a month ago and so far no more cracks...time will tell.