Cracks in wall at our building

[bbabythai]

We are doing reno's on a 4 level building. On the top floor there's a wall in the middle of the big lounge room. It has a crack in it (photos without my fingers in it). I've tried filling it with 'putty' and a few weeks later the crack appeared again. I used sandpaper and tried filling it with another product. That didnt work either... the crack appeared again. On the other side of the same wall (in the bedroom next to it) the crack is on that side as well.  But that room faces the main street and I cant really see any cracks in that room facing the main road. 

 

But I climbed outside the window and on that exterior wall of the same area there are a few small cracks (with my skinny hand in the photo below). It looks like they patched things up and painted it before selling to us. 

 

One of our workers speculated that the building is moving or whatever. Should I be worried about any potential structural issues or is this common with 40 yr old buildings? We are on the corner of the row of buildings. 

 

thanks for any opinions

 

[CorpusChristie]

Could you point out where the cracks are in the last four photos ?

[Stocky]

1 minute ago, CorpusChristie said:

Could you point out where the cracks are in the last four photos ?

Surely you were able to train your eye from the first four examples?

[rvaviator]

40 year .. not fallen down yet ...  You want to look outside as well.  Just from the photos, its not possible to say if you should worry or not ... How long time between .. 'fill up' and start cracking again?

 

Any digging going on outside ? Changing drains or other construction work 'next door' ?

[steven100]

I wouldn't be over concerned about cracks like that.  Rub back with sandpaper, clean and paint over ... use filler if you want.  Structural building cracks are much larger than that and you'll know when the building is sinking.

[kingofthemountain]

Nothing to worry too much about it imo

could be the heat, or a landmove of few milimeters

however if the crack become larger in the next weeks

or if you plan to add another level to the building, you should

ask to an architect to inspect the structure asap

[pgrahmm]

We also have 4 levels & I have found cracks at each level.....Undoubtedly settling has taken place & resulted in points of stress.....

Coming from earthquake country, I can honestly say I don't trust any Thai construction.....

Should a real strong quake take place, the results would be catastrophic....

[northsouthdevide]

It doesn't look too serious to me. 

Maybe the render is dried out. 

You could try chiselling a small area back to the block, and applying fresh render as a test, and seeing if it cracks again or not. 

[bbabythai]

30 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

Could you point out where the cracks are in the last four photos ?

duh. I knew I would have to explain to a member that the reason for the finger in the photo is to differentiate between the inside and exterior shots. 

[scoutman360]

I wouldn't worry. TIT. You won't get anything better here. I lived in a condo 15 years here with cracks everywhere in my room. I jokingly thought half the room would someday fall into the swimming pool. Hasn't happened. But that's what you get here.

[daveAustin]

Do a quick fix and get it on the market. There's a chance, though granted extremely slim, that Mr cha cha will buy it and it will collapse on him. 

Probably shifted. That last one looks like they've already gone back to block and re-rendered. I would patch it up and shift it. Regards earthquakes, believe Thailand's faults are too 'slippy' to produce anything big... much over 6.

[Davo369]

When was the last time you cleaned your nails? Also

I'll be more worried about the Walt you've got on your forefinger

Than them cracks in the walls 

 

[arby]

Those cracks look superficial and I doubt serious. Filling a narrow crack like that will not hold much putty as the putty will only be on top of the crack. Get a wood or metal file, sharpen both sides of the tang and then bend the tang 90 degrees, scrape a V shaped groove all along the crack. fill with wall putty , sand and repaint. All set. If it cracks again, put a parallel line a few centimeters away from your crack on both sides. Measure it and date it. Measure it again in a few months and see if there are any changes. If there is a change in the distance between the two parallel lines, the building is settling.

[Crossy]

I too would not worry about the cracks, as noted earlier open up the crack somewhat and use a flexible filler.

 

I would be worried about the wart, get it looked at or post some photos in the Health forum.

 

[chilly07]

Buildings move with the seasons. Dry season ground shrinks and cracks open up wet season and cracks close again. Need to observe over the course of a year. Based on your photos nothing major is happening. Relationship with structural members tied back to foundations is important. Can't see this from photos. If crack opens up through a structural element you have a problem. Relationship with any sizeable tree can be a problem due to roots growing through structure and sucking up large quantities of water

Edited August 12, 2020 by chilly07

[andygrr]

I would say nothing to worry about some of the photos the crack looks near where the concrete posts attach to the block wall very common. The third image is this outside. It looks like the wall has got damp and some of the rendering has broken away and been badly patched . Does this area get wet. The crack again by the window frame is where the block wall meets the concrete lintel. These are all very common. The brick / block work is only tied to the concrete posts and lintels with bits of rebar sometimes even large nails placed into holes drilled in the concrete. It is not easy to fill these small cracks you may need to chip away a bit more around the cracks and then fill / render.

[LeoCesar]

Scoop out the crack, make it bigger ( 1-2 cm deep + 1-2 cm wide )

before filling it with cement..

It will hold up longer before it crack up again.

[thailand49]

Cracks very common if you have already used flexible fillers and it doesn't work I suggest using a foam insulation out of a can. After a number of products that didn't work for long I found the foam to worked much better and longer. You will need to enlarge the cracks then spray the foam inside it will expand 24 hours later come back shave and sand you need to do this inside and outside of the building for all the cracks,

Majority of the buildings are painted with the cheapest basically a white wash heavy rain the water undermines the paint walk outside after you can see the water soaking into the building as noted it dries up the surface. I've found using a Semi gloss even better if a contractor will work with full oil high gloss that would even be better on the outside.

 

Good luck!

[CanadaSam]

Cracks in non-supporting walls, not a big problem. 

 

Cracks in supporting elements like columns or beams, get the hell out!

[sandyf]

14 hours ago, andygrr said:

I would say nothing to worry about some of the photos the crack looks near where the concrete posts attach to the block wall very common. The third image is this outside. It looks like the wall has got damp and some of the rendering has broken away and been badly patched . Does this area get wet. The crack again by the window frame is where the block wall meets the concrete lintel. These are all very common. The brick / block work is only tied to the concrete posts and lintels with bits of rebar sometimes even large nails placed into holes drilled in the concrete. It is not easy to fill these small cracks you may need to chip away a bit more around the cracks and then fill / render.

I would tend to agree, looks like differential shrinkage where the wall surface dries out quicker than the concrete pillars and beams. The walls are still tied to the concrete with the steel inserts. Normally on external walls they will run a small indent down the side of the pillar to reduce the surface thickness and minimise the risk of cracks developing.

It is a cosmetic exercise and probably best results from a flexible filler.