Fine plaster cracks and doors not shutting, is it always a MAJOR?

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Fine plaster cracks and doors not shutting, is it always a MAJOR?

TeaLeaf

5097 posts

Uber Geek

#270459 10-May-2020 17:05

My poor Mrs (has had a real hard time personally and family wise recently) bought a property last year, after a builders report etc, single level bungalow, wood boarding (fake not sure) on pilings into concrete. About 20yo or so.

There are some cracks appearing all round the house, in particular is not hairline, more like 1mm and runs once diagonal and once vertical. Directly only the outside the cement sheeting (forget name) is cracked in near same place. Ive been up to have a look and I can clearly see where the prior owners have painted over prior in the hair line cracks in the house. 1 of the internal doors no longer shuts either, strangely the rear which sits on concrete slab is hard to close as well.

Could this be due to constant moisture changes surrounding in the pilings? It was VERY dry up north.

Do all piling movements due to such conditions mean big dollars?

Who should she ring first, solicitor, engineer, prior owners....

She has just lost someone special and is feeling miserable now she may have been sold a lemon last year. All building inspection mentions is 1 external crack repair, not 3 external doors hard to shut and 2 internal wont. At time of report there was no internal cracking (start q3 last year, I was away)

There is no law against deliberately hiding major signs of structural defect?

I did notice 2 inches of soil recession from the garden beds due to the drought, is it possible its due to constant changes in the clay?

1 | 2 | 3

30853 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#2480689 10-May-2020 17:08

That's a pretty normal thing with lots of houses during dry weather.

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

scuwp

3763 posts

Uber Geek

#2480691 10-May-2020 17:15

Wooden houses move. It would help narrow down if you knew what the cladding was, but small cracks in solid sheet/cement type sheeting can happen from time to time. Repair them and just monitor. Extreme dry conditions can affect pilings. Post some photos maybe? But at this stage be careful not to make a mountain out of a molehill and worry yourself silly for no reason.

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity - Robert J Hanlon

TeaLeaf

5097 posts

Uber Geek

#2480742 10-May-2020 17:48

scuwp:

But at this stage be careful not to make a mountain out of a molehill and worry yourself silly for no reason.

Thanks, she is at a near break down.

The cement sheeting Im not sure but I think the wood cladding is james hardie stuff, or do i have that around the wrong way... eeek

It is Clay the pilings sit in to confirm.

But for it to crack in the same areas consitently and the prior owners to just gip and paint over.....

I read an article something about being a worry if over 5mm. The external cement sheet which faces the afternoon and evening sun is about 3mm, the thickest inside i think would be 1mm which is on the opposite side which is what worried me when she told me, the rest are fairly hairline although one is kind of recessed by a micro amount as you can feel the lip of the crack as you run your finger over it supposedly, but you wouldnt tell from front on.

I wouldnt be worried except for 2 doors internally no longer shutting and one external being a tight pull shut.

One article said when internal doors dont shut you should get a structural engineer, again that made her freak out.

Kickinbac

360 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2480744 10-May-2020 17:49

Do you know the soil type? If it’s clay, this can shrink and swell significantly causing movement. Like you mentioned, it has been very dry. I’d say to monitor it and see what happens when wet weather comes. The cracks may close up over winter.

Kickinbac

360 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2480745 10-May-2020 17:49

TeaLeaf

5097 posts

Uber Geek

#2480748 10-May-2020 17:52

sbiddle:

That's a pretty normal thing with lots of houses during dry weather.

Yeah i thought so, especially on clay when you have extreme changes in moisture between one year being fairly high, 2017 was anyway, then this year extremely low. I think its the doors not shutting that worries her and the article she read.

Also they put a new kitchen in some time ago but where the top cabinetry use to join the roof it no longer does, but there is no bowing in Roof and the ploished floors arent cracking. Im just wondering possibly if the newer underneath cabinets were off by a mm or so and its just now resting on these lower cabinets. Or more so drilled into them which are drilled to the skirting/floor.

TeaLeaf

5097 posts

Uber Geek

#2480749 10-May-2020 17:56

Kickinbac: Do you know the soil type? If it’s clay, this can shrink and swell significantly causing movement. Like you mentioned, it has been very dry. I’d say to monitor it and see what happens when wet weather comes. The cracks may close up over winter.

Yeah mate definitely Clay. Yes was double water over 2 years then half the water over last year.

She is so scared its going to cost $50k to fix.

I have to wonder why does a building inspector not try opening and closing doors, especially if hes seen signs of cracking.

TeaLeaf

5097 posts

Uber Geek

#2480754 10-May-2020 18:03

2017 + 1555mm
2018 +1400mm
2019 - 1150mm

http://www.kerikeriweather.co.nz/wxrainsummary.php

Boy this was a drought

Kickinbac

360 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2480755 10-May-2020 18:05

TeaLeaf:
Kickinbac: Do you know the soil type? If it’s clay, this can shrink and swell significantly causing movement. Like you mentioned, it has been very dry. I’d say to monitor it and see what happens when wet weather comes. The cracks may close up over winter.

Yeah mate definitely Clay. Yes was double water over 2 years then half the water over last year.

She is so scared its going to cost $50k to fix.

I have to wonder why does a building inspector not try opening and closing doors, especially if hes seen signs of cracking.

I’d say wait it out then and try not to panic, probably superficial cracks that will mostly close up.. I had a house on the North Shore, theres lots of expansive clay areas around there.

TeaLeaf

5097 posts

Uber Geek

#2480757 10-May-2020 18:16

Kickinbac:

I’d say wait it out then and try not to panic, probably superficial cracks that will mostly close up.. I had a house on the North Shore, theres lots of expansive clay areas around there.

Its hard to know what is superficial and what isnt, but that guide said anything over 5mm could be not so good. We at 2mm max gap.

Just she said they all seemed to come from nowhere at the same time.

Do you think she should message the previous owners and ask them why they needed to keep covering up and repainting these same spots and if they knew why the doors are not closing? They did pass on details to ask them questions....

Also does anyone know, what is this tape like stuff you can feel but can see, is that gyproc tape?

TeaLeaf

5097 posts

Uber Geek

#2480758 10-May-2020 18:20

Kickinbac:

I’d say wait it out then and try not to panic, probably superficial cracks that will mostly close up.. I had a house on the North Shore, theres lots of expansive clay areas around there.

Also, expansive clay doesnt necessarily mean all the foundations need redoing, or are broken, and its fairly common? especially after years of rain then none in summer?

Thanks Kick. I just want to cry looking at her. Poor thing has had a hiding of late.

Handle9

9640 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2480760 10-May-2020 18:24

TeaLeaf:

Kickinbac: Do you know the soil type? If it’s clay, this can shrink and swell significantly causing movement. Like you mentioned, it has been very dry. I’d say to monitor it and see what happens when wet weather comes. The cracks may close up over winter.

Yeah mate definitely Clay. Yes was double water over 2 years then half the water over last year.

She is so scared its going to cost $50k to fix.

I have to wonder why does a building inspector not try opening and closing doors, especially if hes seen signs of cracking.

You said the internal door has only just started sticking. If the door was opening and shutting previously how would the building inspector detect it?

It all sounds like the house moving due to the dry weather.

Our first house would move a heap when it was dry. It was very close to a massive tree, which sucked all the moisture out of the surround area.

Loismustdye

887 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#2480764 10-May-2020 18:37

For the door that doesn’t close, use a hammer with a piece of wood, place the wood against the door jam and hit it with the hammer. Doing this where the frame is likely to be nailed in will push the frame back against the wall framing and the door should close. Often happens with houses when the wood has dried or flexed with a quake or similar. Had a similar problem with one door in our 10 year old house and my LBP brother told me that trick, worked a treat and the door closes fine.

RunningMan

7960 posts

Uber Geek

#2480765 10-May-2020 18:37

TeaLeaf:Do you think she should message the previous owners and ask them why they needed to keep covering up and repainting these same spots and if they knew why the doors are not closing?

No, this is normal, particularly for a wooden home sitting on clay. It's exaggerated due to the significant drought in a lot of NZ.

1eStar

1604 posts

Uber Geek

#2480766 10-May-2020 18:42

Sounds perfectly normal for a house on piles on expansive clays. You can get keen and jack it and put wedges on the piles under the bearers if you want to relevel it. One thing to check is that no runoff sends water under the house, it has been dry, and you want the piles to stay dry all year. It's only when the clay actually gets wet that the properties change.

1 | 2 | 3