Settlement cracks in outer cavity wall of property.
Settlement cracks in concrete walls.
The cracks may be straight or toothed.
Stair step cracks may also signify heaving.
There can be a huge number of different reasons for cracks in the home.
Cracks in external and internal walls of load bearing structures.
Vertical cracks in walls built with concrete blocks or sand lime bricks.
If a vertical crack widens at the top or bottom the wall is either settling or gradually heaving which may present serious issues.
There s no exact method for determining how serious a wall crack is without hiring an expert to examine the wall but you might be able to.
Settlement cracks are usually more extensive at the top of the crack than the bottom as the foundation bends over a single point allowing differential settlement.
Concrete walls containing horizontal cracks are serious issues.
How to determine if the cracks in walls are serious.
Settlement cracks compared with shrinkage cracks in poured concrete slabs this article series describes how to recognize and diagnose various types of foundation failure or damage such as foundation cracks masonry foundation crack patterns and moving leaning bulging or bowing building foundation walls.
A settlement crack may also appear as a random crack above areas where the soil of the subgrade was uneven after the concrete was poured.