Why Has Your Wall Cracked? and What Can You Do?

From a retired builder ( Last 30 years in France) of over 60 years...good advise, nicely explained, well done..

Thanks Roger that was the most comprehensive yet simple explanation of cracks I have ever watched and I now understand the reasons behind the cracks in my brick house alot better and how to deal with them. Cheers Darren in Australia.

I wish I had seen such a thorough explanation of building cracks many years ago.Big thanks.👍

Roger, Thank you for the informative & reassuring information. You are absolutely correct as I had a small crack on the side of my 120 year old house & a year or two later it had closed.

Well done! One of the best videos I've watched to convey information about a simple yet frightening subject. My crack doesn't seem problematic to me after viewing this. Thanks.

Very informative video Roger. I see alot of cracks where loadbearing timber windows have been replaced with UPVC [generallly houses built 50s, 60s and 70s] and the cracks and deforming of brickwork above as a consequence. Helifix works well here to create a beam effect to prevent further movement and I have also seen Acrow props used to allow for inclusion of a metal angle to act as a lintel to the external brickwork. It would be good if you could do a video on this problem, as it seems to be in every town and village.

Great informative video. Cracks in buildings is owners worst nightmare, always best to get expert advice 👍

Brilliant! I’d suspected that this might be the case with my 1916 built house. We’re on clay soil, and certainly over the past couple of summer/winter cycles, it’s definitely moved. I’ll now just fill the crack with a lime mortar to stop water ingress! Thanks for the very informative video.

Thanks for this video, it was very informative! People do worry when they see cracks in there houses, but understanding that the ground moves depending on the climate conditions may put peoples minds at ease!

Very informative video as usual. Been put off buying houses in the past because of them having cracks but you give a better understanding of this. You have to love the craic.

good practical advice Roger. I complained to my father about something in my house's construction and he rightly pointed out it has already lasted 100 years that way

Your explanations are excellent,I can't get enough about your videos.

Brilliant video Roger , so much information and common sense too and also what to avoid ! Great work , keep making 'em , they are gold dust !

Good explanation about the behaviour of clay. Where I live there is silt, and at some depth into the ground it seems very hard and almost impermeable for water. The original house has been built with 70cm deep concrete foundations, and these reach well into this hard silt. But an add on has been built on foundations only 20-40cm deep, and the foundation has been built very unevenly in width and depth. This foundation didn't reach "under the weather" as we say, and is subject to freezing up and thawing, and also I found that the silt around and under this foundation was very saturated with water, which caused a lot of humidity under the wooden floor causing it to rot. And also small cracks were this add on joins the main building were apparent. So my thought went over and the best solution seemed to me to underpin this foundation to the same depth as that of the main building. 1. to keep water out by bringing the foundation down to a level were water doesn't penetrate easy, and also preventing rodents digging tunnels allowing more water in. 2. To prevent cracks to develop more by bringing balance in the amount of support the parts of the building get by have them resting on the same layer of soil, and at a depth where water ingress and frost play no role in causing movement. I also applied crack stitching, and this holds up very well over the last year since I did it. So Roger, what is your view about imbalance in the construction of foundations and going under the weather? And what role can play a high water table (ours is very deep at 8m)

God why cant I find a builder like you rodger!!!

Brilliant information Roger, I love all your videos, you are very intuitive and easy to watch and understand, thanks Roger.

Honestly the most informative video I've watched on this subject, I have 2 besser brick dividing walls in my complex that have identical cracks to what you outline at the start of the video. We are built on floodplain so clay, you have put my mind at ease as these cracks have not changed since approx 2014.

Never used them, but Geobear look the dogs bits for subsidence etc. Watch, if you can, the underpinning of a garage - amazing stuff. Thanks Roger, for yet another cracking episode.

Brilliant, looked at the problem from both sides, didnt make you panic and very informative. We are also on clay soil and the conservatory looks as though its coming away, however now i think its due to the weather.

Thank you very much for this video, Roger. Our house is built on clay and your superb explanation has put my mind at ease about the hairline fractures we have.