Stair Step Cracks In Concrete Block Walls Florida

The reason i ask is because i sold a home a few years ago one inspector says there was structural damage because of them and one said that it was normal settling.

Stair step cracks in concrete block walls florida.

Walls had rebar at aprox 36 inches o c. Stair step concrete block walls often crack along their block lines. Cracks in brick cmu and poured concrete walls that have a pattern to them can be indications of serious structural problems that can be expensive to cure. In most cases you won t have to worry about the minor cracks that appear in your concrete block wall.

The gaps in the wall can run in different directions but one common crack is called a stair step where the crack follows the mortar at a diagonal spreading across many blocks. Sometimes a stair step crack will mostly follow the mortar joints then take a short cut through a defective block or brick before returning to the. Hi everyone new to the site and also now training to be home inspector. This chapter of the foundation crack bible discusses in detail the process of evaluating stair stepped or diagonal cracking and related signs.

This is fixable in many cases but a professional should inspect it before you repair to ensure that the wall doesn t need to be rebuilt. A stair step crack is a diagonal crack but since mortar is usually not as strong as concrete block or brick the crack migrates to the mortar joints as it zigzags along a path of least resistance. Specifically when constructing a concrete masonry wall a mason will commence with the construction of the leads or corners first and will. Diagnose evaluate step cracks in concrete block walls foundations angular cracks step cracking in concrete block brick or other cmu walls diagonal foundation or wall cracks in concrete block or other cmu walls foundations diagnosis repair.

Stair step cracks a stair step crack looks like a flight of stairs and runs in both vertical and horizontal directions across the wall. A common location for a stair step crack to occur is at the corners of wall sections where there is a transition from the block wall s lead sections to the infill sections see figure 2. If you notice a stair step crack think of it in the same terms you would a diagonal crack. I have a question about step cracks in stucco on a concrete block house in florida.

Inspection today i found stairstep cracks on three out of 4 exterior walls. Are the step cracks a defect if the are very small. And no signs of cracks on interior of house.