Most cracks in a Malaysian house are cosmetic and will be covered by the next coat of paint. But some wall cracks in a Malaysian house are telling you about the structure. Learning to read wall cracks in a Malaysian house saves needless worry and the occasional real repair. A minority are telling you something about the structure. The difference is worth knowing before you spend money hiding one of the second kind.
Wall cracks in a Malaysian house that are usually not serious
- Hairline map cracking in plaster. Shrinkage in the render. Cosmetic.
- Straight cracks at the junction of brickwork and a concrete column or beam. Different materials moving at different rates. Common in Malaysian construction and normally cosmetic, though it can let water in on an external wall.
- Cracks radiating from window and door corners. Stress concentration at openings. Usually cosmetic if fine and stable.
Worth investigating
- Diagonal stepped cracks through brickwork, particularly wider at one end. Suggests differential movement in the foundation.
- Cracks in a concrete column or beam, especially horizontal ones, or any crack exposing reinforcement.
- Cracks that are visible on both sides of the wall in the same position.
- Cracks that are still widening, or accompanied by doors that no longer close, sloping floors, or separation at the floor-wall junction.
- Any significant crack in a house near recent piling, excavation or heavy construction.
How to tell whether a crack is alive
Mark the ends with a pencil, write the date, photograph it, and look again after a month or two of wet and dry weather. A crack that has not moved is a filling job. A crack that has moved needs a professional opinion before anything is patched.
The mistake to avoid
Skimming and painting over an active structural crack removes the evidence without removing the cause, and the crack returns through your new finish within months. If a crack falls into the second list above, get a structural engineer to look at it. That is a small cost relative to what you would spend acting on a guess.
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