step case crack on brick wall

[jas]

Hello friends,

I am a first time home buyer and i bought the house 2 weeks back in brampton, ontario. I got the home inspection done and my inspector told me there are certain settlement cracks on the external brick wall and has no issues its minor thing in the house. Moreover, the owner of the house has filled the cracks with some chemicals and they are good. However, he assured me there are no cracks in the foundation and house is in good condition. I am attaching the photograph to get an expert advice from TIJ members.

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[Robert Jones]

The step crack doesn't appear to be newer. And if properly sealed/repaired, should be no issue. Were there any indications of structural damage in the interior of the home?

[Marc]

A close up view of the crack at it's widest point would help. Need to see just how wide that crack is. As Rob opined, an old crack might not be as alarming as a recent one. The marriage between brick veneer and foundation is often a rocky road unless there's expansion joints installed in the brick or post-tensioned cables in the foundation.

Brickwork is very unforgiving of foundation non-linear movement of any kind and I'm not with the group that believes wide cracks in the brickwork are common therefore normal.

Marc

[Tom Raymond]

Marc, the OP is from Ontario, Canada. His footings are somewhere between 5 and 7 feet below grade. There are no post tensioned slabs that far north.

That's a pretty big veneer, it maybe should have had an expansion joint or two.

[Rob Amaral]

What side of the house is that? The angle of the crack indicates the 'movement-away' of the lower-l area from the upper-R is 'down near the lower-left' someplace..Need more photos..

[jas]

Hello everyone,

Thanks everyone for exceptional inputs.

I am not experienced enough to provide more information. As per the owner the crack is old. However, i have been told the new windows (middle one) was installed last year and probably cause of the crack.

My apologies Rob I have only one photograph of this side and rest are inside of the house. When facing the house it?s on the left side.

I request the experts to provide me information in layman?s term that this can be repaired/hide.

Thanks

Jas

[AHI in AR]

Hello everyone,

... As per the owner the crack is old. However, i have been told the new windows (middle one) was installed last year and probably cause of the crack.

Thanks

Jas

I disagree. Installing a window won't cause cracking in brick veneer. But as others have said, the likely cause would be easier to determine with better photos. We simply don't have enough info to make an informed opinion without more pics. Knowing whether there were cracks in the interior wall surfaces in this area would be very helpful.

[jas]

Thanks AHI for the comment,

As per home inspector report there are no cracks inside the house and no leakage in the basement. Even i looked over every corner of the house and i didn't find any cracks.

Again i apologise for not able to post more pictures cuz inspector gave me limited pictures and other pictures are inside of the house.

I hope i could get some or little information.

Regards

Jas

[hausdok]

Hi,

I agree with Tom. There should have been at least one accessory/expansion joint in that wall. If that's the sunny side of the house that veneer is going to expand and contract a lot and as close as those two opening are to one another in that veneer I'm not surprised a crack appeared.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[jas]

Thanks Robert for your comment,

My only concern is that this is a structural issue or just normal. I mean in layman's term its a big deal or just normal.

Thanks

Jas

[Marc]

Nothing normal about it. It doesn't necessarily imply an underlying structural issue. Just that the bricks are complaining that the foundation isn't stiff enough. Expect more cracks.

Marc

[kurt]

How old is the place?

No expansion joint is the plausible explanation, if nothing is showing up anywhere else. It looks like hard brick; I'm not sure what the current code is, but if there isn't an expansion joint in hard brick every 25', I know there will be step cracks somewhere. It's not the hundredth time I've seen step cracks between two window openings.

Or, there's something so unbelievably screwed up in the wall, you don't even want to know about it....you'll just see it and run for your life. But, I doubt it.