Hello!
I'm new to the forum. My partner and I have found a beautifully located split-level house built in 1977. The foundation wall is made of hollow concrete blocks and the facade on the lower level is plaster, with brick on the upper floor. On the western gable about 0.5m above ground level next to a door, there is a larger crack about 1-2cm. Inside the house, the crack is visible behind the waterproof wallpaper. The crack is about 1-1.5m long. On the outside, you can't inspect it more than 20-30 cm as it continues in the split-level section and behind a flowerbed along the wall. It's unclear how long this has been there, the current owners don't know when the crack appeared (they haven't lived in the house). So, we don't know if the cracking is ongoing.
1. How should we think regarding this crack/settling? How can we tell if the cracking is ongoing? Is it something to worry about?
2. If we buy the house, we'll need to redo the drainage fairly quickly since no drainage has been done since the house was built, and the plaster is peeling in the basement area which is below ground, indicating moisture penetration. Could the crack worsen in conjunction with the drainage?
I'm new to the forum. My partner and I have found a beautifully located split-level house built in 1977. The foundation wall is made of hollow concrete blocks and the facade on the lower level is plaster, with brick on the upper floor. On the western gable about 0.5m above ground level next to a door, there is a larger crack about 1-2cm. Inside the house, the crack is visible behind the waterproof wallpaper. The crack is about 1-1.5m long. On the outside, you can't inspect it more than 20-30 cm as it continues in the split-level section and behind a flowerbed along the wall. It's unclear how long this has been there, the current owners don't know when the crack appeared (they haven't lived in the house). So, we don't know if the cracking is ongoing.
1. How should we think regarding this crack/settling? How can we tell if the cracking is ongoing? Is it something to worry about?
2. If we buy the house, we'll need to redo the drainage fairly quickly since no drainage has been done since the house was built, and the plaster is peeling in the basement area which is below ground, indicating moisture penetration. Could the crack worsen in conjunction with the drainage?
A bit hard to grasp, but it looks like it's an embedded planter box, and if so, it's probably the settling of the ground outside that has created the crack in the facade.. Then you should be able to see if the concrete box is "hanging" in the air at the outer edge. If that's the case, it's easy to fix..