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It’s a question we get a lot at The Crack Doctor… what are the common causes of cracking, in houses, particularly here in Perth, Western Australia.

We asked The Crack Doctor to list out what some of the more common causes of house cracking are and what can be done about them.

Settlement Of Foundation

Your house is built on foundations, or also known as footings. In many cases, due to the ground in which the footings are founded, can move. This, in turn, will cause the footings to move and that can (and usually does) causes cracking of the building elements supported by those footings. In turn, the usual result is an unsightly crack within your wall.

Shrinking Of Concrete

You might think that you’ve poured your concrete slab, and everything’s set in stone (pardon the pun). Quite often, it’s not. Concrete dries out after setting and this causes the concrete to shrink. Which in turn, can slightly move a wall and cause it to crack.

Vibration(s)

It’s a common unappreciated fact that vibration of your building can cause parts of your building to crack, either due to foundation settlement or lateral movement of your walls.

Of course, external vibrations, such as earthmoving and/or compaction equipment in or around the vicinity of your house, can be a causal factor of your building cracking… however, we’d always advise a site inspection from an expert like The Crack Doctor to identify the significance of the vibration.

Corrosion Of Steelwork

Steel corrodes and expands, and if your building features structural members containing reinforced concrete that may have, in fact, corroded, this can contribute to the onset of cracking.

Movement Of Retaining Walls

Retaining Walls are structural members that support banks of earth. If the earth pressure is too great for the retaining walls, they will move and in turn, settle and crack. There are many reasons why a retaining wall may not perform as expected, and again, we advise a visit from The Crack Doctor to ascertain the reasons why.

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