How to repair cracks in the wall of an apartment at home? How to repair cracks in an apartment wall? How to stop cracks in a brick house

Today, a turnkey frame house in Vologda is ordered very often. If a crack appears in the wall of a house, it should not be treated carelessly. After all, this is all due to the fact that a technological error was made during the construction of the foundation or wall of the building! But, having noticed such a nuisance and figured out what’s going on in time, you can eliminate the problem before serious negative consequences begin.

Causes of cracks in the wall of a house, and what to do?

When the foundation of a building is done correctly, it will stand strong, despite the movement of soil layers in different directions. But if cracks appear on the walls, then something is wrong with the foundation...

In addition, there are other reasons why a crack may appear in the wall. brick house, or panel. For example, due to the fact that the design of the entire building is absolutely imperfect, or errors were made in the design, or maybe shortcomings in the process construction work.

The first thing to say is the heterogeneity of the soil under the foundation. And the most interesting thing is that the density of the soil changes over time!

Well, before you repair cracks in the walls of your house, you need to understand where they came from.

How to understand the reasons for the formation of cracks on the walls of houses

Be sure to record during this period what temperature regime and amount of precipitation. It is advisable to keep this record for a whole year.

To clearly see what changes are taking place, you need to attach alabaster lumps to the crack, after soaking them. They will resemble plasticine in consistency. Beacons must be installed at intervals of 1 meter throughout the crack. Well, by checking such marks at a certain interval, you will determine the reason:

Naturally, if the mark cracks, or maybe even falls off, the crack will grow. Based on the gap, you can draw conclusions about how quickly the cracks increase.
The mark may crack, but there will be no gap left, dynamic loads are applied to the wall, and there are no stresses or further discrepancies in the material.
The mark is intact and there is no tension in the wall. This means that the crack appeared as a result of the shrinkage occurring once.

At the same time, it can be quite difficult to determine the causes of cracks on your own. Therefore, in many cases it is still worth turning to professional craftsmen. After all, the matter is quite serious.

Of course, the most dangerous case is when the crack grows. This means that either the foundation or the walls will be destroyed in any case. Of course, there is always a way out. For example, rebuilding a damaged area of a house. But, if you notice the problem in time, then you can save yourself with such an option as tight fitting.

In general, this is a fairly simple process:

It is necessary to install steel corners along the outer corners; they must have 10 cm shelves.
Along the walls, on the crutches, it is necessary to lay at least a couple of smooth reinforcing lines (at the top and bottom).
Cut threads on all rods, and screw nuts onto the reinforcement, welded to steel corners.
On the side of the reinforcement bars, at a distance of 1 m, small rods should be welded to transmit rotation using an ordinary adjustable wrench.
When the tightening is completed, two people need to simultaneously twist the rods, while the tension must be gradually increased.

In this case, cracks can be immediately avoided and they will not even be visible.

To strengthen the wall in problem areas, you must use:

Reinforcement on the outside using steel or carbon fiber mesh.
Anchor fastenings, metal frames.
Embedded reinforcing elements along grooves.
Injection method.

To seal any crack, you need to completely clean it and widen it to 1.5 cm. Next, the gap needs to be filled with mortar.

If there are cracks in the walls panel house, brick or in the foundation, it is necessary to take the necessary measures to eliminate them as soon as possible. For example, you may need to strengthen the foundation. This can be done using screw piles, as well as side or bottom gravies. Only after a construction examination has been carried out will you be able to determine ways to strengthen the foundation, and indeed, eliminate the problem of cracks.

10 photos of cracks in the wall of the house

A crack may appear on the wall of a house at any moment, and the owners of the building immediately wonder how dangerous this phenomenon is. Experts distinguish between two types of cracks – passive and active. And if in the first case the defect in question can be “removed” with your own hands, then in the second case you will have to involve professionals in the work. But first you need to understand what factors provoke the appearance of cracks.

Table of contents: - -

Causes of cracks in the house

It is believed that in the first five years after the construction of a house, cracks appear on the walls in 90% of cases - experts call this natural shrinkage, which does not pose any danger. But it also happens that the house is many years old, it is quite lived-in, all structures are regularly repaired, but cracks still appear. What is the reason for this phenomenon?

Firstly, cracks in the house may appear due to violations in the technology of constructing the walls themselves. For example, if the dressing of brickwork was carried out incorrectly.

Secondly, the phenomenon in question on the walls of a house may be caused by non-compliance with the sequence of construction work. For example, communication systems (water supply, sewerage) are often installed after the house has been built - the foundation has to be excavated, which negatively affects its quality characteristics.

Thirdly, settlement of the foundation often occurs - for example, due to compression of the foundation soils or too much high pressure houses on the foundation. This is possible if the construction of the foundation was carried out without preliminary calculations and design. The most common mistakes:

During the construction of the foundation, geodetic surveys were not carried out, the nature of the soil was not studied;
the ground resistance taken as a basis was erroneous and greatly overestimated;
geodetic surveys at the construction site were carried out in the summer - the elevation level was not calculated groundwater;
a mistake was made when choosing the type of foundation - for example, instead of a columnar one, a linear one was laid;
calculations of the depth of the foundation and its thickness were not made - usually data from past construction projects are taken as the basis for these parameters;
violations of the technology for laying a sand cushion under the foundation - for example, insufficient layer thickness or poor-quality sand compaction.

Note:cracks in an old house can also occur due to structural changes in the building. Often, owners install a subfloor in a foundation that is not intended for this purpose, and the result will be displacement/shrinkage of the foundation base.

When even a small crack is detected, the main question arises: is it dangerous? Checking this is quite simple - you need to install a control beacon and observe the “behavior” of the crack long time. Professionals install special control beacons such as plate ones, which must be registered with the supervisory authorities. At home, with independent decision problems, you can use one of the following methods:

stick a strip of paper onto the crack indicating the installation date;
prepare a gypsum solution and place a strip of it on the crack.

And then all that remains is to wait and periodically check the status of the control beacon. It may take several months before any conclusions can be drawn - experts say that the crack needs to be monitored for 8-12 months.

How dangerous it is will be shown by a break in the control beacon - if there is such a phenomenon, then you will need to use complex technical solutions to eliminate the problem, if there is no break in the beacon, then you should not worry at all.

Methods for eliminating cracks in the house

Different cracks can be fixed in certain ways - you must first determine the level of the problem.

Note:if the control beacon shows a rapidly expanding crack, then no methods of eliminating cracks with your own hands will help - they will only have a short-term effect. Be sure to invite specialists to solve the problem, otherwise the consequences will be the most terrible - the collapse of the wall or the entire structure!

How to fix a crack in a house from the inside

If small cracks are found on the wall inside the house, then eliminating them is as easy as shelling pears. All you need is a primer and a special putty mesh. You need to act according to the instructions below:

we clean the surface of building materials and finishing - the wall should be perfectly clean;
we use a deep penetration primer (with exactly this marking!) - we cover the entire cleaned surface;
glue the putty mesh onto the entire prepared surface;

Note:a special mesh must be used to cover the entire area of damage on the wall - even small sections of cracks should not protrude beyond its boundaries.

Apply a small layer of putty to the mesh and leave until completely dry.

Only after the putty layer has completely dried can you begin to grout the surface and glue wallpaper or other finishing materials.

Repairing a crack in a house from the outside of a wall

If small cracks appear on the outside of the house, you should proceed according to the same principle as in the above option. Procedure:

the crack site is cleared of plaster or debris;
apply a layer of deep penetration primer and glue the putty mesh onto it;
apply putty. But! In case of eliminating cracks on external walls, it is advisable to use a special reinforced putty - it is resistant to the negative effects of atmospheric changes.

If the cracks on the outside of the walls of the house are not only in the plaster, but also extend to the brickwork, then you will have to put in much more effort. And in this case, the algorithm of actions will be as follows:

Note:the metal mesh must cover the entire surface intended for applying a new layer of plaster. This way, the new plaster will not spread, which will allow finishing materials to be applied flawlessly.

This situation means only one thing - it is urgently necessary to take drastic measures to eliminate this problem. If you ignore all the recommendations of specialists and limit yourself only to the repair options described above, the result will be the collapse of the entire house. But even a beginner can cope with the work of eliminating such complex active cracks - the main thing is to strictly adhere to the following instructions:

All the plaster on the wall at the location of the crack is knocked off - be sure to maintain a distance of 50 cm on each side of the crack.
The crack is cleaned of mortar and dirt - this can be done with a metal spatula.
The cleaned crack is filled with polyurethane foam.
Fastening metal plates that will tighten the crack, preventing it from spreading further. The following points must be taken into account::

the plate must be selected from thick, high-quality metal;
to obtain an optimal result, you will need to tighten the crack with at least 3 plates, and if the crack is long, then you may need 4 or 5 metal plates;
The plates are fastened using self-tapping screws, but using dowels.

After applying the fastening metal plates, you can continue working according to the usual algorithm - priming/fixing the reinforcing mesh/applying new plaster.

But keep in mind that such measures serve as a temporary measure, since without a specific formation it will not be possible to determine the cause of the appearance of active cracks. Most often, in the future it will be necessary to carry out corrective work on the foundation - it will either be strengthened/strengthened, or the walls/roof of the house will be raised and the foundation will be completely replaced.

Preventing cracks in the house

To avoid having to deal with cracks in your home, you should familiarize yourself with the prevention of this phenomenon.

Firstly, if you are just designing a house, you need to take several points into account:

geodetic surveys must be carried out - this will help determine the type of soil, location aquifers, depth of groundwater;
Even at the design stage, it is necessary to provide for the possibility of building a subfloor/cellar under the house - this will entail serious design changes;
It is imperative to familiarize yourself with the depth of soil freezing - the depth of the foundation will depend on this.

Secondly, when buying an old house, pay attention to the existing walls, invite specialists to assess their condition - often small cracks hide serious problems in the stability/reliability of the entire structure. One more point - there should be a blind area around the entire house - this will prevent moisture from entering the foundation, and therefore will prevent its destruction.

After years of use, even the best-built and strongest houses can begin to weaken. In many cases, this manifests itself in the appearance of cracks in the walls and ceiling. The streaks may be microscopic at first, but will inevitably increase in size over time. If defects are not repaired, they can cause damage inside and outside the building. As a result, the wall decoration will completely deteriorate. Today we will tell you why cracks can appear and how to eliminate them.

Cause of cracks

It may seem that the only reason for the appearance of cracks is wear and tear on the walls, but this is not entirely true. Affects deformation whole line factors. Cracks can appear when the depth and width of the foundation is shallow and there is excessive pressure on the soil, which can lead to its mobility. This often happens with old buildings.

Problems can also arise if low-quality materials such as gravel or concrete were used to fill the foundation. For such structures, the grade of concrete must be at least M 200. The above factors are associated with violations of construction technology, but the problems do not end there. A house can sink due to rising groundwater, slope of the site, destruction of the foundation body, or soil heterogeneity.

Before reinforcement, it is necessary to prime with a deep penetration compound.

Another factor is the quality of the materials from which the walls are built, how resistant it is to external influences. Cracks can appear due to their swelling, vibration or shrinkage, or too busy street traffic. Harsh weather can also cause mother-in-law to appear on the walls.

Repairing cracks using reinforced mesh

If your walls are sagging, the most suitable way repair - mesh reinforcement. It consists of stretching special plaster or painting meshes based on fiberglass onto a plaster or putty layer. sold with cell sizes of 2x2 mm, and plaster - from 5x5 mm to 45x45 mm. When plastering or painting, the mesh should not be completely immersed in a thick layer of mortar.

The mesh absorbs tensile stress and prevents cracks from occurring. The material can stretch by 3%, but if the building settles or moves a lot, the mesh will not help. The putty or plaster will peel off from the surface and hang on the mesh itself.

Repairing cracks in walls (Video)

Mesh reinforcement is used in certain cases. For example, at the corner joints of walls made of different materials: one wall is made of plasterboard and the other is made of plaster. If your walls are approximately 5 years old, shrinkage of the concrete may cause the entire surface to crack. In this case, there is no need to reinforce the entire surface, but you can do it in the corners.

Such brickwork must be dismantled and replaced with a new one. Fresh bricks are laid in a so-called “brick castle”. It is better to use pieces of reinforcement in the masonry that cover the gap. Bricks are dismantled from top to bottom. If the masonry cannot be disassembled, the gap is sealed cement mortar. Depending on the length of the gap, T-shaped metal anchors are driven into it and secured with dowels on both sides of the wall. Cracks in brick walls can also be sealed. After the material hardens, it is cut to a depth of 2 cm. The cavity is sealed with cement mortar.

How to fix cracks in concrete walls?

If you have cracks in your concrete wall, before starting the main work, you need to perform some preparatory steps. First, the opening in the wall needs to be widened. Then the surface is thoroughly cleaned of dust and plaster residues. Next, apply a primer and wet the surface to be treated. There are several ways to repair a concrete wall.

The first involves blowing out the crack with foam and puttingty. Polyurethane foam is sold in cans. This foam is excellent for installation because it increases 2-3 times in volume after application. The material can be used not only in working with concrete structures, but also with wooden and metal ones.

In the second case, the gap is filled with cement mortar. After removing foreign objects, it is washed and filled with solution. For better result use an expanding compound. After treatment, the crack is moistened for 2-3 days in a row. Polyvylacetate can be added to the cement solution.

High-quality finishing of cracks will be obtained if they are filled with resin. They begin to introduce it immediately after preparing the wall. Attention! Be sure to wear gloves and goggles to protect yourself from the harmful effects of the resin. Cracks can also be sealed with special compounds for concrete restoration.

conclusions

Any appearance of cracks should give a signal that the walls need to be repaired urgently. Do not delay this and, if possible, try to carry out repairs yourself. It's not as difficult as it seems at first glance.

Minor defects can be corrected yourself if they are related to the plaster. If the appearance is associated with deformation of the main structure, then you need to seek help from specialists.

Exterior materials for cracks

Neomid Professional ─ universal putty. For deep cracks and potholes. Contains reinforcing fibers.
SEMIN Fibrelastic ─ elastic putty for external and interior work. Especially for “breathing” cracks and joints.
Profix ─ mounting and putty mixture. This is a flexible putty with easy application.

Crack mixtures for interior work

SEMIN Rebouchage ─ filling putty for interior work.
UNIS High-thickness ─ gypsum putty. Universal, easy to apply, crack-resistant. Warranty up to 15 years.
TERRACO Handyflex ─ super elastic crack filler.

DIY repair

Often during repair work you have to deal with unpleasant defects. They are discovered while re-sticking wallpaper or leveling a wall for painting. You can deal with minor flaws yourself. When there are more defects outside than inside the house, it makes the job more difficult. Of course, it is difficult to deal with the cause, but you can try to hide this defect.

Puttying cracks in a monolithic house

To “cure” defects in monolithic walls, you will need the appropriate tools and materials:

sealing composition (sealant, foam) and concrete mortar;
putty knife;
sanding mesh and holder for it;
brush with stiff bristles;
jointing tool.

First you need to widen the flaw by beating the edges with a hammer for better adhesion of the crack to the putty. Clean the defect from dust and pour sealant into it, then level the seam concrete mortar. What to cover with? You can, of course, use only the solution, but the sealing compound will not allow it to appear anymore. After drying, you need to sand any unevenness well.

What is the best way to cover up cracks in a load-bearing block wall?

Smooth cracks appear on the masonry when it is not reinforced. There are several putty options for wall repair. Let's look at some ways to eliminate the defect.

1 way:

clean and, if necessary, expand the crack;
clean from dust;
using metal E-shaped anchors secured with dowels, strengthen the crack between the blocks;
add pieces of broken cinder block to the solution (the smaller the better) and plaster the defect.

Method 2

widen the crack;
prime;
seal with mortar.

For small cracks It is permissible to use tile adhesive, mounting foam or special foam for blocks.

If there is a straight crack in the corners, how to fix it correctly

A straight corner crack must first be opened, primed with a tenacious “Soil-Contact” primer and the seam sealed. To do this, take the Isogypsum putty on a spatula and rub it well into the flaw. Place a mesh on top of the putty. After drying, smooth out all uneven surfaces.

Repairing cracks in brickwork: how to remove them

Repairing cracks in brickwork begins with removing dirt, dust, chipped bricks, fallen mortar and other unnecessary elements.
It is good to wet the crack, since the base of the brick tends to absorb water. By throwing the solution, it will penetrate deeper into the crack.
Cover the wide part of the defect with mortar, and fill the narrow part with sealant from a “gun”.
Since the sealant has White color, and the solution is gray, you need to give the crack an aesthetic appearance. To do this, apply glue with a spatula. tiles. It tolerates temperature changes well, is frost-resistant, and moisture-resistant.
After drying building material, rub the seam, smooth out the unevenness.

Repairing cracks in a concrete wall of a panel house with cement mortar

First, check the condition of the crack, widen it with a hammer and chisel.
Use a compressor to blow off all the dirt.
Depending on the brand of cement, prepare a solution. To do this, mix sand, cement, water, beat until mushy.
Lubricate the defect with PVA glue for better adhesion of the crack to the solution.
Fill the hole with mortar to the level of the wall.
Smooth out the seam.
After drying, clean up.

If there are cracks in a new house, how to repair them

Use a special tool to widen the crack.
Clean it from dust.
to improve the adhesion of the putty.
Seal the seam with putty using a putty knife.
To prevent recurrence of formations, glue with sickle tape.
Hold the top of the tape with one spatula, and smooth the tape with the second.
Reapply putty and allow time to dry.
After 24 hours, sand the surface of the seam.

Walls are vertical load-bearing and enclosing structures. They withstand force and non-force impacts. Therefore, they must be strong, durable, and withstand temperature and humidity conditions.

What to follow when repairing cracks: main rules

In order for the load-bearing capacity and enclosing properties of the walls to be preserved for a long time, you need to be guided by “ General recommendations on crack repair technology."

Repair of cracks is carried out after drawing up a map of defects and a defect list, which confirm the results of the examination and the reasons for their occurrence.

When choosing unpleasant formations, you need to consider:

wall material;
number of flaws;
defect width;
branching of flaws;

Only then carry out repair work:

embroider;
clean from dust;
Rinse;
fill with suitable plaster.

If you notice a crack in the house, you need to monitor its changes: whether it expands or remains the same. When design changes have occurred, you need to seek advice from specialists. Only they will be able to professionally assess the condition of the surface and recommend measures to prevent and eliminate them.

Useful video on the topic

There are a huge number of reasons leading to the appearance of cracks in brick houses. This is both unexpected seismic activity and mechanical damage, and mistakes made during construction. For example, cracks can occur due to incorrect strapping brickwork load-bearing walls Houses. What to do if a crack in the wall of a brick house has already appeared? In any case, the house will need both superficial, cosmetic and thorough repairs to eliminate the causes of damage if they appeared due to violations of construction technology. If you do not strengthen the base and walls of the house in time, then one small gap can provoke a distortion of the supporting structure and irreversible deformation of the house.

Causes of wall damage

There are several main reasons why a gap may appear in the wall:

Regular natural settlement of the house for more than 1-2 years (the choice of a foundation that is permissible for construction on a specific type of soil is of great importance) and natural shifts.
Subsidence and further cracking of the foundation due to regular erosion of groundwater or poorly distributed load, causing a misalignment at one point.
Freezing of the foundation and further destruction after another change in temperature.
Heavy load on brickwork. Under such circumstances, cracks appear not only on the walls, but also on the pillars. Feature cracks that appeared due to excessive pressure - vertical direction and closedness.
Violation of pouring technology at the stage of constructing the foundation of a house, low-quality materials and their incomplete drying.

Appearance of cracks

Strengthening the foundation

Serious problems with structural integrity require a total rebuild of the foundation:

Strengthening the foundation of the house

The first step is to make a deep trench along the wall with a crack to the level of the base horizon. The width of the trench should not be greater than the thickness of the foundation base.
After this, the crack needs to be widened a little, cleaned of weakly reinforced stones and the cement that adheres them.
The expanded and cleaned area is drilled horizontally and vertically for reinforcement. It is necessary to intertwine reinforcing bars of suitable size with anchors and secure them by welding. The distance between the rods depends on how wide the crack needs to be repaired. This reinforcement is made as a further connection with the skeleton of the new reinforcing foundation.
Now you can make formwork and pour concrete into it. To prevent new cracks, all work on the base is carried out only after it has dried.. You can also spray it with water occasionally to help it cure evenly.

The solution will take a very long time to dry - at least a month, only after this time can the site be compacted and a blind area made.

These measures will stop the destruction of the walls and only after they have been carried out can we begin to directly eliminate the defects.

Elimination of defects

Reconstruction of a brick wall

After strengthening the foundation, cosmetic repair of cracks in brick walls is performed. In order to make sure that new cracks are no longer expected, it is worth sticking pieces of paper in places of damage and monitoring their integrity. If the paper does not tear, you can begin their restoration.

Small, shallow cracks can be repaired with cement mortar, after first cleaning their edges and knocking off unstable pieces of material and adhesive mortar with a hammer. To make the adhesion to the new solution stronger, it is worth moistening the edges of the crack with water.. Middle cracks should be sealed with a mixture of sand and cement (ratio 3:1).

Repairing large cracks

Reinforcement with plates

In order to eliminate large (more than 1-2 centimeters wide) connectors, you need to do much more operations, which are discussed in more detail below.

First you need to completely disassemble the entire area with the crack, starting from the top rows. All unstable and crumbling bricks must be replaced with new ones. When laying new brickwork, they need to be additionally reinforced. If a rupture occurs in a brick wall unit, reinforcement can be done using a strip steel plate, bending its ends to the sides of the masonry and securing it with bolts.

If it is not possible to dismantle the wall, sealing cracks in brick walls is done by throwing crushed stone with cement mortar into large crevices and strengthening them with a metal strip secured with anchors.

a – installation of a brick castle; b – brick castle with an anchor; reinforcement with plates with tension bolts (in – flat wall; d - wall corner); d – repair of a through crack using steel staples; e – repair at the point where the floor slab rests; g – strengthening of the cracked wall. 1- brick wall; 2- crack; 3 – brick castle; 4 – cement mortar; 5 – coupling bolt; 6 – channel (anchor); 7 – steel plate; 8 – staples (installation step 50 cm); 9 – floor slab; 10 – brick wall; 11 – corner; 12 – finishing layer.

If the cracks that appear threaten the integrity of the building, it is necessary to thoroughly strengthen the wall. Along the perimeter of the house, rods made of steel are installed with external and inside. The result is a kind of powerful steel belt covering the entire building.

a, b – steel rods along the outer (a) and inner (b) sides of the wall; c – installation of non-tensioned channel bars; 1 – steel rod; 2 - corner; 3 – steel support plate; 4 – channel.

If the crack is too deep, you can also use the cement injection method: for this, inch holes are drilled along the entire length of the crack at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other. A tube filled with cement mortar is placed inside the hole, and using a sealant or a special construction syringe, the solution is injected into the crack, filling it with itself.

Injection method

In addition, some developers use polyurethane foam . To do this, it is blown deep into the crack, dries and is fixed on the outside with cement.

Sometimes the cracks and breaks are so catastrophic that the wall cracks right through. In such cases, it is also necessary to strengthen the wall from the inside. To do this, you need to deeply moisten the gap, fill the resulting gap with cement and crushed stone and install metal overlays secured with anchors. After the solution has dried, you can begin finishing the inside of the cracked wall.

So, repairing cracks in brick walls is an important and complex task that requires large physical and material costs. However, if such defects are not repaired in time, the house will soon simply become warped or deformed irrevocably.