Stair Step Or Stepped Cracks In Concrete Block Walls

Use the gun to force a thick bead of caulk into the crack.

Stair step or stepped cracks in concrete block walls.

In most cases you won t have to worry about the minor cracks that appear in your concrete block wall. This is fixable in many cases but a professional should inspect it before you repair to ensure that the wall doesn t need to be rebuilt. These types of cracks are a larger concern if they are accompanied by a bulging wall or if the crack measures more than inch wide. Cracks in brick cmu and poured concrete walls that have a pattern to them can be indications of serious structural problems that can be expensive to cure.

Thin cracks can be filled with masonry crack filler or concrete repair caulk and a caulk gun. The continuous pattern usually follows the grout or cement. Stair step cracks a stair step crack looks like a flight of stairs and runs in both vertical and horizontal directions across the wall. Stair step cracks in walls well trained and experienced home inspectors like michael del greco will accurately report any cracks that are found in brick cmu or poured concrete walls even if they do not look like they are going to fail.

Diagonal foundation or wall cracks in concrete block or other cmu walls foundations diagnosis repair. Stair step shape cracks in masonry may signal an underlying issue including the potential for foundation issues. Shape the caulk with a putty knife or trowel and allow it to dry. A stair step crack is a diagonal crack but since mortar is usually not as strong as concrete block or brick the crack migrates to the mortar joints as it zigzags along a path of least resistance.

This chapter of the foundation crack bible discusses in detail the process of evaluating stair stepped or diagonal cracking and related signs of foundation movement or damage in concrete block walls. Level and adjust as necessary. Place the blocks on top of the compacted stair tread area making sure to allow for 6 in. To ensure that the blocks will be level with the corresponding wall place a block on the wall as a reference point and level from that block to the block being used for the stair treads.

A house that sits on a hillside is more likely to have stair step cracks. Stair step concrete block walls often crack along their block lines. Sometimes a stair step crack will mostly follow the mortar joints then take a short cut through a defective block or brick before returning to the. The gaps in the wall can run in different directions but one common crack is called a stair step where the crack follows the mortar at a diagonal spreading across many blocks.