House Structural Cracking, Serious?

[Green Nomad]

Hello All,

Have looked on here for any information about finding a structural surveyor in the Hua Hin area.

We have had our house now for 3 years, and we have been away from Thailand for the last 5 months, noticed the other day some cracking on the corners of the external walls. These vertical cracks correspond with, and are slightly wider than, the vertical concrete piles/supports, so would be actually in the area of the blocks. Been told by builder its settling. The corners are the left front and rear, no signs of cracking further down the walls, however there is small vertical cracking on the same corners inside, with some small horizontal cracks halfway down the walls.

Does anyone think, from this, that it could be serious, and will I need to get an independent assessment? GN.

[Green Nomad]

Here are some photos..

[Green Nomad]

and another..sorry found I could only do one at a time.

[advocate]

As long as the structure is supported properly with adeqaute footings it should eventually stop settling. Hopefully it settles somewhat evenly and then eventually stops.Then you can re skim coat the walls and repaint.

Do all of your doors and windows still open and close correctly?
Any idea what size footings you have? Is it a 1 or 2 story house?

[splitlid]

yes looks like settlement, but some sort of scale would be nice. a ruler or finger in a pic would help.

[Green Nomad]

OK, thanks guys will put another photo on later.

Basically, the house is a single story with I believe to be 1 to 2 metre depth footings. There doesnt seem to be any other symptoms other than hairline cracking at the window sill areas. windows and doors are ok. Be back later. Thanks again GN.

[deepee]

Green Nomad,
Yep, does look like a bit of yinging and yanging going on in the wall between the wall pillars and the infill bricks, blocks or whatever?.Unsightly but not serious, as noted this is a common settlement issue . You would have a serious problem if cracks were to appear in the posts though.

[advocate]

The fact that it is a single story house is in your favor as much less weight on the foundation. The depth of the footings required is dependant on whether the land had to be filled. The footings should preferaly be installed at least down to the level of the original ground, and preferably 1 meter below that. The footings should be at least 80x80 cm wide. Some say 1 m wide. If your footings are adequate you should be ok.

If windows and doors are all ok, then seems it is sinking as one coherent unit, rather than one side of the house sinking independantly. If one side is sinking independantly, you can have serious problems.

If it was the pillars cracking, you would have serious problems. Cracking of the walls is not structural, and requires only minor cosmedic repair. Sounds like normal settlement, but only time will tell.

[splitlid]

The fact that it is a single story house is in your favor as much less weight on the foundation. The depth of the footings required is dependant on whether the land had to be filled. The footings should preferaly be installed at least down to the level of the original ground, and preferably 1 meter below that. The footings should be at least 80x80 cm wide. Some say 1 m wide. If your footings are adequate you should be ok.

If windows and doors are all ok, then seems it is sinking as one coherent unit, rather than one side of the house sinking independantly. If one side is sinking independantly, you can have serious problems.

If it was the pillars cracking, you would have serious problems. Cracking of the walls is not structural, and requires only minor cosmedic repair. Sounds like normal settlement, but only time will tell.

sorry advocate but you advice is incorrect

if it is a single story house then the footings are designed accordingly. double story will also be designed accordingly also so there is no.......well, you get my point.

the depth and size of the footing is dependant on the soil type and not on fill. size/type and depth is determined by a geosurvey.

cracking on walls could mean a movement in a footing, either in one or many areas, the fact that cracks appear in the walls means that there is obviously some movement.and therefore structural.