Cracks appeared in garage wall
Discussion
We had a garage built 18 months ago, seemed a very nice job.
Just been out there and noticed that a crack has opened up to the side of the steel lintel over the side door where it meets breeze block.
Now, I know buildings shift, but it's been there 18 months and it was cold last winter too. Worrying was when I opened the uPVC door I really struggled to get it closed again.
Will be calling the builder in the new year and getti g him t come and take a look but does it sound serious? Can it be sorted easily? Happy enough to fil lthe gaps with expanding foam, but not happy if it's affecting the side door...
The wall on the other side of the garage had some expansion gaps build in to prevent cracking and they do seem to have opened up a bit.
Just been out there and noticed that a crack has opened up to the side of the steel lintel over the side door where it meets breeze block.
Now, I know buildings shift, but it's been there 18 months and it was cold last winter too. Worrying was when I opened the uPVC door I really struggled to get it closed again.
Will be calling the builder in the new year and getti g him t come and take a look but does it sound serious? Can it be sorted easily? Happy enough to fil lthe gaps with expanding foam, but not happy if it's affecting the side door...
The wall on the other side of the garage had some expansion gaps build in to prevent cracking and they do seem to have opened up a bit.
NiceCupOfTea said:
Will take some pics in a bit.
Door closes but won't latch until I lean on it, and it needs pressure in the right place to get the deadlock to close when I turn the key...
Look for the allen key adjusters near the hinges .Door closes but won't latch until I lean on it, and it needs pressure in the right place to get the deadlock to close when I turn the key...
Lots of pvcu doors suffer from temp. extremes.
Pics as promised:
The big crack, at least a 1/4 of an inch
Daylight visible from the other side
Brickwork seems to have moved away from the frame:
Other side of the lintel:
From the inside - thik there was a gap to start with as the mortar at the bottom looks undisturbed:
And from the outside for scale:
As you can see, it's a fair old gap and I'm worried about the door. Can't see any other cracks in the render or brickwork, but the gaps in the other long wall on the other side of the garage left for expansion appear to have opened up. There's a window in the same wall as the door but there doesn't appear to be any movement there. There is a eucalyptus tree about 20 feet away that has been chopped back recently but there are no signs of subsidence or anything, and we had it done by pros. Can't remember about foundations, but they seemed decent enough at the time, reckon about 3 feet?
What's going on?
The big crack, at least a 1/4 of an inch
Daylight visible from the other side
Brickwork seems to have moved away from the frame:
Other side of the lintel:
From the inside - thik there was a gap to start with as the mortar at the bottom looks undisturbed:
And from the outside for scale:
As you can see, it's a fair old gap and I'm worried about the door. Can't see any other cracks in the render or brickwork, but the gaps in the other long wall on the other side of the garage left for expansion appear to have opened up. There's a window in the same wall as the door but there doesn't appear to be any movement there. There is a eucalyptus tree about 20 feet away that has been chopped back recently but there are no signs of subsidence or anything, and we had it done by pros. Can't remember about foundations, but they seemed decent enough at the time, reckon about 3 feet?
What's going on?
Problem is the lintel. The length is fine but the width is inadequate. At a guess the garage has an overall cavity of approx 275mm+,
the lintel is only 200mm wide which means the outter brick/block work is overhanging, add to this the wall plate is sat on the outter skin and there's your problem= inadequately supported brickwork + movement of the door, not sure what the door is fixed to as it appears there's no reveals, and the load of joists/wallplate.
And as for the bellcast...
ETA; Without any weight/load on the inner section of the lintel there will always be flexing on the outter.
Would have been better with concrete lintels and brickwork over.
the lintel is only 200mm wide which means the outter brick/block work is overhanging, add to this the wall plate is sat on the outter skin and there's your problem= inadequately supported brickwork + movement of the door, not sure what the door is fixed to as it appears there's no reveals, and the load of joists/wallplate.
And as for the bellcast...
ETA; Without any weight/load on the inner section of the lintel there will always be flexing on the outter.
Would have been better with concrete lintels and brickwork over.
Edited by Spudler on Friday 24th December 20:49
Spudler said:
Problem is the lintel.
Really?? Looks more like the whole end of the garage is settling and pulling away from the rest of the building, hence the gaps around the door, end of the lintel etc. The lintel here doesn't do much, apart from fill the gap above the door. It isn't meant to hold the walls together, and it certainly won't hold that end wall still if the foundations subside. Cracks will appear around it......
Are there any cracks elsewhere on the end wall NCOT??
Do you know just how deep and solid the foundations were, did you see them being laid?
I am not so sure the lintel is the problem.The lintel should indeed be the same width as the wall and appears to be 200mm.If it is cavity,Maybe the builder has used a bit of timber or something to make up the difference although it looks more like the wall is solid not cavity and lintel is fine.Wall plate is above the lintel.The lintel isnt causing a crack;
Crack it is caused by sideways movement or expansion.Looks a bit too much for expansion for me.
I see sideways movement in the wall at the top to the rhs of the UPVC door, from the outside ,demonstrated by the crack in the rendering and inside where you can see daylight above the door, also by the gap where the wall seems to have pulled away from the door at the top.It seems to me that the Corner may have dropped causing the gap in the door to be wide at the top and nill at the bottom.Any cracks in the floor?If it is caused by subsidance/settlement at that end,there will be other signs that may not be quite so obvious.
Question is how quickly has it opened up?Has it stopped moving or will it continue.
Best get an engineer to have a look.Difficult just from photos.
Crack it is caused by sideways movement or expansion.Looks a bit too much for expansion for me.
I see sideways movement in the wall at the top to the rhs of the UPVC door, from the outside ,demonstrated by the crack in the rendering and inside where you can see daylight above the door, also by the gap where the wall seems to have pulled away from the door at the top.It seems to me that the Corner may have dropped causing the gap in the door to be wide at the top and nill at the bottom.Any cracks in the floor?If it is caused by subsidance/settlement at that end,there will be other signs that may not be quite so obvious.
Question is how quickly has it opened up?Has it stopped moving or will it continue.
Best get an engineer to have a look.Difficult just from photos.
Edited by aycee on Friday 24th December 22:15
Edited by aycee on Friday 24th December 22:28
No other cracks that I can see, certainly nothing that has cracked the render.
Foundations were 2-3 feet deep from memory, looked pretty solid. I have photos somewhere.
Spudler, don't really understand what your's saying - the lintel is the full width of the wall. There's no brickwork on top of it to support.
Foundations were 2-3 feet deep from memory, looked pretty solid. I have photos somewhere.
Spudler, don't really understand what your's saying - the lintel is the full width of the wall. There's no brickwork on top of it to support.
I'm going to go slightly away from that and reckon it's 200 solid construction with a combined box lintel. The wonderful belldrip detail caused because the lintel wasn't placed quite right or the infill bricks weren't bedded tight back to the centre. Infill bricks haven't been coursed into the blockwork which is why you have a clean break at the end of the lintel.
Either way the detail is wrong. No strength in the lintel at all as there is nothing capturing the box section. Roof plate should be over the box but of course with 200 construction and a pitch you need the last course to be a single brick or slip blocks for the rafters to clear the outer edge.
I'd also be interested to know what form of fixing the plate has to the outer edge. Windy days are getting worse with all this climate change you know.
Either way it is what we call in the trade a bodge.
Having said all of that I'm not convinced that the deflection is enough to have caused that amount of draw away at the ends. Could just be settlement showing up at the weakest point.
Clay ground?
Either way the detail is wrong. No strength in the lintel at all as there is nothing capturing the box section. Roof plate should be over the box but of course with 200 construction and a pitch you need the last course to be a single brick or slip blocks for the rafters to clear the outer edge.
I'd also be interested to know what form of fixing the plate has to the outer edge. Windy days are getting worse with all this climate change you know.
Either way it is what we call in the trade a bodge.
Having said all of that I'm not convinced that the deflection is enough to have caused that amount of draw away at the ends. Could just be settlement showing up at the weakest point.
Clay ground?
aycee said:
I see sideways movement in the wall at the top to the rhs of the UPVC door, from the outside, demonstrated by the crack in the rendering and inside where you can see daylight above the door, also by the gap where the wall seems to have pulled away from the door at the top.
It seems to me that the Corner may have dropped causing the gap in the door to be wide at the top and nil at the bottom.
I must say this is how it looks to me. The lintel only needs to support the wallplate if the inside leaf is not doing anything (it seems to be just for insulation?).It seems to me that the Corner may have dropped causing the gap in the door to be wide at the top and nil at the bottom.
You ought to check for any wood in there however - it could be there is some wood swelling and pushing the top apart. If not, it looks like it is moving a little from the foundations. I'd check for anything sucking the water out of the ground on the RHS of the door pictured.
Globs said:
aycee said:
I see sideways movement in the wall at the top to the rhs of the UPVC door, from the outside, demonstrated by the crack in the rendering and inside where you can see daylight above the door, also by the gap where the wall seems to have pulled away from the door at the top.
It seems to me that the Corner may have dropped causing the gap in the door to be wide at the top and nil at the bottom.
I must say this is how it looks to me. The lintel only needs to support the wallplate if the inside leaf is not doing anything (it seems to be just for insulation?).It seems to me that the Corner may have dropped causing the gap in the door to be wide at the top and nil at the bottom.
You ought to check for any wood in there however - it could be there is some wood swelling and pushing the top apart. If not, it looks like it is moving a little from the foundations. I'd check for anything sucking the water out of the ground on the RHS of the door pictured.
What is the overall width of the cavity wall? There is a 100mm block showing internaly, the width of the frame profile(70mm?) and it look like there's the best part of 100mm block showing from the outside, so somewhere in the region of 270mm overall.
The lintel your builder has used is designed for solid walls (200-215mm) as the pic in Motorvators post, not for the cavity on your garage.
As a rough guide you shouldn't overhang brick/block more than 25mm over the lintel edge, i've seen brickies do it time and time again, even proping up the brickwork wedged with a 4x2 between the opening.
Basicly the wrong lintel without any brick bonding into the masonry on either side and still supporting the wall plate.
My reference to the bellcast was due to it being near on 9" above the DPC...why?
Do you know what the door is actually fixed to?
The lintel your builder has used is designed for solid walls (200-215mm) as the pic in Motorvators post, not for the cavity on your garage.
As a rough guide you shouldn't overhang brick/block more than 25mm over the lintel edge, i've seen brickies do it time and time again, even proping up the brickwork wedged with a 4x2 between the opening.
Basicly the wrong lintel without any brick bonding into the masonry on either side and still supporting the wall plate.
My reference to the bellcast was due to it being near on 9" above the DPC...why?
Do you know what the door is actually fixed to?
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