If You Notice This 1 Thing On Your Walls, Your Home Could Be In Immediate Danger
Homes are living, breathing structures that age like we do, and we all encounter cracks appearing inside of them over time.
The trick is learning the difference between when you can relax and when you should worry about whether a wall crack is a warning sign of your home having structural damage ― and in worst cases, being on the brink of collapse.
HuffPost talked with home experts who see wall cracks all the time for their job to share their tips on which types of crack you should take action upon ASAP.
DON’T worry about hairline cracks in drywall ― especially after sudden temperature changes.
Drywall is a common construction material for walls, and if you have a hairline crack on one of these walls, “it’s usually nothing to worry about,” said Katie Whitaker, licensed home inspector and owner of Handyma’am Home Inspections.
These cracks are usually no wider than a credit card, and they typically run in relatively clean lines that should look like they “followed a seam,” Whitaker said.
“If you have what looks like a clean break or crack, then it’s probably just a bad tape and mud job” that happened from not enough mud being used or products not setting properly when the drywall was getting made, they explained.
If you live in a New York City apartment where your landlord can suddenly blast the heat, for example, Whitaker said you’ll usually notice a hairline crack in your drywall after a drastic temperature change.
And if you’re curious whether your wall is drywall, knock on it with your fist. If it has a hollow thunking sound, that is drywall. Whitaker advised: “When you knock on plaster, it’s going to sound more solid.”
DO worry about certain horizontal cracks ― especially if you also notice other signs.
You can relax about some drywall cracks, but you should pay closer attention to a horizontal crack or a diagonal drywall crack that changes directions, Whitaker said.
A big horizontal crack, in general, does not necessarily mean your home is going to collapse soon, but it does indicate “that something is not properly supported and pressure isn’t being distributed evenly,” Whitaker said.
If horizontal cracks happen in drywall, “Those can indicate that there’s a structural problem, because that’s not how a drywall seam would be placed,” they said. “You should definitely have them assessed by a professional, especially if they’re getting larger, or if you’ve noticed other things like a sloping floor, or your doors and windows aren’t opening and closing.”
If your doors and windows are suddenly harder to open in a room with a crack, that could be a sign that your foundation or the framing members that support your doors are moving, Whitaker said.
What Whitaker stressed is to pay attention to other changing factors in your home in addition to the crack that can signal your issue is getting worse. They gave the timeline of noticing a crack, then noticing the crack is growing quickly, and then seeing a slope in a floor that was not there before, as an example.
If “you have two or more factors, it’s time to get it looked at,” Whitaker said.
When you want to check on a concerning wall crack, you can often first start with a home repair person or general contractor you trust.
A handyperson can tell you, “‘We can repair that no problem,’ or ‘Hey, that crack is worrisome,’” Whitaker said. Be prepared to share the history of the crack and if you have had any leaks recently, or if this crack has appeared in other areas.
From there, this home repair person can “point you in the right direction” of what you should do next, Whitaker said.
DO also pay attention to foundation cracks.
Whether you have a concrete-slab foundation or a crawl-space foundation for your house, cracks that appear here can also be troubling signs of structural issues.
Your foundation wall is “where they dig down into the earth and they pour the actual foundation, which is that wall, because when it’s down in the earth below the frost line...the earth around it is what holds that house and that foundation in place,” said Oklahoma City-based home inspector Melissa Coon.
If you do see a crack in visible parts of your foundation wall such as in your basement, and that crack is horizontal, or V-shaped, or actively getting worse, that may be a time to do an emergency call. A V-shaped crack that is bigger on one side indicates there is uneven pressure, Whitaker said.
Seeing horizontal cracks in your foundation wall is “usually a really good indication that you’re going to have some severe structural problems,” Coon said.
“Go ahead and call a structural engineer at that point,” Whitaker said in these scenarios. It’s a structural engineer’s job to “go over the integrity of the home to make sure it’s not in a really compromised condition,” Coon explained.
In general, both experts emphasize taking a holistic approach to cracks. Cracks are valuable information, but they do not tell the whole story of what could be happening to your home.
“You really have to look at the big picture,” Coon said, saying that residents should pay attention to drainage surrounding their homes, because that can worsen structural issues.
Notice when cracks keep coming back. “If a person finds a small crack, and they repair it, and then they notice [the wall] is separated again ... That’s something to pay attention to, because that tells you right there, you have movement,” she said.
