From my own experience it is obvious the house was abandoned for long and you did not move in so nature took its natural course of breaking down anything not in use or being maintained
Naturally a house that's not lived in tends to disintegrate but having cracks, roof leakage,termite infestation etc just to name a few
Just keep up the maintainance work and over time so far you are living there it will stabilize trust me I have been there

Least I forget when you move into a house the echo's of doors closing and vibration of movement also stops the cracks from starting even fence that's outside gets affected too when weed takes over and lizards etc brings about cracks and collapse
Also poor foundation and wrong mixture of cement to sand ratio and stumps of trees not properly removed tend to force its way up there by cracking the wall

Reinforce the building now if you have the money. Although it's not easy.

Olulinks:
I'm still waiting to read your solution to the matter raised, sir. All am still seeing from you is a reminder of the problem or the likely cause but the OP needs a possible way out sir.

Lol, i don't want to give him wrong advice. The best i can do is to refer him to a civil engineer.

If you go to ordinary doctor for a tooth problem, he might know your problem very well but will refer you to experts like a dentists.

P.S: OP has already bypassed my own field which is to test his cement in lab before using. So the level he is now, i can't advice him but can only tell him the cause of his problem.

haywire07:

Most likely
1. You didn't use columns at the corners of your buildings
2. Even if you didn't use columns at the appropriate positions, you didn't use a beam to tie your walls .
Your walls are 'separating' because there is nothing to tie them together . You would have used a perimeter beam round the entire wall course either at lintel level or a roof beam .
The perimeter beam only needs to run on the exterior walls alone .

I can also suggest you use concrete Fins.

Thanks for this profound response. Actually I have seven (7) pillars in the building. It was 8 pillars earmarked but we did 7 eventually. It was tied around twice on the lintels and on the roofing levels with conrete.

The blocks are of stone dusts and strong too. At a time they was a serous blast sound from a stone/quary site, closeby like a bomb or dynamite that shook the entire neighbourhood and I suspected it may have caused the cracks on those corner angles of the building, so it's not clear what could be the reasons by my lay understanding. The blasts also come up from time to time but not all the time that the sound is heavy as that reported case, except I didn't know.

I wish you could study my scenario more and explain what could be the concerns and how i can solve or correct it.

snakebeat:

Good suggestions but It may not necessary be foundation sir, weak blocks and poor mix ratio for mortar can also be a major cause of cracks in buildings when subjected to roof load. Also the type of sand that was used...

I agree with you even though I am not a builder. How can it be figured out and fixed?

ekanDamie:
architect and builders in the building pls I have pictures here showing the front view of our building
it started small and has enlarged to the extent the crack in the pics can now be viewed from inside, it's a see through.
please is there any explanation or solution to this menace?

Before solution is proffered, root causes need to be identified.

Possible causes

1. Load bearing walls.
Most of the hollow sandcrete walls we use for construction do not passes the minimum compressive strength to for such purpose. When used, the roof load in addition to wind load overburden the walls thereby causing cracks on the walls.

2. Differential settlement of bearing soil.
We often ignore the importance of our soil structure to structural stability. When we found our foundation on loose or poor soil strata, there's every possibilities that the exerted load from the building would seytle differentially. If this occurs, visible cracks are experienced.

3. Poor foundation.
Almost same as 2 above but critical only for storey buildings. Based on the pictures seen, your building is a bungalow.


Possible Solutions

1. Introduce external columns as known as wing walls connected with beams to support your building externally. Also, some parts of the wall could be exposed to introduce columns with beams connecting them. This is to reduce the load exerted on the walls.

2. If your soil is not stable, you'll need to a modified raft foundation only on the perimeter of the building. Excavation should be done down to like 300mm below the existing foundation where a footing would be made to stabilise n support the base of the existing foundation. After this, a retaining well is built up against the wall of the existing foundation upto like 300mm above the DPC.

3. Same as 2 above but short columns could be added to it for structural rigidity.


All the best bro

Nice professional advise but ensure the excavation is done at interval eg dig 1m lenght and leave another 1m undug at interval. Once the concrete cures, repeat same process for the undug.

Finally, u can construct a raised blockwall platform 500mm wide by 300mm high(filled with laterite and the top filled with concrete) around the entire building.

Fill all openings/cracks with rich cement motar mix.

I think a differential settlement is the cause of the Crack.

All the best man.

haywire07:



Man, the problem is from the foundation . It won't even stop there ,u will soon notice your window and door frames are also getting slack , your ceiling or PVC or whatever will start separating from the walls and the cracks begins to appear in another part of the wall .


Solution-
Use fillers like cement mix to fill the spaces (might be temporary too)
It could be as bad as trying to introduce a reinforced free standing concrete column if the spacing gets wider

But a long lasting but time consuming solution is what we Architects or engineers call 'underpining' - in simple terms , dig the ground till under d existing foundation (I.e the initial foundation is suspended ) then fill it with concrete, wait till it sets , then cover up .

Jonwesley:


Thanks for this profound response. Actually I have seven (7) pillars in the building. It was 8 pillars earmarked but we did 7 eventually. It was tied around twice on the lintels and on the roofing levels with conrete.

The blocks are of stone dusts and strong too. At a time they was a serous blast sound from a stone/quary site, closeby like a bomb or dynamite that shook the entire neighbourhood and I suspected it may have caused the cracks on those corner angles of the building, so it's not clear what could be the reasons by my lay understanding. The blasts also come up from time to time but not all the time that the sound is heavy as that reported case, except I didn't know.

I wish you could study my scenario more and explain what could be the concerns and how i can solve or correct it.

Vibration has effects on buildings and also the soil stability. Mining too . That's one of the reasons why houses shouldn't be situated close to rail lines or blast sites.

That aside, is there a column at the joints that are separating?
If there is none, den introduce one there by inserting reinforcement bars and cast. You can Make the columns in form a concrete fin .
Fins literarily are like columns leaning on a wall .

Also note that there is need to "anchor" your reinforcement bars in your beams or lintels before they are casted . Many ironbenders just place the bars without anchoring . Anchoring helps against separation

haywire07:
Ekandamie

Differential settling is natural. I can say its almost unavoidable . In simple terms it means the ground on which the foundation rests is sinking 'randomly' . When a part of the ground sinks, the foundation that rests on that part will sink too ." so the sinking occurs differentially"

Its worse in marshy grounds because the soil is soft during rainy season .
Settling occurs on stable grounds too that's one of the reasons why we usually use ground beams

Thanks for your response. But this idea of using columns on d edges of bungalow...is it proper to terminate the columns at the chained lintel level or it is compulsory to do a roof beam to terminate the columns? because the columns are terminated at the lintel level in most of the uncompleted buildings i see around. Thanks.

haywire07:


Vibration has effects on buildings and also the soil stability. Mining too . That's one of the reasons why houses shouldn't be situated close to rail lines or blast sites.

That aside, is there a column at the joints that are separating?
If there is none, den introduce one there by inserting reinforcement bars and cast. You can Make the columns in form a concrete fin .
Fins literarily are like columns leaning on a wall .

Also note that there is need to "anchor" your reinforcement bars in your beams or lintels before they are casted . Many ironbenders just place the bars without anchoring . Anchoring helps against separation

Yeah, the columns were tied around with the beams on the lintels and roofing levels including the corners that have the noticeable cracks. Maybe it was not enough or we ought to have added more columns at certain points.
I will follow your directive and involve an expert to make correction. I really appreciate your attention and quick response. Thanks so much please.

johnson232:

Thanks for your response. But this idea of using columns on d edges of bungalow...is it proper to terminate the columns at the chained lintel level or it is compulsory to do a roof beam to terminate the columns? because the columns are terminated at the lintel level in most of the uncompleted buildings i see around. Thanks.

Most buildings? .
I don't think its proper. Your column has to terminate inside your roof beam .
Its duty is to collect load being carried by the beam and transfer it to the foundation then to the surrounding ground

Deilluminator:
I agree with you even though I am not a builder. How can it be figured out and fixed?

I have already suggested some approach above sir.

haywire07:


Most buildings? .
I don't think its proper. Your column has to terminate inside your roof beam .
Its duty is to collect load being carried by the beam and transfer it to the foundation then to the surrounding ground

Thanks alot

Foxyn:
the sign is clear.

this means that the witches are trying to destroy your house spiritually though it's happening physically for you to see.


now here's what you need to do, buy insects powder, pour inside the lines and cement it.

by 12:00am, you wake up and pray on it. then finalize the prayer by pouring an olive oil on where you cemented it

count yourself a free man

go and sin no more

Nairaland and comedy! I'm laughing!

I know this will Help

Hi, am Oladim[color=#000000][/color][center][/center][left][/left]eji a Builder By training and Profession here is my take on your question (for the sake of clarity am going to communicate as simple as I can be)

First thing is that, there are many factors that can lead to crack in Building wall ranging from:
Poor Block
Poor sand use for mortar material (Mortar: That thin joint Binding, Blocks together)
Builder trying to manage Cement use for Mortar
Poor Soil you Building is built upon
Vibration from Neighboring environment ; which I believe is the cause of the Crack we have here


With the Crack being a a result of a Single Major Vibration from Neighboring environment ; I will say that is a good news; though not saying for certainty there are no other factor contributing to this but I will say at least we know the major factor, making us to get less concer with the others.


CORRECT THE CRACK YOURSELF
Equipments needed : Hammer, Chisel, Hand Trowel, Rubbing Board
Materials: Cement, Soil (Not that Kind erosion Sandy soil oo, but those kind whitish/Brownish one that have the ability to gum when use for wall plastering, and definitely am not talking of clay as clay will crack as its dry

PROCEDURE
1.Expanding the crack so that the opening is now about 3 - 5 Centimeters along the crack. Using chisel and hammer.
2. Prepare the mortar to be Use for the Plastering of the Opening at Ratio [1 Cement and 4 Soil]and moderate water
3.Using a Broom or Wire Brush, ensure that the opening is having a ROUGH and not a smooth surface.
4. Add water to the prepare surface (This allow the plaster to bind well with the wall)
5. You can the apply your prepared mortar using Hand Trowel and Support with a Rubbing Board
6. Cover the crack, from down to Up
7. Allow to Dry, and you wall is ready
You can the repaint this part with the necessary paint, and your house is back to Fresh.

I will be glad this help.

For More Info Or assistance Kindly reach me on 09037462888

Thanks

Foxyn:
the sign is clear.

this means that the witches are trying to destroy your house spiritually though it's happening physically for you to see.


now here's what you need to do, buy insects powder, pour inside the lines and cement it.

by 12:00am, you wake up and pray on it. then finalize the prayer by pouring an olive oil on where you cemented it

count yourself a free man

go and sin no more

67 likes

Is this a Joke??

bebe2:

67 likes
Is this a Joke??

who gave you 15 likes on your dp? are they mad?

Foxyn:
who gave you 15 likes on your dp? are they mad?

Lol dat wasn't my dp then

Wish there are images of repairs been done on cracked walls.

Most cracks on building is as a result of differential settlement: a situation where a part of a building is settling down as a result of low bearing capacity of the soil underneath or poor foundation. Cracks can actually be controlled or fixed, you can click the link below to know more.
https://www.duzzlag.com/foundation-repair-methods/

https://www.duzzlag.com/types-of-underpinning-for-foundation-repair/