Stair Step Cracks In Concrete Block Walls Florida

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.

Stair step cracks in concrete block walls florida.

Apply concrete to any gaps in the blocks or mortar using a shovel. These cracks can let in water but they re not a sign of faulty supports. According to almost home stair step cracks in cinder block foundation walls usually found in unfinished basements are a result of soil settling beneath the center of the wall. Instead your foundation may be expanding and retracting in response to the weather.

Fill the holes and cracks as deeply as you can then scrape the top over with a trowel so the concrete can patch the wall together evenly. The crack will be a result of that rapid change. Some cracking on the block wall was noted in a few areas around the perimeter of the dwelling. Hairline cracking within concrete block walls is the result of internal stresses resulting from shrinkage creep and thermal expansion and contraction.

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. All of which are anticipated can be predicted and need to be accounted for in design and construction. 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 stair step pattern. A typical cause of diagonal or step cracking in a concrete block wall and some brick or other cmu walls is frost heave or settlement but as you can see in the photo below a collapsing masonry block foundation may also show diagonal cracking near wall corners.

Stair step concrete block walls often crack along their block lines. 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. Fill in the cracks or holes with concrete. Hairline cracking within concrete block walls often referred to as stair step cracking or mortar joint cracking is an example of an imperfection or distress but does not typically compromise structural integrity.