Acceptable settling cracks

N

Neil_Ireland

Registered User
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189
Hi,

I moved into a new house in July this year, the house was completed in Feb this year. Over the past month or so a vertical crack appeared on the landing. It was small enough to start but now it's about 13 feet long and looks terrible.
There is another crack appearing in my bedroom and it's about 3 feet long.

Is there any onus on the builder to fix these?

Thanks and happy Christmas :)
 
My builder came out and plastered over the very fine cracks in my hallway about a year afterwards. In any case he wanted to have a look and make sure it was a standard crack which is to be expected from the mortar drying out. You can always ask your builder to take a look at it.

As far as I know, my house is protected by Homebond for ten years if anything worse should happen.

http://www.homebond.ie/
 
bullworth said:
My builder came out and plastered over the very fine cracks in my hallway about a year afterwards. In any case he wanted to have a look and make sure it was a standard crack which is to be expected from the mortar drying out. You can always ask your builder to take a look at it.

As far as I know, my house is protected by Homebond for ten years if anything worse should happen.

http://www.homebond.ie/
Click to expand...

Thanks bullworth, mine is covered by homebond too but would rather not have to try and claim off them if I could just ask the builder nicely.
The builder is still on site so I'll talk to him in the newyear.

Cheers.
 
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Neil_Ireland said:
Thanks bullworth, mine is covered by homebond too but would rather not have to try and claim off them if I could just ask the builder nicely.
The builder is still on site so I'll talk to him in the newyear.

Cheers.
Click to expand...

Hi Neil,

Under a building contract the one day, one month, one year rule of thumb for concrete supports a 12 month defect liability period.
You may not have the protection of such a contractual arrangement and even so builders may be considered within their rights to leave ordinary cracking defects until the last minute to rectify.
Otherwise they'll end up doing the same crack two or three times as it widens over the course of the year.
Cracks in the 0.5 - 1.5mm range could be seen in traditional building - "v" out the crack, fill, sand back and touch up with paint.

However I don't think there is a yardstick in relation to newer sealed buildings.
IOW there seems to be no defining text against which to judge cracks in them.
Thus there may be no way of assessing the cracks effect on internal sealing except by empirical testing.

The builder should come back and make good regardless - assuming he's still in business and in funds in the new year.
I'd talk to him today and get a written/faxed confirmation of his agreed attendances on a date in the new year.

ONQ.
 
Thanks ONQ.

Yes the builder is still going, they are starting to build again in the spring. The foreman is on site 5 days a week.

Neil.
 
Neil,

I've worked in this area for quite a few years and can also give you the benefit of my own new home experience... shrinkage cracks can occur for up to 3 years post-build. It's the moisture evaporating from the building and they are very common on plasterboard walls. We had them on the ceilings, in the corners from window frames and above door frames. We left them for 3 years before scraping, filling and sanding them and then repainting the house. If you do them now - as Onq says, they can and will reoccur.

Incidentally, shrinkage cracks are NOT covered under the building agreement or the Homebond/Premier Guarantee system as they are naturally part of the drying out process of a new dwelling. Homebond even mention this in their customer handbook (pages 23-26 if I can remember correctly... I've issued it to so many people at this stage!!!). However any external cracks do merit attention from the builder and if this happens, you should photograph the problem and contact them immediately so they can inspect the issue.
 
You are extremely lucky - builder still on site - ours vanished as soon as something (money ran out, Celtic Tiger bolted, snag lists too long..). So, just be nice to your builder, make him/her tea, a breakfast roll, and invite him/her to family parties ...... you lucky thing!!!! :)
 
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