How to fix a crack in the wall
Cracks in walls are not uncommon in Australian houses – occurring in both outside brickwork walls and inside plaster-board and rendered walls.
There are many possible causes of cracked walls. But by far the most common cause is the sinking of that part of the building footing which was supporting the wall.
Building footings sink when they lose support from the foundation ground. The recent many years of drought in Australia have dried out soils containing reactive clay. The clay shrinks and the house loses support. This practically never happens evenly, so parts of the footing sink and wall cracks appear.
When Uretek relevels sunken floors and foundations such wall cracks usually close up. The process of raising, re-leveling and re-supporting a house is called ‘underpinning’.
The traditional method of underpinning was concrete underpinning. This old-fashioned method is sometimes still used, but it has several major drawbacks including being a very lengthy process and creating a great deal of mess. It involves digging into the dirt to make large holes under the building footings, pouring in large concrete blocks, waiting for them to set and then jacking the house up off those blocks.
There are other drawbacks to concrete underpinning – the large concrete blocks add significant weight to already stressed ground.
And if concrete underpins are put under just part of the house, that part will be firmly anchored while other parts are free to move up and down. This can cause whole new patterns of wall cracks!
THE URETEK METHOD
It’s the modern way to underpin your home. It’s like keyhole surgery compared with concrete underpinning.
Uretek has none of the drawbacks of concrete underpinning.
- Unique, Uretek structural expanding resin is injected through tiny holes.
- The Uretek resins expand, to fill any voids, compact any soft ground and then raise the home back to level.
- Enormous, but controlled pressure can be exerted.
- This process is controlled with constant monitoring by laser level.
- Unlike old-fashioned concrete underpinning, releveling homes with Uretek Slab Lifting is very fast and clean.
- No excavation, no water, no cement dust and no mess.
- No need for occupants to move out.
- Raising and releveling a house rarely takes more than one day, often just a few hours.
- There’s usually no need to move much furniture or even floor coverings.
- Often most work is done from outside. When working inside and where floor surfaces such as parquetry or ceramic tiles require it, injection can be carried out through even smaller 6 mm holes, placed carefully to be as unobtrusive as possible.
Wall cracks usually close up as Uretek lifts the foundation. With brickwork then only some re-pointing of mortar joints may be required. With plaster or render walls only some fine patching and repainting may be needed.
Uretek cannot guarantee that all wall cracks will indeed close up as the footings are lifted: structural movement or previous patching and/or pieces of debris in the cracks may prevent them from closing fully. Even then the re-support and leveling will usually prevent future movement and the re-opening of cracks. So surface repair and redecoration can be undertaken.
Gaps below skirting boards are also usually closed up.
Windows and doors also usually begin to work properly again as Uretek lifts sunken footings and floors back to their correct levels.
Uretek offers you these additional reassurances:
- There are usually substantial cost savings when Uretek is used to relevel homes.
- The injected Uretek material that supports the house is completely non-toxic, inert and environmentally friendly.
Uretek explains How to fix a crack in the wall provides a unique and patented remedial system to solve building and construction problems, we re-level concrete floor, sunken house, underpin, underpinning, wall crack, lift foundation, building subsidence
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