Is this wall crack concerning to you?

Thank you all for your replies! Sounds like it’s not of immediate concern. No recent structural work, and the crack does not slope towards a staircase. This is above a hallway and the staircase is on the other side of the building (on the side by the top of the crack, not the bottom – but separated by a good amount of space).

StoopLady

in General Discussion 2 years and 5 months ago

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StoopLady | 2 years and 5 months ago

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It’s concerning to me, but I’m paranoid and know nothing about this stuff. [A1CDE5B7-246F-4481-A33F-2248A20ED7B1](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s3/:brownstoner:KTFl:a1cde5b7246f4481a33f2248a20ed7b1.jpeg.jpg)

justinromeu26 | 2 years and 5 months ago

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All of these houses get them. I am not an engineer, but that it runs from the corner of the opening and up at an angle makes me think that part of that wall settled out of sync with the other part and the crack opened. I wonder if you look at the floor to the left side of this if there is perhaps an opening for a staircase and the floor has slope a little in that direction.

This is what i would do. Assuming it is stable, put some dash patch or plaster into it. Let it harden. And tape it and spackle over and sand it smooth like any other taped seam. Prime paint.

You can fill it with dash patch and sand but the line will always be a problem.

If the plaster has come unkeyed, you can explore plaster screws.

Also, if that opened that way because of a sloping floor and you do that repair and one lift the floor, the plaster will crack off where you make the repair.

Steve
Brownstonehomeinspection.com

justinromeu26 | 2 years and 5 months ago

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One day lift…

RobertGMarvin

in General Discussion 2 years and 5 months ago

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I had some cracks like that which haven’t recurred since my walls were skim coated, including fiberglass mesh, several years ago.

stoopsitter | 2 years and 5 months ago

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I’ve always heard that vertical cracks are less concerning than horizontal ones. I guess for obvious reasons. But, as Bob says, a good painter can clean out the crack, mesh the area and re-skim. If the crack starts to reappear, there be an area of weakness nearby — perhaps a wall was removed below and the weight isn’t evenly distributed. You could consult a structural engineer but that’s likely overkill. One contractor told me to expect to replaster vulnerable wall areas every 15-20 years in the average brownstone, just due to wear and tear, especially from vibrations on the staircase.

lucie | 2 years and 5 months ago

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Which wall is this? You can take a look at the same wall below and above.
Did you do structural work?
We did work twice on 2 houses with structural engineer supervision ( and with architect and permits).
House in Brooklyn had smaller cracks then yours before the job. But it was sitting on the wood beam and brick columns. After the job it was sitting on steel and steel columns.
Once pre job cracks were fixed the same wall ( middle load bearing wall that runs from the front to the back of the house) slowly developed some minor hair cracks like yours but not as deep and mach smaller due to the natural settlement.
We kept fixing them and now I think it is finally settled.
Our other house had wall cracks like yours when we bought it ( I think even larger cracks).
We did structural reinforcement ( house needed new main beam and new columns: brick house had wood columns! supporting some newer composite beam).

the reason I tell you this long story is that ceilings in that rooms reflected the fact that walls had cracks. And we took plaster down from all ceilings.
Keep an eye on your ceiling if you see crack on the wall like this.
If it is still plaster it might be not visible, but could be compromised already.
It is better to be pro-active on this.

lucie | 2 years and 5 months ago

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Which wall is this? You can take a look at the same wall below and above.
Did you do structural work?
We did work twice on 2 houses with structural engineer supervision ( and with architect and permits).
House in Brooklyn had smaller cracks then yours before the job. But it was sitting on the wood beam and brick columns. After the job it was sitting on steel and steel columns.
Once pre job cracks were fixed the same wall ( middle load bearing wall that runs from the front to the back of the house) slowly developed some minor hair cracks like yours but not as deep and mach smaller due to the natural settlement.
We kept fixing them and now I think it is finally settled.
Our other house had wall cracks like yours when we bought it ( I think even larger cracks).
We did structural reinforcement ( house needed new main beam and new columns: brick house had wood columns! supporting some newer composite beam).

the reason I tell you this long story is that ceilings in that rooms reflected the fact that walls had cracks. And we took plaster down from all ceilings.
Keep an eye on your ceiling if you see crack on the wall like this.
If it is still plaster it might be not visible, but could be compromised already.
It is better to be pro-active on this.

justinromeu26 | 2 years and 5 months ago

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So what stoopsitter said. 15-20 years. We moved in 17 years ago and i taped and patched and about two years ago i began thinking it is time to do it again.

And engineer would probably be overkill. Understand though, these plaster walls can crack in all sorts of directions for all sorts of reason and i am not sure how dry the wood was when it went in 100 yrs ago, but humity and temperature cause things to move. Happens in new construction as well. What stoop sitter is saying .about horizontal might apply if something ran the length of a wall and really opened but is probably more true of a horizontal crack in a poured or even block foundation.

I would love to know if this crack opened on a wall that is running across the house toward a slope where there is a staircase. It looks typical.