Causes of cracks in Buildings
In the previous article, we discussed the occurrence of cracks in buildings due to climatic factors and cracks occurred due to problem at the time of construction of the building. These fall under the category of Minor causes of Cracks in Buildings.
Now we will go ahead with our discussion on “Major causes of Cracks in a Building”.
Major causes of cracks in a building
- Movements of the ground
- Over loading
- Effect of gases, liquids and solids
- Effect of changes of temperature
- General causes such as vibrations etc
Movements of the ground
Mining subsidence, land slips, earthquakes, moisture changes due to clay shrinkable soils (for example, Black cotton soil).
Cracks occur because a part of the building is displaced from the rest without any change in the actual size of the material.
Overloading
- Overloading of the ground
- Overloading of the building itself
- Overloading of the building parts result in cracks
For example; Cracks under a floor due to overloading of slab.