How to prevent cracks in building

Cracks in building are a common occurrence and it is important to understand the causes and the
measures to be taken for their prevention.Materials such as bricks,mortar and concrete, which contain
considerable quantity of water at the time of construction, dry out subsequently and under go major
contraction.
GENERAL MEASURES FOR PROTECTION OF CRACKS..
The measures for prevention of cracks could be broadly grouped under the following main sub heads :a) Selection of materials:Good quality of building materials according to the specification if used that will minimize the cracks in
the building.
b)Specifications for mortar and concrete:The ratio of the mortar and concrete should be according to the prescribed design. Care should be taken
that the coarse aggregate, fine aggregate should be free from silt suspended impurities and the mix should
be homogeneous, well mixed and contain no excessive of water.
c) Drawing and Design of the building:While doing the construction work care should be taken that foundation of the building should not be laid
on loose /muddy soil. The mortar, M S steel reinforcement should be according to the design.
d) Good Construction practices:It is necessary that work proceed uniformly in all part of building. The workmanship should be according
to the prescribed norms and best practice in the building construction.
e)Weather Effect:The construction work should be avoided in very hot and dry weather, and during very low temperature
also.
In general quality of water, sand ,Bajri , mixing of mortar ,quantity of water in mix , socking of bricks and
workmanship have great effect on construction work. If possible the subsequent items of construction
should be done after the drying of work previously done.
1) Diagonal cracks in bricks wall:Causes :-

a) Differential
settlement of
foundation .
b) Shrinkage of
clayey soil below
foundation. This
some time
happen from the
absorption of
moisture by the
tree roots in the
vicinity.
PREVENTIVE MEASURES:a) Building should be constructed over soil strata have in uniform characteristics.
b) Adequate plinth protection and drainage arrangements should be made around the building to minimize
water entry in the foundation.
c) Avoid construction of walls on filled up soil
d)Do not let trees grow too close to buildings an d compound wall specially if the soil happen to be
shrinkage soil/clay.
2) Vertical cracks in long compound wall:Causes :-

Do not leaving
expansion/contra
ction joints at
proper interval ,
in cold weather
when the wall
tense to contract
due to
temperature drop
but being not
allowed to
contract freely. It
develop tensile
stress and when
the tensile stress
exceed the
strength, the wall
cracks. Similarly
in hot weather
wall tends to
expend and if
expansion is not
allowed to occur
freely
compressive
stresses will
develop in the
wall and when
they exceed the
strength , wall
will break.
PREVENTIVE MEASURES :Leave expansion/contraction joints at regular interval specially in long stresses of wall.
3) Cracks in load bearing masonry wall below RCC slab:Causes :-

Absence of slip
joints between
RCC slab and
wall does not
allow RCC slab
to move freely
over wall and
leads to cracking
in the wall. Some
times the
movement of the
slab may also
cause cracking in
masonry at lintel
and window sill
level because
here is the
masonry is weak.
These cracks are
observed mainly
on the top most
story of the
building because
roof is more
exposed to
temperature
variation .
`
PREVENTIVE
MEASURES :Before casting RCC slabs over brick wall , smooth bearing plaster should be done over brick walls
coupled with white wash / bitumen coating . over it. It allowed slab to move freely over wall ..
4) Vertical Formation of cracks at the base of parapet wall:Causes :-

An instant of
very frequent
occurrences of
thermal cracks in
building is the
formation of
horizontal cracks
at the sport of a
brick parapet
wall. Factors
which contribute
to this type of
cracking are :a) Thermal
coefficient of
concrete is twice
that of brick work
and thus
differential
expansion and
contraction
causes a
horizontal shear
stress at the
junction of the
two materials.
b) Drying
shrinkage of
concrete is three
to four time that
of brick masonry.
c) Parapet are
generally built of
concrete slab
before the latter
has undergone its
drying shrinkage
fully . Parapet or
railing does not
have much self
weight to resist
horizontal shear
force at it sports
caused by
differential
thermal
movement and
differential
drying shrinkage.
PREVENTIVE

MEASURES :Construction of masonry over the slab should be deferred as much as possible ( at least one month ) so
that concrete under goes some drying shrinkage prior to construction of parapet. Mortar of parapet
masonry should be rich and a good bond should be ensured between masonry and concrete. Plastering on
masonry and RCC work should be deferred as much as possible and made discontinuous at the junction
by Providing V groove in plaster. This way the cracks if occur , will get concealed behind the groove and
not be conspicuous. In case of iron railing , cracks could be avoided by substituting the brick work with a
RCC wall, sporting RCC railing.
5) Vertical cracks at junction of main wall and cross walls:Causes :Improper
bonding of cross
walls with main
walls by not
leaving proper
keys in the main
wall.

PREVENTIVE MEASURES :Main and cross walls should be properly bonded by proper toothing.
6)Vertical and horizontal cracks in panel walls in RCC framed structure:Causes :-

Panels wall are

built very tightly
to the RCC
beams so that
RCC beams are
not free to
deflect, load is
transmitted to the
wall and vertical
and horizontal
cracks are
produced in the
wall depending
upon the
direction in
which wall is
more slender
( i..e. Along
height or
length ) .

PREVENTIVE
MEASURES :Some gap should be left between top of panel wall and bottam of the beam/slab so that beam can deflect
freely. This gap can be filled by weak mortar. If lateral support is required to be given to wall beam/slab
then some special lateral connections can be made in such a way that free deflection of beam is not
hindered in vertical direction.
7) Horizontal cracks in the top most story below slab:Causes :-

Cracks are due to

deflection of slab
and lifting up of
edge of the slab.
Cracks are
mostly confined
to the top most
story because of
light vertical load
of parapet wall
on slab due to
which end of the
slab lifts. These
cracks normally
occur in roof
slabs of large
span.

PREVENTIVE MEASURES :a) Bearing plaster should be done on top of wall below RCC slab with a coat of white wash or bitumen.
b) Avoid large spans of roof slab , if possible provide beams to reduce the length of the slab.
8) Diagonal cracks in panel walls in RCC framed structure:Causes :When RCC
frame
moves/deflects
due to loads,
temp,variation
etc. it causes
diagonal cracks
in walls which
are located
parallel to the
movement.

PREVENTIVE MEASURES :Walls should not be build tightly to the columns. For taking lateral supports from column, special
connections should be made between wall and column which provide lateral supports to wall but does not
tie it too tightly to the column .

9 ) Vertical cracks below openings in line with window jambs:Causes :These cracks are
caused due to
vertical shear
caused by
differential strain
in the lightly
loaded masonry
below the
opening and
heavily loaded
portion of wall
having no
opening.
PREVENTIVE MEASURES :A) Too much disparity in stress in different walls or parts of a wall should be avoided.
B) Portion of wall acting as pillars and having too much concentrated loads should be replaced by R R C
pillars., if possible.
10) Cracking due to arching and up heaving of a floor:Causes :a) Due to
sulphate action in
base concrete.
b) Due to
expansion of
clayey soil below
by absorbing
moisture.
PREVENTIVE MEASURES :a) Take all measures to prevent contact of sulphates with cement or use sulphate resistant cement.
b) If clayey soil exists below building , measures should be taken to prevent water entry under the ground
by constructing suitable plinth protection and drains etc.
11) Arching up and cracking of coping above retaining/boundary wall:Causes :Due to not
leaving
expansion joints
wall & coping.
PREVENTIVE MEASURES :Leave proper expansion joints in walls. Avoid long stretches of wall.

Demarcation/layout Procedure
The following procedure is recommended for demarcation of a building.

For layout of a building baseline is marked on the ground either from centre line of the
road or from any permanent building nearby. This line helps to mark out the front of a
building. Side baseline is also marked with the help of side structure or road or it can be
marked with the help of first baseline or boundary of the plot.

Fix temporary pegs at the centre line of walls/columns on both sides of walls and columns
in front and back side.

Fix peg at the centre line of walls/columns on both sides of wall and columns in left and
right side of front of building.

Check diagonals of the square or rectangle formed after fixing pegs.

Construct Burji or marking pillars with pegs at a distance of 1.5 meter to 2 meters and
their top surface should be plastered.

Mark centre line on the top of Burjis with the help of thread (Soot) or with the Thedolite
in big projects and the diagonal and other dimension should be checked.

Level Burji on all corners of building and the top level is fixed at a proposed plinth level.

Mark the foundation of walls/columns according to drawing on the ground with the help of
centerline marked on the Burji.

Mark foundation trenches on the ground with chalk powder.

Excavate the foundation of the walls /columns up to required level and the excavation
must be checked with the help of centre line and level burji to avoid any complication
later on.

Advantages of Layout with the help of Burjis

It saves time for measuring and setting of point again and again at the time of
construction.

It increases the efficiency of mason and foreman for doing their jobs.

Accuracy can be checked at any time at any step.

If any mistake is found, it can be easily be rectified at early stage. It is very difficult to
rectify the mistake in later.

Cross check can be done by senior engineer in minimum time.

A qualitative work is maintained.

Disadvantages for doing the work without layout

At some sites of work the contractor brings steel pieces, erects the same on the ground and start
the work of excavation. In due course these steel pieces are just discarded. Thus no proper
reference point is available while doing further jobs.

It involves extra time for measuring the offset again and again.

Accuracy can not be checked at early stage and it will be very difficult to rectify the same
in later stage.

It involves wastage of time and money while doing rectification. This also leads to bad
quality of work.

Materials used during Setting up of Layout

1. Leveling Instrument
2. Balli
3. Long Nails
4. Hammer
5. Right Angle(Guniya)
6. Steel Tape
7. Thin Cotton Thread
8. Bricks
9. Cement
10. Screen Sand
11. Lime Powder
12. Theodolite