Wall Crack Repair in Wollongong

What wall-crack-repair in Wollongong actually involves

CSIRO describes step cracking in the mortar beds of a wall, and above or below openings such as doors and windows, as one of the marks of footing movement, and says monitoring of cracks in walls and floors should always be treated seriously. It gives no crack width that we can publish as the line between harmless and a concern: the table that carries such figures loses its columns when reproduced, and other published bands are contested. So this site gives no crack-width figure, and a provider who names a width as the line should say where it comes from.

Repairing without the cause

A crack filled and painted while its cause carries on is the case CSIRO warns of: the cracking usually continues until the cause is dealt with. Ask a provider whether the quote is for the crack or for what made it, and what will be checked afterwards. A dated photograph with something for scale gives you a record to compare against.

In Wollongong, patching a crack in an external wall can meet a planning rule where the house is a listed item or inside a mapped heritage conservation area. Wollongong Local Environmental Plan 2009 requires consent to alter the exterior of a building in such an area, including changes to its detail, fabric, finish or appearance, but lets the work go ahead without consent where the council has advised in writing beforehand that it is satisfied the work is of a minor nature or is maintenance and would not harm the area's heritage significance. Whether a crack repair is one or the other is not something the plan says, so ask the council before work starts.

Wall Crack Repair in Wollongong — common questions

Can I ignore a crack?

Sometimes. CSIRO says most cracking in masonry walls is a cosmetic nuisance and can be kept in repair or even ignored, and it separates that from cracking that keeps developing.

Does repairing a crack fix the cause?

Not by itself. Where a leak or a stormwater failure is the cause, CSIRO says the remedy is to repair that, and where the ground is at fault the cracking usually continues until the cause is remedied.

What does crack repair cost?

We set no price and show no figure for crack repair: the sources we found were older than a year or gave different units.