During our house inspections in Melbourne, we frequently comes across patched wall cracks either internally or externally and the difficultly lies in whether or not these cracks are dormant or live.

Apart from the normal house inspection process, further enquires need to be made with tenants or vendors to ascertain when the cracks appeared, when they were patched and if they have been opening up over time.  FurtheraAssessment of the footings, foundation, drainage, trees, plumbing etc. is required.  This enables a more accurate assessment and solution.

The above photograph was taken by Mr Inspector, a qualified building inspector in Melbourne after being engaged by a property developer to assess a number of dwellings in Soho, New York in December, 2014.

The photograph depicts a masonry wall that has experienced some significant settlement and unevenness.   Extensive patching has taken place.  After consultation with a structural engineer the wall needed to be re-built at quite a large expense.