Repair a structural crack in cinder block wall
Hello everyone, in this video I just explain some tips on Repairing a structural crack in cinder block wall. The idea is to just repair the area to the right with a coat of plaster then re-skim the entire wall.
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Kirk Giordano Plastering Inc.
Thanks for watching and have a great day!
Kirk & Jason Giordano’s DIY plastering network
I always pick up knowledge from these videos. Thank you.
Howdy Savage Henry, thank you. Old kirk may not know beans about plumbing or electricity but I do know stucco and concrete very well, Thanks for the comment and have a good evening. Kirk and family
Great advise Kirk.
My thought is to repair the crack then saw cut the block so that WHEN it moves again, as it will do, you then have a straight vertical line of movement rather than a rough edge.
Shannon
Hi Shannon K, this may work?
What i did is essentially is a similar process with less effort although I did not show it. I applied a two part epoxy in the crack, then applied a scratch coat on the left side to bring it out to the existing right side which has moved about 1 inch forward. Then I plastered away the other areas of this wall which were not compromised.
Lastly I skimmed coated over this entire area where both side's were the same depth after allowing my scratch to cure.
I'm curious, does this make sense to you?
I have found that sometimes simple things like this I understand as I have been working this trade for over 30 years but explaining it does require the ability to understand the principles of stucco, concrete and movement that most folks have no knowledge, and why should they as it's pretty boring unless you wish something similar repaired.
Thanks for watching.
Kirk and family
@StuccoPlastering Makes perfect sense to me.
I work in landscape and irrigation (mostly irrigation) and have seen my fair share of failed walls in my 20 odd years in.
I have been experimenting on my place with some sand, cement and lime render (stucco, plaster etc) As i have a good 1/2" rake on the brick so its a challenge for a beginner. Once I am a little further along I will email you some pics from the great land of OZ.
Cheers Kirk.
Shannon
Hi Shannon K, looking forward to the pictures,
Cheers!
kirk and family
Saw cut the block after repair? Can anyone elaborate
Thanks for the vid, I have the same problem with a garden retaining wall.
You definitely DON'T have "hundreds of tons of pressure" on a wall that's less than 4 ft. tall. Probably less than 1000 psf, but we get your point. Danny Isla, P.E.
HI Danny Isla, thanks for the tip, I'm no engineer but I do know stucco,
best wishes.
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"Hundreds of tons of pressure" may sound like a feasible explanation to the home owner excusing all repair attempts in advance
Cumulatively
There is a three foot cinder block planter at the front of the single wide mobile home where I am doing some handy man work. At one corner of the planter, the corner or the place where the wall changes direction (turns left), a separation has developed over many years. Now, the gap is about four inches and one of the veritcal rebar pieces is exposed. How do I join the corners back together successfully so that the planter is again with proper right angle corners?
Morning David dude,
stucco or caulking, but this will always be a temporary fix, as caulking or an inch or even a foot of stucco won't hold a retaining wall that is moving,
Best wishes,
kirk giordano Rendering
After the repair and proper preparation of the cinder block surface, I will be applying stucco. Will probably be in touch with you again at that point. Thanks for your help.
Morning David, no worries, I'll be here,
Cheers!
Kirk and Jason Giordano DIY plastering tips
if its being painted why not dig the dirt back take the blockes out and re build that section of the wall put your drain in why do lame repairs that dont work in the first place?
@John Wilson This wall was being painted with a picture, the home owners didn't want the grout lines showing, Kirk Giordano
I have done a few of this type of repair, and what ive done was grab a bag of quickcrete mortar (green bag) 3-4 bags of 5000psi qickcrete rapid set concrete ( red bag) and a trenching shovel, dig out approx 6-8 ft length behind wall and the width of shovel wide and as deep as you can go, pop off the cap blocks, and remove a downward v worth of blocks, keep the ones you pull out to reuse, leave morter out of bottom block side joint for drainage, lay a top course line and go to town. after reaching the height needed get 10 bucks worth of rebar as long as poss and hammer it down as far as possible and pour concrete into center, cut off rebar just at top, set cap block. Done. i have less than 50 bucks in parts and 4-5 hrs labor. maybe 6 hrs if all the block arent usable, figure in another trip to homey D or Lowes. all great ideas though
Howdy Michale, yours is a better solution, I can and have repaired similar cracks at least 20 different ways from french drains to simply caulking.
This repair was free due to the fact I was skim coating the whole wall at an agreed upon coat.
At free, it's tough to commit myself to anything more than the fix I show,
best wishes and keep up the good work,
kirk giordano plastering
Like it. Good thinking. Go for permanence every time. I couldn't help noticing that the crack appeared down a line where the bricks were not 'tied in' to each other. So……could this have been another method or add on?
Howdy Howard, absolutely,
Cheers,
kirk giordano
Spira-Bar 6mm stainless steel imbedded laterally across crack in bed joints would help stabilize and may make repair reliable.
I would like to watch you remove the fence, dig down 5 feet, take old blocks out, mix mortar, replace old blocks, and fill will steel reinforced concrete in 6 hours.
what's with that outfit? renaissance faire concrete man?
Morning Larry dude, Exzackory,
Cheers,
kirk giordano Rendering
Good day Mr. Giordano, what caulk are you using? Where can I purchase? Thanks for all your professionalism, I appreciate all your great videos. God bless
Good afternoon Javier dude, I'm using Sikaflex polyurethane caulking, Sika's polyurethane caulking which is excellent for joint sealing in buildings and civil engineering structures, strung stuff, but don't get it on your hands as it's a real drag to remove.
Live long and plaster
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good guidiness. thanks.
Howdy Gupta, thank you my friend.
Live long and plaster,
Sharing stucco secrets and or common sense tips
but why would all that amount of pressure only push the one wall and not the other? is it racist pressure or something
Good Evening Dude, doubtful this wall cares anything about race, however, if you look close, you can see both walls are different colors, thus set at different times more than likely by different guys.
One guy's work was better than the other, no feeling was involved.
Best wishes,
Sharing stucco secrets and or common sense plastering tips
Xypex and hydri is what works. This is what they use on this dams
Evening Comment dude, thanks for the tip.
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Repairing is one thing but how do you keep it from happening to begin with?? Thanks..
Evening Yuan, french drains are needed. When appropriately installed, transports the water from added too much pressure to the area.
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So what is the name of the caulking you are using? Thanks!
You need to dig out soil behind the wall, fill it with 40mm clean gravel, wrap the gravel, and drill some weep holes . You don't need an French drain for such a small wall. It's not hard work. If you don't, the wall will eventually come down.
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Once a retaining wall begins to move, it's going to keep on moving unless it's structurally corrected. Nice to see your honesty with your customer that the repair will be temporary.