Separating veneer???

[Serhiy2]

Good day,

I was doing foundation assessment and came across the cracks between stone veneer and stucco finish on the edges of the wall finished with veneer. Overall condition of veneer is fine with small cracks here and there and cracks where house and garage join (these ones are due to garage foundation moving seasonally - slab on grade foundation). First picture was taken at the attached garage wall corner. Second picture was taken at the house corner. It seems to be non-structural issue as the foundation below it is fine. You will notice that crack propagated into the grade slab on grade foundation but this is most likely because there is no bond break at the bottom of the veneer and grade beam so when veneer was detaching from the wall it also took some part of the slab with it. The only question I can't seem to find the answer is why that veneer is/was pulling away from the wall. Wall is facing north-west direction so I don't think it gets that hot to cause such significant differential material expansion although this could be the case. Also, I don't have building drawings so I don't know how that veneer attaches to the wall.

This crack is of not structural concern to me but I would still like to know what causes that veneer to detach. Would be happy to hear your thoughts. Thanks

 

[NorthCivil]

you have different facade materials, likely with different thermal expansion properties, bonded together. The stone and the stucco. looks like you're in a cold environment. is it hot in the summer too? humid?

My guess is these are thermal cracks. Possible rotten substrate behind the facade as well.

 

[Serhiy2]

I'm in central Canada. It gets hot and sometimes humid in Summer up to +40 degrees C (sorry don't know what it is in Farenheit). Winters are very cold and dry up to -40 degrees C.

 

[hokie66]

When you have two different materials meeting like that, you don't bind them together with a hard cementitious mortar. There should have been a flexible sealant joint. As to whether the stone veneer is adequately tied to the structural wall, you can't tell from those photos.

 

[bridgebuster]

Is the stucco wall built with concrete block? How thick is the veneer? A thin veneer < 25 mm needs a drainage mat behind it. You could try chipping out some of the mortar to see what’s going on. Maybe water or moisture is getting in. Sometimes stone veneer has a drainage cavity behind it to prevent freeze thaw damage. If the structural wall was built from blocks there should be ties to hold the stone to the wall. From the picture it looks like the builder tried to “glue” the stones to the wall with mortar.

Make sure the stones are tight to the wall and not giving way. Then you can clean up the end and repair it with backer rod and caulk.

C To F: 1.8C + 32

 

[jayrod12]

My money is on the structural walls being wood framed And the masonry veneer being tied back with galvanized straps.

There really should be an isolation joint between the stucco and the veneer. But that didn't happen in all these house built in the late 50s early 60s around here.

The grade beam cracking with the veneer is odd, but that could be a moisture type issue. Freeze thaw type cracking.

 

[masonrygeek]

As previous commentors have noted, there should have been a vertical isolation joint (sealant joint) between the stucco snd the masonry veneer to avoid this cracking. To me, this seems like an adhered veneer, since the stone (probably manufactured stone veneer, i.e. concrete) looks relatively thin. If it is an adhered veneer, it would be bonded directly to the wall with mortar and lath (no traditional wall ties or air space). There could be some debonding of the stone from the lath and that could make the cracking worse. Moisture is always an enemy no matter the system and should be addressed in some way or you will be back out there in two to five years recommending a new veneer wall.