BaseCheck NZ
Answers for New Zealand homeowners. These are educational screening notes, not personalised assessment or engineering advice.
Cracking is common in homes and can have many causes, including finish movement, moisture, ground conditions, construction details, and structural movement. Direction, material, location, change over time, and accompanying signs provide context, but a photo or rule of thumb cannot confirm the cause.
Prompt attention is warranted for stepped cracks in brick or block, diagonal cracks from openings, cracks that are visibly changing, or cracking accompanied by leaning, new floor slope, or doors that stopped closing. Width is useful context, but there is no universal millimetre threshold that determines cause or safety.
It depends on the evidence and the work being considered. A qualified building professional can inspect many common defects; structural uncertainty may need an engineer, and drainage concerns may need a drainlayer. Photo screening can help you organise the visible signs and questions, but it cannot choose the professional or replace an on-site assessment.
Costs vary widely with cause, access, design, consent, extent, reinstatement, and region. The cost guide gives Aidan's broad 2026 experience-based context, but only a defined on-site scope can produce a quotation.
Fine cracking can occur at plasterboard joints, but appearance alone cannot confirm cause or safety. Record any change and consider the material, location, recent events, and accompanying signs.
Openings concentrate stress, so cracks can appear near their corners for several reasons. A new or growing diagonal crack, especially with other changes, is useful evidence to have assessed.
Photograph and date it before cosmetic work. If it reopens or changes, preserve that evidence and obtain suitable advice rather than assuming it is only a paint or filler problem.
It depends on the evidence and work being considered. A qualified building professional can inspect many defects; structural uncertainty may need an engineer, and drainage concerns may need a drainlayer. Photo screening cannot make that choice for you.
No. Ground or foundation movement, thermal movement, lintel or tie details, corrosion, and other building conditions can produce stepped patterns. An on-site assessment is needed to establish cause.
Repointing can change the appearance without addressing an underlying issue. Establish the cause and obtain a suitable repair specification before choosing cosmetic or structural work.
There is no repair that follows from the crack pattern alone. Depending on an on-site investigation, work might involve moisture or drainage management, masonry details, localised foundation work, or a different response. The cost guide explains broad scope factors, not a prescription.
Different repair philosophies, methods, access assessments, and overheads. A 2–3x spread between quotes for the same job is common — which is why understanding the cause before collecting quotes matters.
Cover depends on the event, policy, evidence, and insurer assessment. Contact your insurer rather than assuming a gradual or sudden cause is covered, and preserve dated photos and records.
Do not assume foundation or drainage work is exempt or suitable for DIY. Consent, restricted-building-work, safety, and licensing requirements depend on the exact work. Check with your council and use appropriately qualified people.
Compare the written scope, assumptions, exclusions, quantities, materials, access, inspections, consent allowance, reinstatement, GST, and warranty. Ask each contractor to explain differences, and obtain independent professional advice for structural uncertainty.
Seasonal sticking can reflect timber humidity, finishes, hardware, ground moisture, or more than one factor. Record when it happens and whether other doors, cracks, gaps, or floor levels change; the pattern alone does not establish cause.
Older homes may have longstanding slope, but there is no universal acceptable number. New or increasing slope and accompanying changes provide useful context for an on-site assessment.
It can. A frame may go out of square when supporting structure moves, but humidity, hinge wear, paint, and joinery issues can also make a door stick. Look at the wider pattern.
Cost depends on the established cause and defined scope. Hardware adjustment differs greatly from drainage, pile, levelling, or structural work; see the experience-based cost guide and obtain a property-specific quote.
That is a property-specific financial and technical decision. Clarify the report finding, obtain suitable inspections and quotations where needed, and discuss the contract and conditions with your lawyer or adviser before deciding.
It may be possible depending on your sale-and-purchase agreement and the evidence. Ask your lawyer or property adviser how the relevant conditions apply, and use qualified inspection or quotation evidence rather than assumptions.
Read the inspector's exact recommendation and ask them to clarify its scope. If structural cause, stability, ground conditions, or repair design is uncertain, an appropriately qualified engineer may be needed.
Timeframes vary by region, urgency, access, and professional availability. Contact suitable professionals early and ask the vendor for an extension through your lawyer if the due-diligence period is too short.
There is no single width that makes a crack structural. Width, material, direction, location, change over time, and accompanying signs all matter, and cause or safety cannot be established from a measurement alone.
Fine finish cracking can occur in new homes, but no shape or age makes a crack automatically normal. Record it early, notify the builder or relevant party within applicable time limits, and obtain qualified advice if it changes or concerns you.
Photograph and date the crack before cosmetic work, keep invoices and any advice, and avoid concealing a known material issue. Ask your agent or lawyer about disclosure obligations for your circumstances.
Use dated photos with a ruler or another fixed scale reference, taken from the same angle and distance. Choose the monitoring period with suitable professional advice, and stop monitoring if the crack changes quickly or other warning signs appear.
Enormously variable: original untreated totara/hardwood piles have sometimes lasted a century; others fail in decades. Ground moisture, timber species, and ventilation dominate. Age alone doesn't always condemn piles — condition does.
Only an on-site assessment can define whether no work, localised work, or broader repiling is appropriate. Floor bounce, slope, multiple changing doors, or visible deterioration are reasons to gather evidence, not a repair scope by themselves.
From low thousands for a few piles to five figures for a full repile, driven mostly by access height and pile count.
Only from a safe position at the access hatch, without entering the subfloor. Do not enter a low, wet, damaged, electrically hazardous, or otherwise unsafe area; use a suitably qualified inspector when access is unsafe or uncertain.
A hairline appearance alone cannot establish cause or safety after an earthquake. Document new damage, follow official safety directions, and seek professional assessment when there are structural warning signs or uncertainty.
Document everything and notify your insurer promptly regardless — early notification keeps options open. What's claimable depends on your policy and assessment.
Fresh cracks have clean, sharp, dust-free edges; old ones have paint, dirt, or filler inside. This is also why photographing your house before the next event (any time now) is genuinely worthwhile.
Prioritise safety and official assessment. While waiting, preserve dated photos and notes without entering damaged areas. BaseCheck can help organise visible evidence, but it cannot clear a building or replace an inspection.
There is no universal monitoring period. Ask a suitably qualified building professional whether monitoring is appropriate and when to return for your situation. Do not delay seeking advice because you are waiting to complete a general schedule.
Ask the professional advising you which tool and method suit the crack. A scale in the same plane as the crack can provide context in a photo, but angle and placement affect the result. Use the same method consistently and do not report more precision than it supports.
Some professionals may recommend monitoring for a particular situation and specify a method. Repeat homeowner photos are a record, not a substitute for a professional instrument, assessment, or interpretation.
Record what you observed and when, then contact an appropriately qualified building professional if you are concerned. A photo record cannot establish the cause or safety of a building.
Its significance depends on the element, extent, exposure, reinforcement condition, and structural role. Loose concrete can also be a falling hazard. Do not disturb it; arrange suitable assessment.
Yes. Rust staining or a crack aligned with reinforcement can support a corrosion hypothesis, while stepped or diagonal patterns can have several causes. Photos cannot rule foundation movement in or out.
Cover depends on the cause, event, policy wording, evidence, and insurer assessment. Contact your insurer rather than assuming corrosion, maintenance, or sudden damage is covered.
The appropriate person depends on the element, extent, exposure, and whether structural capacity may be affected. A qualified building or concrete-repair professional can inspect it, with engineering input where structural uncertainty exists. Photo screening cannot choose the category on its own.
