ᐅ Cracks running completely through the masonry of the gable wall, building year 1968.

Hello everyone,

My name is Lukas, I’m 27 years old, a heating technician by profession, and I own a fully renovated two-family house, built in 1968, except for the roof.

I hope I’m in the right place with my issue:

Yesterday, we had an extremely strong storm for about 30 minutes. At my coworker’s place in a neighboring town, 250 roof tiles were thrown as far as 50 meters (164 feet) away from the roof.

So today, I wanted to check my attic to see if everything is still okay and if all the tiles are still secure.

I noticed that on both gable walls, there is a crack running all the way through the masonry—from the reinforced concrete floor to the roof, extending to the outside.

I am certain these cracks were not there a month ago.

I believe the gable walls are non-load-bearing because the 10-meter-long (33 feet) purlin is not supported in the middle, and when tapping on the gable walls, they don’t sound like bricks but rather hollow.

Still, I am a bit worried and have already reported the damage to my insurance company.

All other walls show no cracks at all.

Could someone give me an initial assessment of what might have happened here?

Best regards,

Lukas

Lukas_Sch schrieb:
I think the gable walls are not load-bearing because the 10-meter (32.8-foot) long ridge beam is not supported in the middle

I don’t follow the logic that a wall that has to support something on its own is therefore not load-bearing.

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The logic is that only the rafters support the roof, and the weight is transferred through the two long exterior walls.

The gable wall is there solely to enclose the attic space.

But that’s how it is. Unpredictable, fierce, and forceful. It comes around the corner, takes a deep breath, then exhales—whoosh whoosh, the roof shudders, the gable wall creaks and rubs, and just like that, it has blown a crack right in. Oh, the storm...

Ok, it can be closed. This is getting too frustrating for me here.

Lukas_Sch schrieb:
The idea is that only the rafters carry the roof and that the weight is transferred through the two long outer walls.

That would be illogical. The rafters also need support. They are supported below by the wall plates (which in turn are supported by the eave-side walls, if I’m correct) and above by the ridge beam. And the ridge beam here is only supported by the gable walls, since you said

Lukas_Sch schrieb:
that the 10 meter (33 feet) long beam is not supported in the middle

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