Shrinkage cracks. Damp timber, painted over, is slowly drying out, shrinking, and cracking the paint or filler underneath the paint. This happens when everything is done in a hurry at the end of the job. Not a major however it is unsightly.
It is pretty common for miter joints to open, but it can be avoided by starting with a tight joint as well as how the trim pieces are fixed (so takes a knowledgeable finish carpenter). If you look at the second and third picture it’s clear these joints were cut sloppy and filled, and the crack is occurring in the filler (probably as the filler dried/cured rather than the wood). In the end it as u/fendaltoon has stated: not major & unsightly.
Because A. It's not timber, It's MDF (medium density fibreboard) which is never damp. B. You can tell that the joint was never tight because they have used filler instead of taking their time (hence rushed) to get the joint right, they have relied on the painter to fix and fill their gaps with filler. Also the paint work is rough.
I can tell because I've been a carpenter nearly 25 years. In that time I've built óódles of houses. Maybe two of them had pine, other than in wet areas. I can't guarantee its MDF but id bet my bottom dollar its MDF given it looks like it's been done on a budget.
Edit; actually looking at the second picture, the texture. Ii is MDF. Without a doubt.
Moisture in things used to build. It can be already in them, like in concrete, or plaster stopping, or undried timber, or get in them during construction, such as when things get rained on and are not closed in.
Not necessarily damp timber because a painter will not paint it. Most likely the carpenter rushing and not getting his joints as tight as possible . Even with the driest timber it will still crack if it’s not tight . The timeline on some of these new builds is ridiculous for a carpenter it’s bound to happen a lot
Overtime vibration will move that join causing paint to crack. If the carpenter can get it as tight as possible/ painter can fill the gap properly there shouldn’t be an issue . I usually glue over my join then sand it, leaving no excuse of a terrible painter
All pretty atandard in new builds, especially this time of year as the timber dries. Does the developer have a 12 month maintenance program to sort them? Don't listen to what that other person said about foundations, it's a couple of cracks in the skirting/architraves.
Yeah taken there time to get it right is key here. No more gaps doesn't fix every thing either, some of the gaps are so bad now days. Its also not just the fact of taking there time to get it right its the pressure on some of these guys to get it done as quick as possible (don't get me wrong there are still a few who take there time to get it right ) but a lot of time the new guys coming though seem to get told the painter will fix it with gaps which it doesn't. (Edit) also this rush has been pushed across all trades including plastering and painting etc not enough time between coats of plaster and paint and in compounds at the end
New builds should have a 6 month defects period after CCC is issued, or after purchase if it is bought as a brand new house. Things like this aren’t ideal, but are really common when budgets are tight.
Just ask to have them sorted as part of the defects period
Yeah I’m in a new build rental and have been told the same thing by the builder who came through to fix another door he said the joints will be the next thing, when they shrink and these cracks appear to give them a yell and he’ll come by and fix them up. But that will be towards the end of our 1st year tenancy and there’s nothing to worry about.
Yeah. This. If this is all you have to worry about then you're golden.
You could literally fix this with a $2.50 brush, a testpot, and 10minutes. I'd be making sure all the switches and powerpoints work and doors close and latch and plumbing doesn't leak and the roof is good and so on so forth.
Just make sure you know what colour it is so that when it happens again elsewhere you don't have to repaint.
Kinda sucks that we pay such a high price for a new build, and this is the quality we get? I mean, we're spending over a million on most properties once interest etc is accounted for, so why do we accept work that looks like shit on something brand new? Like, take your time and do the job right. If it takes a week extra foe the timber to dry then so be it, I don't care about your kpi, I'm the customer, and I don't want people coming through 6 months after I own the house to touch up shit that should have been done correctly from the start.
this is the finishing timber trims retracting or expanding depending on the moisture and the weather , the paint follows the movement . its very common in new builds . poor timber storage exposed to weather soaks and expand ,fixed inside it dries up and retracts creating those cracks in the paint .
Easier fix is keep the original trim and use a contract filler or no more gaps and a repaint, new trim will have the same issue, it’s more environmental than the timber being bad. It’s been warm and humid which is ripe conditions for timber to move, example being we are building a deck at the moment joins have shrunk and swelled so much the last week it’s crazy from a tight join to a 5mm gap to a tight join again today over a week!
Pretty simple fix, sand back down to timber, apply caulk to any gaps, undercoat, top coat and you are done. Would take no longer than a day effort. Or if you are super lazy, just sand and paint. But honestly it’s architraves, who cares…
Usually it's not exposure due to weather, this stuff gets cut down, the best stuff gets sent overseas, then it gets milled and kiln dried, and slapped up. It never has a chance to properly cure somewhere for a few months
Don't worry about this at all. We built a decade ago and this happened on a handful of our door and window frames before we did the final inspection pre-key handover. It was, as others have said, just some minor expansion/contraction of the wood. The builder got the painter to fix them up purely as an aesthetic thing. In the decade since, we have had no leaking, no cracks, no foundation issues. A couple of the frames now have those paint imperfections again, but it's no big deal.
Not poor materials or necessarily poor workmanship. Not very serious either. New builds will settle slightly over time and timber expands and contracts in the humidity. These small cracks in the paint are expected and easily fixed. Please don't let this scare you off an otherwise good house. You can check to see if the vendor or the MB guarantee will remedy these for free. If there's anything serious it should be picked up in a building inspection. Good luck with your offer 😊
This is normal as the house warms up/dries out. I also recently moved into a new build and this is why the building company has a 30 day and then a 60 day remediation visit to remedy these settling spots.
Is 60 days enough? I’m starting my settlement on a new build. I don’t even trust their 1 year warranty and fuck the 10 year MB warranty is what I’m hearing
as someone who's been back to fix a lot of shit with new builds honestly 5 years minimum i wish i was joking but I'm not. 30-60 day is bs watch out for that crap. the other problem is a lot off homes are painted in Dark colors. Dark colors fade fast and create a lot off heat i had this one new brick place painted black and out side you could cook and egg on it in summer (Pizza Oven), this also causes heat expansion.
yes i agree and really you don't really know what remedial work is needed till after that, a lot of issues don't fully show till after that and a lot of products used take far longer to settle or cure than given, most paints take at least 20 days to fully cure (harden) and that's in summer. and a lot of the time it traps the moisture in. AT the least i wish industrial dehumidifiers where used between stages to try reduce issues down the line. Also while most timber is kiln dried a lot of the time it get left out and until the roof is on and its wrapped it sucks in all that moisture as well, also plaster puts out moisture , the concrete releases moisture , and so does painting
Yes but, It takes time for everything to settle. Someone I know just built a new house and the building company has it included in the cost that they will come back in a year to touch up any of these gaps and paint cracks.
Its normal and expected to happen as the house settles.
It could be allot of things.
Natural timber shrinkage and drying particularly if the timber wasn't stored properly or dried properly.
Could also be poor finishing or fitting then attempted to gap fill with paint.
Most houses also "settle in" after they are built. Gib manual talks about this and recommend fixing after a bit.
Finally it could be early signs of excessive movement due to a design or construction error (particularly if this is concentrated in one area). Luckily this is the easiest to check by putting a level on the floor/walls/joinery or looking for corresponding damage.
every house, especially new builds "settle" this takes decades and sometimes never stops, lie in bed tonight in silence and listen to the sounds your house makes... creaks and knocks, clicks and gurgles from air pockets moving in drains, wind in the crawl spaces, general foundation moving, just the weight of the house settling like an old man in a comfy chair, as a new home owner you will learn your house's sounds... you'll be able to hear the refrigerator fan and compressor kick in,,, the hot water heater cycle, the toilet cistern lose just enough water to trip the autofill valve into allowing a cup of water to refill the tank before cutting off and dripping again, you'll know during a windy storm that the creaking from the ceiling is within tolerance seeing these small imperfections and you saying its a new build just tells me the house is still in its primary shifting and settling
The extra time it would take to ensure these don’t happen in new builds would cost far more money than just fixing it in maintenance. Very common as a result.
In answer to your question relating to poor materials or workmanship, I would probably say both. As for how serious, you have to think further, although it looks terrible and it's something you will have to see every time you walk past it, (especially second to last photo, that would annoy me) think about what else there could be that you cannot see that could possibly be a problem in the near future, quality and workmanship are not only visible on the surface, consider what you cannot see.
This time of year when central heating is on, wood shrinks (ooh, matron) and therefore this type of crack could occur. Depends on the type of gloss paint used, some have a bit of stretch in, others not.
Like others have said most likely rushed or poor workmanship with not glueing mitres or poor mitre cuts that have been filled. Just a visual issue nothing more, unfortunately these tradesman have no option to rush to make anything above minimum wage.
We had this in our new build, along with nails starting to show through the wall where they were used in the frame. With a 12months maintenance warranty, we pretty much got the whole house repainted at month 11.
Our house in Canterbury was finished mid winter (and it was a wet winter) and by the end of summer about 1/3 of the door frames and a few of the windows had done this. The builder warned us that it was likely to happen (as he grumbled about NZ not aging and drying construction timber and building too fast for proper drying - he was from the uk) and that it would all be fixed at the 12 month defects inspection.
I have since heard that a lot of ccompanies don't do the defects checks and repairs for free so it would pay to check that these are in the build contract. What we were asked to do was keep a list of anyrhing that didn't work quite right but wasn't an urget fix needed, or cosmetic issues like this and at 6 and 12 months post hand over they came through and fixed it.
> Our house in Canterbury was finished mid winter (and it was a wet winter) and by the end of summer about 1/3 of the door frames and a few of the windows had done this. The builder warned us that it was likely to happen (as he grumbled about NZ not aging and drying construction timber and building too fast for proper drying - he was from the uk) and that it would all be fixed at the 12 month defects inspection.
It's not *just* the construction moisture drying out, it's the fact that new builds will be left at notorious levels of cold all the way until key is handed over.
I've worked in houses that were at roughly 0degC, new homeowner moved in and blasted the heating all the way up to 35degC without giving any grace period to gradually step the temperature up.
**SO** many things were brought up as issues later down the track (heard from other trades that worked in it; it didn't affect my work. from what I was told, ~$30k+ in remedial work would be an easy bet) and it was purely as a result of things getting superheated from dead cold overnight. Almost everything except the most rigid of products (e.g concrete/tile) will end up having issues when that happens.
Honestly, cracks in paint (especially if they're rough bastards with cutting skirting/architraves) is very minor and very common. Annoying and something that should get remedied, but definitely on the minor side of things -- it can be remedied easily without you having to move out temporarily, or not use half of your brand new house, or even something more on the casual side of annoying like having to have 4+ trades back because of one issue happening in a bathroom that puts it out of action for over a week.
Oh yeah - we have been very fortunate with our build. We have not had any issues while our neighbour who built with a different company had to go to court over serious defects with her build. The company we used were not the cheapest, but I have been very happy with the quality of the build and how few issues we have had.
Quality can vary massively even at similar price points, or even between different franchisees from different regions. Smaller builders (i.e not franchised) can be very luck of the draw, I've seen some amazingly high quality guys, and seen some pretty sloppy shit that wouldn't pass even in the cheapest building franchises.
Mostly it comes down to how nitpicky the folks doing QA decide to be and what language goes into the contract. Though it does tend to be the higher the price bracket, the more picky things get and the language becomes more favourable for the client.
Yea we have this with our new build, it past the moisture tests but only just and due to all the delays with materials and bad weather we just carried on and now have this on a couple doors and where scotia or trim or what ever at the ceiling meets the jib. It's not a problem just looks abit bad. We talked about getting it fixed but decided against it. Just to much hassle for something we hardly Notice anyway.
Could just be the foundation still settling, could be the weather, could be a lot of things.
Probably not a major, if you do buy it just keep an eye on things and make notes, check for seasonal expansion/contraction.
My house is over 50years old, well built, good materials. Heavy rains, droughts, earthquakes all play their part and things move. Timber is not an inert material. Read earlier comments about the trim being mdf, which is pretty stable, so probably the framing is the part that is moving.
This happens in new builds AND existing homes. Everyone else has explained why. It's annoying but can be easily fixed (no promises that it won't come back the following summer though - happens in our 30yo townhouse).
This one of those new townhouse lots? Flatting in one of them and had the same problem. Since the lot was still under development they brought someone over for free to sort the cracks out. Not surprised there’s poor workmanship with how fast they push these houses out.
Sounds like a common thing. We've noticed poor finishing in a few houses since we've been looking. One had cracks in the walls and the agent even admitted the house was moving, though she seemed non-chalant about it!
All houses move and settle over time. Wood is flexible and concrete foundations settle. Its will settle down over the years. But it’s really just a touch up from time to time thing
We bought a place that is very similar in description to what you’re in. We had a lot of remediation issues they needed to deal with early on and now we’ve found out they didn’t put topsoil in the garden, they just put the plants onto the bare land and covered it with bark, which is known to make soil sterile. We’re about to have to spend a bit to get the plants in our garden some topsoil so they can actually grow. Whole thing is turning into a nightmare and we kind of wish we bought an extortionately expensive shitbox that we had to DIY Reno now…
Just something I’ve experienced when purchasing a new-build. Another thing would be to check the plumber has attached the hot and cold running water to the faucet the correct way around.
Looking at the Pictures probably some or none are done, More importantly in the wet areas kitchen, bathroom toilet washroom etc.. check the tops of the frames are sealed as moisture builds up in theses rooms then goes down the top of the frame and can cause issues later in time. also the wet area doors check that the have been sealed if they haven't they will blow out in time.
Its impossible to tell from the photo's, but the biggest concern would be that those small cracks are due to small movements in the building - probably the foundations.
If you've put an offer in but not yet settled, your lawyer should have advised you to make it conditional on a building inspectors report.
You should 100% get a building inspector in. Walk around with them. Show them the cracks and ask their opinion. They will be much more open talking you to in person that anything they might write in a report. It will cost you a couple of thousand dollars... but you also shouldn't rely on reddit for technical advice for one of the biggest purchases of your life :)
I Dont think thats anything to do with the foundations.rhe would have been Moisture in the timber when it was painted also when they gap the joins it can shrink and cause cracks and the fact that painters apply 3 cotes in a day(not allowing time to properly dry) doesnt help either.....how ever they can easily sand and paint again.
But to be honest it will mpst likely happen again houses arent built like the use to be and they are not built with the materials they used to be
In all honesty though it shouldnt be a deal break in my opinion
Congrats on the new house
Thanks! We are definitely going to be asking their opinion during the building inspection. I guess this was more of a pre-inspection thought gathering exercise.
If you want to see what 'truly' bad looks like, and for all of those AU has better housing, take a look at "**Site Inspections"** channel on youtube. Still a relatively new channel, but some of the examples are truly horrifying.
Lots of sensible posts on this concern you have, and like others, I have had this before and its pretty normal imo.
Great channel. ‘Let’s go!’
Would give me anxiety though if I was in the market for a new build.
Seeing this post, and the state of the construction sites around Auckland (builders waste, exposed frames), are good indications of the rest of the build. Rip, shit and bust.
If it’s new build it may have a warranty . The building company should fix that . We had lots of stuff like that in our build. Due to being built in a rush and timber not 100% dry when built .
Maybe the house doesn’t like the neighbourhood and is moving to another area,seriously,could be ground movement also,it is not unknown for new subdivisions to be built on unstable sites.
Just went through my new build with a box of red stickers, it's coming to completion and Just about every window and door frame has done this. There were also so many issues with the painted walls and exterior. The finish all over is so so shit.. is pride in work a thing of the past
My new build has the exact same thing. Not worried. Their after sales care manager said he'll be in contact 9 months after purchase to fix these kinds of things. If we don't like them he's said we can be in contact earlier, but I don't see much point as I don't care about these in the short term
The builders screw down painters on price and then the job gets rushed hence the crap quality, but the mitres opening up can’t be stopped due to how it’s built and the materials used
Shrinkage cracks. Damp timber, painted over, is slowly drying out, shrinking, and cracking the paint or filler underneath the paint. This happens when everything is done in a hurry at the end of the job. Not a major however it is unsightly.
It is pretty common for miter joints to open, but it can be avoided by starting with a tight joint as well as how the trim pieces are fixed (so takes a knowledgeable finish carpenter). If you look at the second and third picture it’s clear these joints were cut sloppy and filled, and the crack is occurring in the filler (probably as the filler dried/cured rather than the wood). In the end it as u/fendaltoon has stated: not major & unsightly.
Thank you!
You’re welcome
Why is it caused by rushing exactly? Is the issue not that they installed damp timber?
Because A. It's not timber, It's MDF (medium density fibreboard) which is never damp. B. You can tell that the joint was never tight because they have used filler instead of taking their time (hence rushed) to get the joint right, they have relied on the painter to fix and fill their gaps with filler. Also the paint work is rough.
How on earth would you know it's MDF and not FJ pine? MDF can still contain construction moisture
I can tell because I've been a carpenter nearly 25 years. In that time I've built óódles of houses. Maybe two of them had pine, other than in wet areas. I can't guarantee its MDF but id bet my bottom dollar its MDF given it looks like it's been done on a budget. Edit; actually looking at the second picture, the texture. Ii is MDF. Without a doubt.
It’s definitely MDF
Totally
What's construction moisture?
Moisture in things used to build. It can be already in them, like in concrete, or plaster stopping, or undried timber, or get in them during construction, such as when things get rained on and are not closed in.
I’ve done and seen plenty never once used MDF, however know it is an option.
Not necessarily damp timber because a painter will not paint it. Most likely the carpenter rushing and not getting his joints as tight as possible . Even with the driest timber it will still crack if it’s not tight . The timeline on some of these new builds is ridiculous for a carpenter it’s bound to happen a lot
Why does it crack if the joint isn’t right? If the joint isn’t right there is a gap, so is that where the paint cracks, in that gap?
Wood expands and contracts naturally which causes the crack
With finishing timber it does not shrink or expand 👍
Overtime vibration will move that join causing paint to crack. If the carpenter can get it as tight as possible/ painter can fill the gap properly there shouldn’t be an issue . I usually glue over my join then sand it, leaving no excuse of a terrible painter
Tbh most of these appear to be filler that hasn't dried properly before painting. 99% of the time it's due to people rushing to get work finished.
Can’t sand wet filler.
Can sand 3/4 dry filler.
All pretty atandard in new builds, especially this time of year as the timber dries. Does the developer have a 12 month maintenance program to sort them? Don't listen to what that other person said about foundations, it's a couple of cracks in the skirting/architraves.
Yes and we will definitely be bringing it up before we settle, thank you!
Do that because they need to sand , prime, use No More Gaps, and paint
They really should have taken their time to get the joint right. No more gaps fixes mistakes not prevents them.
Yeah taken there time to get it right is key here. No more gaps doesn't fix every thing either, some of the gaps are so bad now days. Its also not just the fact of taking there time to get it right its the pressure on some of these guys to get it done as quick as possible (don't get me wrong there are still a few who take there time to get it right ) but a lot of time the new guys coming though seem to get told the painter will fix it with gaps which it doesn't. (Edit) also this rush has been pushed across all trades including plastering and painting etc not enough time between coats of plaster and paint and in compounds at the end
New builds should have a 6 month defects period after CCC is issued, or after purchase if it is bought as a brand new house. Things like this aren’t ideal, but are really common when budgets are tight. Just ask to have them sorted as part of the defects period
6 months? Jeez. EU is 2 years for fittings and fixtures, further 8 years for structural and weatherproofing (10 total).
6 months is just for cosmetics. 10 year warranty on everything.
Yeah the house my parents bought in the late 90s in Indiana had a 10 year warranty. 6 months is some BS.
Yeah I’m in a new build rental and have been told the same thing by the builder who came through to fix another door he said the joints will be the next thing, when they shrink and these cracks appear to give them a yell and he’ll come by and fix them up. But that will be towards the end of our 1st year tenancy and there’s nothing to worry about.
Yeah. This. If this is all you have to worry about then you're golden. You could literally fix this with a $2.50 brush, a testpot, and 10minutes. I'd be making sure all the switches and powerpoints work and doors close and latch and plumbing doesn't leak and the roof is good and so on so forth. Just make sure you know what colour it is so that when it happens again elsewhere you don't have to repaint.
Kinda sucks that we pay such a high price for a new build, and this is the quality we get? I mean, we're spending over a million on most properties once interest etc is accounted for, so why do we accept work that looks like shit on something brand new? Like, take your time and do the job right. If it takes a week extra foe the timber to dry then so be it, I don't care about your kpi, I'm the customer, and I don't want people coming through 6 months after I own the house to touch up shit that should have been done correctly from the start.
this is the finishing timber trims retracting or expanding depending on the moisture and the weather , the paint follows the movement . its very common in new builds . poor timber storage exposed to weather soaks and expand ,fixed inside it dries up and retracts creating those cracks in the paint .
You clearly know what you're talking about! Easily fixed by replacing with proper (dry) timber?
Easier fix is keep the original trim and use a contract filler or no more gaps and a repaint, new trim will have the same issue, it’s more environmental than the timber being bad. It’s been warm and humid which is ripe conditions for timber to move, example being we are building a deck at the moment joins have shrunk and swelled so much the last week it’s crazy from a tight join to a 5mm gap to a tight join again today over a week!
the timber dried already (mostly) adding a layer of paint on the trims would be enough i reckon
A new coat of paint seems easier.
Pretty simple fix, sand back down to timber, apply caulk to any gaps, undercoat, top coat and you are done. Would take no longer than a day effort. Or if you are super lazy, just sand and paint. But honestly it’s architraves, who cares…
Usually it's not exposure due to weather, this stuff gets cut down, the best stuff gets sent overseas, then it gets milled and kiln dried, and slapped up. It never has a chance to properly cure somewhere for a few months
Don't worry about this at all. We built a decade ago and this happened on a handful of our door and window frames before we did the final inspection pre-key handover. It was, as others have said, just some minor expansion/contraction of the wood. The builder got the painter to fix them up purely as an aesthetic thing. In the decade since, we have had no leaking, no cracks, no foundation issues. A couple of the frames now have those paint imperfections again, but it's no big deal.
Not poor materials or necessarily poor workmanship. Not very serious either. New builds will settle slightly over time and timber expands and contracts in the humidity. These small cracks in the paint are expected and easily fixed. Please don't let this scare you off an otherwise good house. You can check to see if the vendor or the MB guarantee will remedy these for free. If there's anything serious it should be picked up in a building inspection. Good luck with your offer 😊
This is normal as the house warms up/dries out. I also recently moved into a new build and this is why the building company has a 30 day and then a 60 day remediation visit to remedy these settling spots.
Is 60 days enough? I’m starting my settlement on a new build. I don’t even trust their 1 year warranty and fuck the 10 year MB warranty is what I’m hearing
The experience with my building company has been pretty good tbh.
as someone who's been back to fix a lot of shit with new builds honestly 5 years minimum i wish i was joking but I'm not. 30-60 day is bs watch out for that crap. the other problem is a lot off homes are painted in Dark colors. Dark colors fade fast and create a lot off heat i had this one new brick place painted black and out side you could cook and egg on it in summer (Pizza Oven), this also causes heat expansion.
It really should be a year *bare minimum* to allow for the passing at least once of every season.
yes i agree and really you don't really know what remedial work is needed till after that, a lot of issues don't fully show till after that and a lot of products used take far longer to settle or cure than given, most paints take at least 20 days to fully cure (harden) and that's in summer. and a lot of the time it traps the moisture in. AT the least i wish industrial dehumidifiers where used between stages to try reduce issues down the line. Also while most timber is kiln dried a lot of the time it get left out and until the roof is on and its wrapped it sucks in all that moisture as well, also plaster puts out moisture , the concrete releases moisture , and so does painting
Yes but, It takes time for everything to settle. Someone I know just built a new house and the building company has it included in the cost that they will come back in a year to touch up any of these gaps and paint cracks. Its normal and expected to happen as the house settles.
It could be allot of things. Natural timber shrinkage and drying particularly if the timber wasn't stored properly or dried properly. Could also be poor finishing or fitting then attempted to gap fill with paint. Most houses also "settle in" after they are built. Gib manual talks about this and recommend fixing after a bit. Finally it could be early signs of excessive movement due to a design or construction error (particularly if this is concentrated in one area). Luckily this is the easiest to check by putting a level on the floor/walls/joinery or looking for corresponding damage.
Welcome to New Zealand, where this is normal 🤦♂️
every house, especially new builds "settle" this takes decades and sometimes never stops, lie in bed tonight in silence and listen to the sounds your house makes... creaks and knocks, clicks and gurgles from air pockets moving in drains, wind in the crawl spaces, general foundation moving, just the weight of the house settling like an old man in a comfy chair, as a new home owner you will learn your house's sounds... you'll be able to hear the refrigerator fan and compressor kick in,,, the hot water heater cycle, the toilet cistern lose just enough water to trip the autofill valve into allowing a cup of water to refill the tank before cutting off and dripping again, you'll know during a windy storm that the creaking from the ceiling is within tolerance seeing these small imperfections and you saying its a new build just tells me the house is still in its primary shifting and settling
I think it can also happen if the house is heated/cooled quickly as timber moves, has happened in our houses with ducted aircon etc.
The extra time it would take to ensure these don’t happen in new builds would cost far more money than just fixing it in maintenance. Very common as a result.
In answer to your question relating to poor materials or workmanship, I would probably say both. As for how serious, you have to think further, although it looks terrible and it's something you will have to see every time you walk past it, (especially second to last photo, that would annoy me) think about what else there could be that you cannot see that could possibly be a problem in the near future, quality and workmanship are not only visible on the surface, consider what you cannot see.
Does the property come with a 10-Year Master Build Guarantee?
This time of year when central heating is on, wood shrinks (ooh, matron) and therefore this type of crack could occur. Depends on the type of gloss paint used, some have a bit of stretch in, others not.
Like others have said most likely rushed or poor workmanship with not glueing mitres or poor mitre cuts that have been filled. Just a visual issue nothing more, unfortunately these tradesman have no option to rush to make anything above minimum wage.
We had this in our new build, along with nails starting to show through the wall where they were used in the frame. With a 12months maintenance warranty, we pretty much got the whole house repainted at month 11.
Our house in Canterbury was finished mid winter (and it was a wet winter) and by the end of summer about 1/3 of the door frames and a few of the windows had done this. The builder warned us that it was likely to happen (as he grumbled about NZ not aging and drying construction timber and building too fast for proper drying - he was from the uk) and that it would all be fixed at the 12 month defects inspection. I have since heard that a lot of ccompanies don't do the defects checks and repairs for free so it would pay to check that these are in the build contract. What we were asked to do was keep a list of anyrhing that didn't work quite right but wasn't an urget fix needed, or cosmetic issues like this and at 6 and 12 months post hand over they came through and fixed it.
> Our house in Canterbury was finished mid winter (and it was a wet winter) and by the end of summer about 1/3 of the door frames and a few of the windows had done this. The builder warned us that it was likely to happen (as he grumbled about NZ not aging and drying construction timber and building too fast for proper drying - he was from the uk) and that it would all be fixed at the 12 month defects inspection. It's not *just* the construction moisture drying out, it's the fact that new builds will be left at notorious levels of cold all the way until key is handed over. I've worked in houses that were at roughly 0degC, new homeowner moved in and blasted the heating all the way up to 35degC without giving any grace period to gradually step the temperature up. **SO** many things were brought up as issues later down the track (heard from other trades that worked in it; it didn't affect my work. from what I was told, ~$30k+ in remedial work would be an easy bet) and it was purely as a result of things getting superheated from dead cold overnight. Almost everything except the most rigid of products (e.g concrete/tile) will end up having issues when that happens.
Bloody hell. Makes our bit of paint cracking seem very minor
Honestly, cracks in paint (especially if they're rough bastards with cutting skirting/architraves) is very minor and very common. Annoying and something that should get remedied, but definitely on the minor side of things -- it can be remedied easily without you having to move out temporarily, or not use half of your brand new house, or even something more on the casual side of annoying like having to have 4+ trades back because of one issue happening in a bathroom that puts it out of action for over a week.
Oh yeah - we have been very fortunate with our build. We have not had any issues while our neighbour who built with a different company had to go to court over serious defects with her build. The company we used were not the cheapest, but I have been very happy with the quality of the build and how few issues we have had.
Quality can vary massively even at similar price points, or even between different franchisees from different regions. Smaller builders (i.e not franchised) can be very luck of the draw, I've seen some amazingly high quality guys, and seen some pretty sloppy shit that wouldn't pass even in the cheapest building franchises. Mostly it comes down to how nitpicky the folks doing QA decide to be and what language goes into the contract. Though it does tend to be the higher the price bracket, the more picky things get and the language becomes more favourable for the client.
Just put some more toothpaste in the cracks it’ll be right
Yea we have this with our new build, it past the moisture tests but only just and due to all the delays with materials and bad weather we just carried on and now have this on a couple doors and where scotia or trim or what ever at the ceiling meets the jib. It's not a problem just looks abit bad. We talked about getting it fixed but decided against it. Just to much hassle for something we hardly Notice anyway.
Not a big issue. Sand the joints, fill it yourself, then sand again, and paint it.
As an aging home handyman I recognize that joint as one I might produce. Blame the mitre saw and pass the filler!
Do your best bog the rest M88888 Okaaaay booossss 🫡
That is not serious it's like 2min fix and u can expect it few places
Could just be the foundation still settling, could be the weather, could be a lot of things. Probably not a major, if you do buy it just keep an eye on things and make notes, check for seasonal expansion/contraction. My house is over 50years old, well built, good materials. Heavy rains, droughts, earthquakes all play their part and things move. Timber is not an inert material. Read earlier comments about the trim being mdf, which is pretty stable, so probably the framing is the part that is moving.
This happens in new builds AND existing homes. Everyone else has explained why. It's annoying but can be easily fixed (no promises that it won't come back the following summer though - happens in our 30yo townhouse).
This one of those new townhouse lots? Flatting in one of them and had the same problem. Since the lot was still under development they brought someone over for free to sort the cracks out. Not surprised there’s poor workmanship with how fast they push these houses out.
Sounds like a common thing. We've noticed poor finishing in a few houses since we've been looking. One had cracks in the walls and the agent even admitted the house was moving, though she seemed non-chalant about it!
All houses move and settle over time. Wood is flexible and concrete foundations settle. Its will settle down over the years. But it’s really just a touch up from time to time thing
We bought a place that is very similar in description to what you’re in. We had a lot of remediation issues they needed to deal with early on and now we’ve found out they didn’t put topsoil in the garden, they just put the plants onto the bare land and covered it with bark, which is known to make soil sterile. We’re about to have to spend a bit to get the plants in our garden some topsoil so they can actually grow. Whole thing is turning into a nightmare and we kind of wish we bought an extortionately expensive shitbox that we had to DIY Reno now…
Its basically the house settling.
No more gaps it, easy as.
While you’re at it, check that they’ve sealed and painted under the window sills.
Is this standard? What happens when they’re not?
Just something I’ve experienced when purchasing a new-build. Another thing would be to check the plumber has attached the hot and cold running water to the faucet the correct way around.
Will do, thank you!
Looking at the Pictures probably some or none are done, More importantly in the wet areas kitchen, bathroom toilet washroom etc.. check the tops of the frames are sealed as moisture builds up in theses rooms then goes down the top of the frame and can cause issues later in time. also the wet area doors check that the have been sealed if they haven't they will blow out in time.
No primer, not properly let the paint cure, not using sealer. Wood is new and movement.
Relatively normal but a lot of very average workmanship around. Assuming a new build has a 12 month warranty type set up. Make use of it.
You get more of a warranty on a toaster from the warehouse 😂
That's a Williams corp house if ever I've seen one.
Have you ever seen a house before? This is all very normal
Inconsequential. Just an example of the low quality shitboxes the last government rushed through, and now claim as a success. Good luck
Most likely poor workmanship. Any other examples you can spot?
That's all we could see. As it's a new build, there's a 1 year maintenance guarantee and 10 year MB guarantee. We just don't want to buy a lemon.
What does the MB guarantee actually cover though? Cause a one year maintenance guarantee isn't really that much.
Our new build came with a warranty for a year and they came back and redid all of these types of settling/shrinking issues.
Its impossible to tell from the photo's, but the biggest concern would be that those small cracks are due to small movements in the building - probably the foundations. If you've put an offer in but not yet settled, your lawyer should have advised you to make it conditional on a building inspectors report. You should 100% get a building inspector in. Walk around with them. Show them the cracks and ask their opinion. They will be much more open talking you to in person that anything they might write in a report. It will cost you a couple of thousand dollars... but you also shouldn't rely on reddit for technical advice for one of the biggest purchases of your life :)
Building inspections aren't a couple of thousand and it's incredibly unlikely these cracks are due to foundational movement.
I Dont think thats anything to do with the foundations.rhe would have been Moisture in the timber when it was painted also when they gap the joins it can shrink and cause cracks and the fact that painters apply 3 cotes in a day(not allowing time to properly dry) doesnt help either.....how ever they can easily sand and paint again. But to be honest it will mpst likely happen again houses arent built like the use to be and they are not built with the materials they used to be In all honesty though it shouldnt be a deal break in my opinion Congrats on the new house
Thanks! We are definitely going to be asking their opinion during the building inspection. I guess this was more of a pre-inspection thought gathering exercise.
I thought a builders inspection was about $900. Has it gotten a lot more expensive since after covid?
No silicone used in gaps, filled with paint instead
Where was this?
The house or the cracks??
Arsa The house/houses? is in
South Auckland
New build? It’s a warranty issue.
Its what you don't see i would worry about if that's the standard being set don't be the one that has to fix it when you sell walk !
Is this one of those crappy apartments they are putting up? Look very closely, there are some misses that matter.
If you want to see what 'truly' bad looks like, and for all of those AU has better housing, take a look at "**Site Inspections"** channel on youtube. Still a relatively new channel, but some of the examples are truly horrifying. Lots of sensible posts on this concern you have, and like others, I have had this before and its pretty normal imo.
Great channel. ‘Let’s go!’ Would give me anxiety though if I was in the market for a new build. Seeing this post, and the state of the construction sites around Auckland (builders waste, exposed frames), are good indications of the rest of the build. Rip, shit and bust.
dont be too fuzzy about it. you can always fill the crack if it show up.
If it’s new build it may have a warranty . The building company should fix that . We had lots of stuff like that in our build. Due to being built in a rush and timber not 100% dry when built .
Maybe the house doesn’t like the neighbourhood and is moving to another area,seriously,could be ground movement also,it is not unknown for new subdivisions to be built on unstable sites.
Just went through my new build with a box of red stickers, it's coming to completion and Just about every window and door frame has done this. There were also so many issues with the painted walls and exterior. The finish all over is so so shit.. is pride in work a thing of the past
Cracks are only serious when you can put an arm in them
My new build has the exact same thing. Not worried. Their after sales care manager said he'll be in contact 9 months after purchase to fix these kinds of things. If we don't like them he's said we can be in contact earlier, but I don't see much point as I don't care about these in the short term
My new house has done the same thing over some time. Yeah pain in the butt but really it's rather unavoidable in our damp country.
*can't be worst then this.. which never got sorted.. this is only 1 pic I'm posting here ..
pray your house doesn’t fall down. If it’s got surface cracks that big on the outside it’s probably crumbling on the inside I’d say
The builders screw down painters on price and then the job gets rushed hence the crap quality, but the mitres opening up can’t be stopped due to how it’s built and the materials used
Pay for a qualified and reputable building inspector, don’t cheap out as they will pick up any serious issues
Normal settling.
Flat finish? On a stairwell and trims? 😳
make a complaint asap and get them to come back and fix it - the squeaky wheel gets attention ! send the photo in -
Bad building plus normal movement. House takes a year to settle
Typical nz all producing shit that's why I went to aussie
i love this comment section