My adobe wall cracked after 7 years, the fix cost less than I thought

Last month I noticed a hairline crack running down the side of my house near the front gate, so I finally called a local stucco guy in the North Valley. He patched it with lime-based plaster for $180 and explained that New Mexico soil shifts every spring, so it's basically normal. Has anyone else dealt with this kind of crack on an older adobe, or is it just my lot?

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gavin_kim324d ago

That $180 fix is a steal compared to what I paid in 2019 for the same issue on my place over in the South Valley. My crack ran along the corner where the old vigas meet the wall, and the guy charged me $240 because he had to dig out a bunch of loose mud first. But here's the angle nobody brings up: check if the crack is straight or jagged. A straight vertical crack usually means the foundation settled, while a jagged one that follows the mortar lines is just the plaster expanding and shrinking with the seasons. Mine was straight, so I put a level on it and sure enough, the whole wall had tilted maybe a quarter inch. The lime patch held fine, but I ended up sloping the dirt away from that side of the house to keep the moisture from pushing the foundation around again.