Free
$0
- Crack Reader, every reading
- Pattern guide, width scale, printable card, question list
- Crack Book: 2 houses, 8 cracks each
For house hunters · walls, ceilings, chimneys, foundations
Read the cracks before you make the offer.
You are walking through a house you might buy and there is a crack above the door. Measure it with our printable card, read it against the guidance building surveyors and home inspectors use, and keep every crack from every house in one private book you can compare and hand to your inspector.
$1.95 a month or $19.50 a year for the Crack Book Pass · Free during preview. The reader and the guide are always free.
Three minutes at the viewing. A clearer head at the offer.
- 01
Measure
Print the crack-width card at true size, or use any ruler. Find the widest point. Note which way the crack runs and what is around it: sticking doors, a sloping floor, a wall that bows.
- 02
Read
The Crack Reader gives the width band on BRE Digest 251's 0-to-5 damage scale, what InterNACHI's inspector manual says about that pattern, and whether the guidance points to a structural engineer.
- 03
Keep and compare
Save each reading to a house in your private Crack Book. Compare houses side by side and print an inspector sheet with your questions already written.
The width scale, 0 to 5
Typical crack widths for each damage category in BRE Digest 251, "Assessment of damage in low-rise buildings". Width is a guide, not the whole assessment. The scale, explained
- 0Negligibleless than 0.1 mm
- 1Very slightup to about 1 mm
- 2Slightup to about 5 mm
- 3Moderate5 to 15 mm, or several cracks over 3 mm
- 4Severe15 to 25 mm, also depends on how many
- 5Very severeusually over 25 mm, also depends on how many
Aesthetic · 0-2Serviceability · 3-4Stability · 5
Know the pattern when you see it
Seven common crack patterns, drawn, with what the published guidance says about each. All seven patterns
Diagonal from a door or window cornerAsk what is above the opening and whether it has been repaired.
Stair-step in brick or blockMeasure the widest step; ask an inspector to judge the cause.
Horizontal in a foundation wallWorth a structural engineer before you offer.
Map cracking in a floor slabNote them; ask about water and any heaving or sinking.
Three houses, one table
By the third viewing the houses blur. Your Crack Book keeps every crack under the house it belongs to, then lines the houses up: how many cracks, the highest band, how many readings point to an engineer. The sample on the right is worked out by the same reader you use.
No account and no email: your book opens from a private link that only you hold.
| House | Cracks | Highest band | Engineer flags |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maple Street colonial | 2 | 1Very slight | 0 |
| Brick ranch by the park | 2 | 2Slight | 1 |
| Split-level on Hill Rd | 1 | 3Moderate | 1 |
Free to read. $1.95 to keep a whole house hunt.
One plan, paid monthly or yearly, cancel any time. Pricing details
Crack Book Pass
$1.95a month
or $19.50 a year (two months free)
- Up to 40 houses, 60 cracks each
- Compare houses side by side
- Printable inspector sheet per house
- CSV export and house notes
Free during preview. Payments are not switched on yet, so every Pass feature is open to everyone and nothing is charged. These are the prices that will apply.
Straight answers
Will it tell me whether a house is OK to buy?
No. It cannot see the house and nobody can judge a building from a width and a direction. It tells you what published guidance says about the kind of crack you describe, so you know what to ask and when to bring in a qualified home inspector (licensed where your state requires it) or a structural engineer.
Where do the readings come from?
Width bands from BRE Digest 251 (Building Research Establishment, UK, 1995 revision) and BRE's own summary of it; pattern notes from InterNACHI's inspector manual "Inspecting Foundation Walls and Piers" (2013). Every result names its source. About and sources
Why measure in millimetres?
The damage scale is written in millimetres. You can type inches too (1/8, 3/16, 0.125) and the reader converts them; the card prints both a millimetre rule and the bar widths.
What do you keep about me?
Only what you save in your book: house nicknames, dates, rooms and readings. No name, no email, no street address needed. Privacy