How can I tell if a rendered masonry wall has been cracked in the past?
If a good quality repair job has been carried out, the owner is hoping you cannot tell that there was ever a crack there but in 95% of cases the signs are still there if you know what you are looking for. If the paint on the wall is a number of years old and there are no signs of cracks in the wall the chances are that there never have been any problems, as most cracks will reappear with seasonal moisture variations. When looking for cracks your eyes need to be very sensitive to the staggered pattern of most movement cracks and zero in on any variation in surface texture or alignment that may give away the repair. It is also useful to look carefully at the areas they are most likely to occur such as from the corners of windows.
