Just got the keys and found cracks? Here is how to tell harmless shrinkage from settlement and structural movement, and what to do inside the DLP.
Most cracks in a newly built house are fine shrinkage cracks in plaster and render that appear as the concrete, mortar and plaster dry out in the first months; they are cosmetic and are fixed with filler, skim coat and paint. Cracks that are wide, growing, diagonal from door or window corners, stepped through brickwork or paired with doors that stick point to settlement or structural movement and need an engineer. ClickBina's epoxy injection guide says to call a professional engineer before any repair when a crack is wider than about 3 mm. In a new house, report every crack in writing within the Defect Liability Period, which is 24 months from vacant possession.
Some are. A new house is built from wet materials — concrete, mortar, plaster, render — that keep losing water and shrinking for months after the keys are handed over. Where two materials meet, such as a brick wall against a concrete column or beam, they move slightly differently and a fine line opens along the joint. Heat from the sun on a west wall, and aircon cooling the inside, adds daily movement on top. None of that is a building failing.
What matters is the kind of crack, where it is, how wide it is and whether it keeps growing. A few hairline cracks in plaster in the first year are routine; a diagonal crack that widens every month is not. This page helps you tell them apart, and explains what to do while the developer is still responsible.
| Type | What it usually looks like | What it usually means |
|---|---|---|
| Shrinkage (plaster and render) | Fine, random or map-like hairlines; lines along column-to-wall joints; short cracks at corners of openings | Materials drying out; cosmetic |
| Thermal / material joint | Straight line along the same joint that opens and closes with weather | Two materials moving differently; cosmetic but recurring |
| Settlement | Diagonal or stepped cracks from door and window corners, wider at one end; floors or aprons dropping | Ground below part of the house moving; needs investigation |
| Structural | Cracks in beams, columns or slabs, cracks across the member, rust stains, sagging | Engineer first; do not simply patch |
A crack can start as one type and become another, which is why watching it over time matters more than a single look on handover day.
Shrinkage cracks are thin, usually hairline, and often appear in a random web or along joints. You find them on internal plastered walls, on external render, on the corners above doors and windows, and along the line where a brick wall meets a concrete column or beam. They tend to show up in the first months and then stabilise. They do not travel through the whole wall, do not come with doors that stick, and do not keep widening.
The repair is cosmetic: open the crack slightly, fill it with a flexible filler, skim coat the area and repaint. ClickBina's wall patching guide covers the preparation before repainting. Where a crack keeps reopening along a material joint, a mesh or a flexible filler across the joint helps it stay closed.
A house on filled or soft ground, on a slope, or with one part on a different foundation from the rest can move as the ground settles. The cracks that result are usually diagonal, running up and away from the corners of doors and windows, or stepped through the brick joints, and often wider at one end. Other signs come with them: a door or window that starts to jam, a gap opening under a skirting, a car porch apron or back yard slab dropping away from the house. ClickBina's guide to a sinking car porch apron covers the most common version in new landed houses.
Settlement cracks are not repaired by filling them. The cause has to be understood first, which means an engineer's view, and in a new house the developer's involvement.
Cracks in the structure itself — beams, columns, slabs and the joints between them — are a different matter. Warning signs include a crack running across a beam or column, a crack in a slab soffit with a sag, rust stains or spalling at the crack, and any crack that is wide or still growing. ClickBina's epoxy injection guide says to call a professional engineer before any repair when a crack is wider than about 3 mm, when it is visibly growing, or when it runs diagonally from door or window corners.
Only a professional engineer can say whether a structure is safe and specify the repair. Injection, stitching or strengthening comes after that assessment, not instead of it.
Measuring beats guessing. Take a dated close-up with a ruler or a coin beside the crack, mark both ends of the crack in pencil with the date, and check again every few weeks. A crack that stays the same length and width is behaving; one that grows past your pencil marks is moving. For a more precise record, an inexpensive plastic crack monitor glued across the crack shows movement over time.
Keep the records together with the dates. If the crack does turn out to be serious, a clear history is exactly what an engineer, the developer and, if needed, the Tribunal will want to see.
For a new house bought from a developer, the Defect Liability Period is 24 months from the date of vacant possession, and cracks that appear during it are the developer's to repair. ClickBina's DLP guide explains the process: report in writing, keep a copy, and note that the statutory sale and purchase agreement requires the developer to make good within 30 days of receiving your written notice.
The new house defects guide covers what to do if the developer does not respond.
Cosmetic shrinkage cracks are filled, skim coated and painted. Recurring joint cracks are cut out and filled with a flexible sealant or bridged with mesh before the skim coat. Leaking cracks in concrete are usually sealed with PU injection, which stays flexible. Dry structural cracks, once an engineer has confirmed the cause has been dealt with, can be bonded with epoxy injection. Settlement cracks wait for the engineer's view of the ground and foundation before any cosmetic work.
Within the DLP, the developer pays. After it, these indicative Klang Valley figures (2026) from ClickBina's published guides give a sense of scale:
| Item | Indicative price | Source guide |
|---|---|---|
| Internal skim coat over existing plaster | RM1.50 – RM4.00 per sq ft | Render and skim coat guide |
| Single room skim coat | RM600 – RM1,200 | Render and skim coat guide |
| PU injection for leaking cracks (market) | RM80 – RM250 per point | Epoxy injection guide |
| Epoxy injection for structural cracks | RM150 – RM400 per point | Epoxy injection guide |
| Structural engineer assessment | From about RM500 | Epoxy injection guide |
WhatsApp us your job details for a quote — we reply within the hour.
💬 WhatsApp for a quotePainting after the repair, access for external walls and any foundation work an engineer specifies are priced separately.
ClickBina is an experienced KL & Selangor contractor for whole-house refurbishment and trade coordination, including the patching, skim coat and repainting that follow crack repairs. WhatsApp us your job details for a quote: where the cracks are, roughly how wide they look, and when you got the keys. We reply within the hour, the price we agree is a flat price with no hidden charges, and a site visit is RM150, waived if you go ahead. Where a crack looks structural, the first step is an engineer, and we will say so.
How we estimated prices: every RM figure on this page is quoted unchanged from the ClickBina guides named above; they are indicative Klang Valley ranges for 2026, not fixed rates. Descriptions of crack types are general guidance; only a professional engineer can assess a structural crack.
WhatsApp us your job details for a quote — we reply within the hour.
💬 WhatsApp for a quoteTell us what you need — we reply within the hour.