Hello, all.

I was 4 days out in the last week and left my small dorm room 20 sqm. I let the heizung be on the level 2, and maintained one of my Windows slightly open.

Today I came back and there is a big crack on the wall and I am not sure what I should do. I am a student and honestly very afraid of what is going to happen if I tell my landlord (if he will charge me for damage, how do I know it is legitimate? What if the sum is overpriced?).

Also I am not sure how and why it appeared now.

Can anyone help me what I should do considering I am an exchange student…

by UnusualForm9340

11 comments

  1. Tell your landlord / house administration ASAP. There is no way they can blame it on you, but it might be a safety concern.

  3. You have done nothing that caused this crack to happen. To be more specific: There is almost nothing a tenant could do to cause something like this. Is the building new? It looks like a settlement crack, something that happens regularly in new buildings. Cracks like this are caused by movement of the house itself, not by anything you can do. You should definitely let the landlord know, so he can assess whether there is a bigger problem (e.g. a large construction site nearby). But the crack doesn’t look immediately threatening at the moment. Still, let him know, but don’t worry, it’s definitely not your fault.

  4. That happens all the time and it clearly doesn’t look like damage a person made. Houses are not as rigid as we think.They shift a little and you get this.

    I’ve been in several places where the walls already had such cracks or they appeared some time during my stay and I didn’t have to fix or pay anything when moving away.

  5. Thats pretty normal imo, nothing to realy worry about

  6. Leave the house immediately. It’s going to fall apart.

  7. Unrelated to your issue, but…

    >I let the heizung be on the level 2, and maintained one of my Windows slightly open.

    that just sounds like you were burning money. Why would you do that in the middle of the winter? Make sure not to mention having your heater tirelessly working against the outside cold to your landlord, if you’re not paying the bill yourself.

  8. >I let the heizung be on the level 2, and maintained one of my Windows slightly open.

    That was not a good idea. You will have to pay a lot for heating. And you heated the enviroment.

  9. Some more informations would be helpful. Where is the crack, what kind of wall is it. It can be everything, from a minor crack in the plaster or a structural damage.

  10. Its pretty normal for german houses to do this, definitely the older appartments or new ones that haven’t had their first good winter yet. It comes due to the cold air not having that much moisture in it, which, combined with the warmth of the heater, creates dry walls (they are often concrete (which loves moisture) that expant (due to the heat), creating the cracks. It can also happen when lots of movement happends in the building, from a good party, moving to a good heavy storm that might push on the building.

    Best is to make photos, send it to your landlord as prove and keep doing so. But also know, it is safe to still live there, and, unless they cracks come rapidly or go over your cealing, you have nothing to worry about.

    (I live in a building from, we guess, just after the war, and we have so many cracks in the house. When someone moves out, they are patched or painted over and after a year some new ones show up again. Its unfortunately mostly a concrete problem)

  11. Might be wallpaper/paint, or acryl +paint. Please give more Details. However, if you are worried, then call the landlord asap. This is not your fault,

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