Is the entire exterior wall of a residential area in Hangzhou cracked? The response is coming

Delivered only one year ago

Xiangsheng Yunjing, a sub new residential area in the Zhijiang area,

Did a building crack open from top to bottom?

Recently, this news has attracted worldwide attention.

The reporter came to the scene to visit as soon as possible.

Photo by Chao News reporter Xu Shujing and Wu Jiayi

Bird's-eye view of Building 22 and Building 26 in Xiangsheng Yunjing

At the north gate of the community, you can see the building that looks like it's cracked open. The community owner said that there are two cracked buildings, 26 and 22, both of which are self owned by the developer and are currently vacant.

From the north, there is a gap in the middle of both buildings. Among them, 22 buildings have slightly better conditions, with two horizontal aluminum plates connecting each floor; Building 26 looks quite exaggerated, except for a horizontal aluminum plate connecting the second and top floors, all other parts are gaps, and from a distance, it really looks like the wall is cracked. However, upon closer inspection of the two buildings, cracks appeared on the periphery, more like the exterior wall decoration lines were not beautified, and the interior of the building was still intact.

Community owner Wang Lin said that when the community was delivered last year, these two buildings were like this. At that time, some owners raised questions, and the developer replied that because these two buildings have many units and are long, expansion joints were specially reserved for the middle two units.

Photo by Chao News reporter Xu Shujing and Wu Jiayi

Photo by Chao News reporter Xu Shujing and Wu Jiayi

Property management staff told reporters that these two buildings have been in their current state since the delivery of the community, rather than "cracking" afterwards. "This is the developer's design, which matches the drawings and is a normal phenomenon."

Subsequently, the reporter went to the developer's stationed office in the community, but the relevant person in charge evaded the reporter's interview and left the scene without making any response. Afterwards, Hangzhou Xiangsheng Hongcheng Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. issued a statement, stating that the buildings in Xiangsheng Yunjing Community meet the requirements of national building standards, and the online transmission of building breakage is not a quality issue, but rather a construction expansion joint process.

Hangzhou Xiangsheng Hongcheng Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. issued a statement

In the afternoon of September 4, the Housing and Construction Department of West Lake District issued a document on its official account, saying that there were cracks on the facade and corridors of Xiangsheng Cloud Realm. After verification, the news was untrue, which was a rumor. The housing and construction department of Xihu District stated that the broken part of Building 26 is an expansion joint between units, with a spacing of about 15cm. The construction was strictly carried out according to the design drawings on site, and it was not caused by the breakage of the stairs. In addition, no settlement or structural safety issues were found around the building.

Screenshot of West Lake Urban Construction official account

Wang Lin speculates that the expansion joints of these two buildings have not been beautified, or it may be due to a shortage of funds from the developers in the later stage. Last March, Xiangsheng Holdings failed to pay the interest on its $200 million debt on schedule and was listed on the "Thunderstorm List".

A construction industry expert told reporters that this "crack" is indeed an expansion joint left by the building structure to prevent thermal expansion and contraction. Although the exposed expansion joint does not affect the actual engineering quality, it will cause a negative visual appearance. Normally, the expansion joints on the exterior wall need to be beautified and decorated, such as filling materials between the gaps and applying uniform paint on the outside. The material cost for beautification treatment is usually only a few hundred yuan/m ²。” The expert also added that in fact, there have been cases of exposed expansion joints in other well-known real estate companies in Hangzhou. However, due to the more meticulous treatment of these properties, such as narrower seam widths and relatively flat sections, there will be no "cracking" appearance.

Chen Lifeng, a nationally registered first-class construction engineer, said, "A common practice now is to cover the expansion joints both inside and outside with cover plates, which are flexible and movable." Chen Lifeng said that the cost of cover plates depends on the material, and the cost of a building may range from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan.