Cracks in the gable wall completely through the masonry, year of construction 1968

Hello everyone,

My name is Lukas, I am 27, a heating technician by profession, and I own a semi-detached house built in 1968 that has been completely renovated except for the roof.

I hope I am in the right place with my problem:

Yesterday we had an extremely strong storm for about 30 minutes, so strong that 250 roof tiles were thrown up to 50 meters away from the roof at my coworker’s place in the neighboring town.

Because of that, I wanted to check in the attic today to see if everything is okay and if all the tiles are still secure.

I noticed that on both gable walls there is a crack running completely through the masonry from the reinforced concrete floor up to the roof on the outside.

I am sure these cracks were not there a month ago.

I think the gable walls are not load-bearing because the 10-meter-long purlin is not supported in the middle, and when tapping the gable walls, they don’t sound like bricks but rather hollow.

Nevertheless, I am a bit concerned now and have already reported the damage to my insurance.

All other walls have no cracks.

Can someone give a first assessment of what might have happened here?

Best regards

Lukas

I think that the gable walls are not load-bearing because the 10-meter-long purlin is not supported in the middle

I do not follow the logic that a wall which has to bear something on its own is probably not load-bearing.

The logic is that only the rafters carry the roof and the weight is transferred via the two long exterior walls. The gable wall is only there to enclose the attic.

But that's how he is. Treacherous, nasty, powerfully gripping. There he comes around the corner, taking a deep breath, then exhaling, puff puff, shiver shiver the roof, rub rub on the gable wall, and just like that he has breathed the crack into it. Ooo, the storm.....

Ok can be closed, this is getting too stupid for me here.

The logic is that only the rafters carry the roof and the weight is transferred via the two long exterior walls.

That would be rather illogical. The rafters also have to be supported. Below by the bottom chords (and these then by the eaves walls, if correct) and above by the ridge beam. And here the ridge beam only by the gable walls, because you said

since the 10-meter-long beam is not supported in the middle