In various residential buildings in Shanghai, cracks in walls and sinking floors have been reported, causing concern among residents. For instance, a 20-story residential building on the old Min Road in Shanghai has a crack as wide as 4 centimeters, leading to anxiety among the residents. Local authorities, however, have stated that the crack is due to damage in the paint layer and does not affect the structural integrity of the building.
On June 14th, the Shanghai Radio and Television’s news channel, “Xinwen Fang,” reported that in the “Song Feng Garden” complex on the old Min Road in Shanghai, several homeowners revealed that there is a deep crack at the southwest corner of floors 4 to 5 in Building 1, which has been widening in the past few months, with the widest point reaching 4 centimeters.
The report mentioned that residents inside the building are anxious and worried about potential safety hazards. At the scene, journalists observed a crack approximately 5 meters long extending from the southwest unit on the 4th floor to the southwest unit on the 5th floor, with the widest crack indeed measuring 4 centimeters.
A homeowner on the 3rd floor of Building 1 expressed fear, saying, “We are quite scared! Very worried.” The crack has been expanding rapidly over the past two months, and at this rate, “you can already stick your fingers in,” with a brick from the outer wall about to fall off. If not repaired, it could pose significant risks during windy and rainy weather.
Officials from the Liyun Road Street Management Office, which oversees the area, mentioned that they received complaints from residents on the 9th of this month. After preliminary investigation, the design unit concluded that the crack was due to damage in the paint layer, with no impact on the building’s structure.
Residents also mentioned that staff from the local housing management department previously suggested that the wall cracks could be related to external air conditioning units. However, residents on the 10th floor of the building in question disagreed, explaining that multiple units above the 3rd and up to the 16th or 17th floor have air conditioning units attached in one direction without any issues, making it unlikely that the cracks are caused by air conditioning. A resident on the 3rd floor expressed disbelief in the theory, as there are no cracks from the 9th floor up to the higher floors where air conditioning units are located.
In April of this year, a report from “Magic Home in Shanghai,” which tracks real estate information in Shanghai, highlighted issues faced by homeowners in the Liyuan Jinghua Xinyuan complex in Minhang, where cracks are appearing in walls, sinking floors, and increasing water leakage in the basement. Several homeowners have reported cracks and water seepage in their homes.
The Xinyuan complex, built in 2021, consists of 16 buildings with a total of 18 stories. Cracks have been observed from Building 25 to Building 5, crossing the ground, green area, and above-ground parking spaces. The western end of Building 25 has particularly noticeable sinking, with a height difference exceeding 20 millimeters at the roadside and significant cracking on the left side of the wall, with some cracks wider than the width of a palm.
The developer, Greentown, claimed that monitoring data shows that the sinking of the buildings is within a controllable and acceptable range, posing no threat to residential safety.
In February of this year, residents of Sijia Apartments in Lane 37, Jianguo East Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai, reported cracks in the ground of the complex pathway and outer walls of a commercial building in January, along with continuous water seepage in their kitchen floors.
At the site, a commercial building in the complex displayed a 6-meter-long crack on the walls, with the widest point measuring around 3 centimeters. Additionally, the main road surface also exhibited cracks, with the largest one measuring about 4 centimeters in width.