A crack in the house.... and an indemnity policy!

poppysarah

The victorians used lintels. The elizabethans used lintels. The soldier bricks are just a feature over the window.

The house would have been built with lintels. There is something seriously wrong with this one.

maninthestreet

ceekay27 wrote: »

Sorry I should have explained properly. The crack in the original part of the house, not the extension. It is an oldish house, probably built around the 40's, where lintels weren't used. It has a row of bricks on thier end, (how they used to do it years ago) The owners before the previous owners had new double glazed windows, and didn't get the lintels sorted, just left the old row of bricks. The estate agent is saying this could be the reason for the crack.

The new part of the house, the extension is fine, no cracks, all looks good.

Julie

If it has no lintel, what's holding the bricks up immediately above the window?

Airwolf1

As the others have stated, I would get my own Chartered Surveyor (simply search Chartered Surveyor Anytown (Anytown being the place where you are, ot the nearest postal town). Mention to them you have seen this crack in the external and internal wall and that you'd require a full building survey.

It would be your solicitor who should pick up on stuff like planning applications, but if you had a concern over it, mention it to him/her.

Jonbvn

ceekay27 wrote: »

Sorry I should have explained properly. The crack in the original part of the house, not the extension. It is an oldish house, probably built around the 40's, where lintels weren't used. It has a row of bricks on thier end, (how they used to do it years ago) The owners before the previous owners had new double glazed windows, and didn't get the lintels sorted, just left the old row of bricks. The estate agent is saying this could be the reason for the crack.

As a structural engineer, I must advise you that you are incorrect. The bricks you mentioned are purely an aesthetic feature. It is most common for houses in the 40's to have a concealed iron/steel lintel over the windows, many of which would have become corroded over the last 60 years.

PasturesNew

Sometimes in older houses (no idea of the dates), the windows themselves were part of the actual structure, so in replacing windows this would have needed to have been taken into consideration. Maybe the replacement windows are not load-bearing. But that crack would worry me. I'd definitely want a full structural survey. It's peanuts compared to fixing a nasty.

RabbitMad

maninthestreet wrote: »

If it has no lintel, what's holding the bricks up immediately above the window?

The window, and friction from the bricks on either side

ceekay27

Hi everyone, Thankyou for your replies.

I'm not sure exactly when the house was built. I assumed that those bricks were the way things were done instead of lintels. We will definately be getting a structural survey done. As we really are set on wanting this property, it's worth paying for the survey if it can help us in the long run.

I do understand what you are all saying, and will definately be taking all of your advice on board.

To jonbvn, would a corroded lintel (or could) it cause a crack in the wall inside and out.

Thanks again all, really appreciate your replies and points of view. Its good to hear from people on the outside.

Julie

TJ27

Jonbvn wrote: »

As a structural engineer, I must advise you that you are incorrect. The bricks you mentioned are purely an aesthetic feature. It is most common for houses in the 40's to have a concealed iron/steel lintel over the windows, many of which would have become corroded over the last 60 years.

Surely this is a brick arch we're talking about? These can be either a proper arch, or a "straight across" course of soldier bricks with a bit of a taper in them. But they ain't there for aesthetic reasons. Actually the daigrams here describe it better than me:

http://www.gobrick.com/BIA/technotes/t31.htm

Minor cracking is probably not too much of an issue. Larger cracks, which are tapered and mirrored on both sides of the wall tend to be a bit more serious.

Mine is a thirties house, built with reinforced concrete lintels. Mind you, they did all blow and I had to replace about two dozen of them.

It's difficult for anybody here to say whether it's a problem without seeing the crack. I'd ask a local surveyor probably.

mlz1413

Cracks can be caused by movement, damp penatration and probably lots of other stuff BUT you have to identify why this crack has happened and if it is still moving. Then and only then can you know what it will take to fix and so how much it will cost.

A full structral survey will be about £1500 I think, so it's probably worth asking questions now to the EA to ensure the sellers are willing to discuss the price.

The valuation you are getting on wednesday I'm guessing is via the mortgage company and will be just a valuation I really doubt this will be any type of survey. You really need a company that will lift the loft hatch, check the floor boards and know about how buildings are constructed.

Also if/when you have this survey done if you read it and it doesn't make sense go back to the company and ask them what it means and what it implies.

Good Luck, hope everything goes well.

TJ27

ceekay27 wrote: »

To jonbvn, would a corroded lintel (or could) it cause a crack in the wall inside and out.

Are we talking about a vertical crack or a horizontal crack? In a forties house it's possible that you would have concrete lintels with a steel bar running through the middle. These were usually cast in situ and then rendered over. There would typically be one on the inner skin wall and one on the outer.

That's exactly what I found in my house. There were horizontal cracks about four inches above the windows, because the reinforcement had corroded, expanded, and cracked the concrete/render. It cracked on both the inner and outer skins on every window and external door in the house. I replaced them all myself. The job is a bit time consuming but cheap in terms of materials. So it's expensive if you get a builder to do it.

If you've got a vertical crack in brickwork then it's something else.