Potential House Purchase - Cracks Internal Walls

newbie4

Hi,

I'm looking to buy my first home with my boyfriend and have found one that we like.

It is a 1920's semi - ex council house if that helps, has many plus points and loads of potential. (Its absolutely huge for the money). From what we can gather a little old lady has lived there for what appears to be some time, decoration seems to be quite old!! It is now empty. Wiring seems fairly recent as does the double glazing.

Our worry is that there are a few cracks on the internal brick wall which runs the length of the house (im assuming this would be load bearing?? ) and I would like to get some opinions on this.

One crack is in the living room, approximately 9 inches in length (from the ceiling down) and is stepped. I think this runs the width of the wall as as there is a crack on the hall side of the wall (at the same point) which runs into the ceiling a little. This crack is not near any door or window.

The other crack is in the dining room, again not near a door or window. It is similar length and pattern, except that this one may run along the join with the ceiling (there seems to be lining paper along the walls and onto the ceiling and this looks ripped along the point of the join).

If we bought the house one of the first jobs would be to create a kitchen diner and so this wall would be removed and any remedial works carried out required with such a job.

There are no cracks on external walls that we could see and there dont seem to be any cracks in the walls upstairs near the floor (again not that I could see anyway)

Are such cracks worse or better than those that run from the floor up? What could be the cause? And are they easier / harder to fix? What would be entailed with these types of repairs??

House otherwise seems quite solid, but as first time buyers we want to make sure we dont choose another dud (have already had one bad survey). So far weve run a mile from any that stink of damp. Were not afraid of having to do some work and understand that this is the position most buyers are now in, in order to get a good bargain. (There are not many houses of this size in such a good position in the location we want)

Any help would be appreciated!!

Thanks!!

DVardysShadow

View again. Have a feel over the wallpaper where the cracks disappear. How big a gap has opened?Is it bigger at the top or the bottom? Is the surface of the wall stepped or is it in line? How big?

Try and visualise waht it is about the house that has moved - sometimes with internal walls of this vintage it can just be thta the walls were built with gaps and the plaster is just falling off - a nightmare in itself, but the house will stand.

Get a full survey. Take a builder friend around to view.

newbie4

Thanks, we will defo go and have a further look n check

we've also got a builder friend who is going to go and have a look for us this week, so fingers are crossed it's something we can work with!!