Vertical crack in wall joining extension - any advice?

Astara

I have just seen a Victorian house and had my offer accepted. But then saw a long vertical crack in the wall where the house joins the extension. Before I get a survey done any thoughts or knowledge of this type of crack please? Many thanks in advance! The crack in the brickwork is about a quarter of an inch wide and very long. Would it be a good idea to ask a strucutural engineer to look at it before I pay for a survey? Or is this trouble in the making?

G_M

You're right that a surveyor is likely to include it in his report and recommend a structural survey.

Personally I'd walk away and save my money.

ab7167

What are the relative ages of the 2 parts - is the extension victorian as well, or is it modern? If it is a modern extension, the vertical crack may be a movement joint between the 2 parts of the structure. These are typically around 10mm wide, which is easily your quarter inch. Should be easy enough to spot as they should (!) be filled with mastic to stop water ingress. Also, there will be no damage to the bricks, the extension will have been built to stop 10mm short of the existing wall. The 2 parts will be connected with metal strips inside the construction, which you will not be able to see.

Otherwise, check for width difference along the height of the crack e.g. is the crack wider at the top than the bottom? If there is significant width difference I would be more concerned than if the crack was uniform in width across its height.

However, you cannot take this advice as gospel as there are many many reasons why there might be a gap or crack, and a qualified surveyor or structural engineer would be your best bet. If you wish to proceed with the purchase, I would recommend that you employ someone to look at this for you. The Institute of Structural Engineers has a list on their website of qualified engineers.

Astara

ab7167 wrote: »

What are the relative ages of the 2 parts - is the extension victorian as well, or is it modern? If it is a modern extension, the vertical crack may be a movement joint between the 2 parts of the structure. These are typically around 10mm wide, which is easily your quarter inch. Should be easy enough to spot as they should (!) be filled with mastic to stop water ingress. Also, there will be no damage to the bricks, the extension will have been built to stop 10mm short of the existing wall. The 2 parts will be connected with metal strips inside the construction, which you will not be able to see.

Otherwise, check for width difference along the height of the crack e.g. is the crack wider at the top than the bottom? If there is significant width difference I would be more concerned than if the crack was uniform in width across its height.

However, you cannot take this advice as gospel as there are many many reasons why there might be a gap or crack, and a qualified surveyor or structural engineer would be your best bet. If you wish to proceed with the purchase, I would recommend that you employ someone to look at this for you. The Institute of Structural Engineers has a list on their website of qualified engineers.

The extension is newer, probably 40-50 years old. It has been rendered so you can see the crack before the render starts. I'm not sure if it was wider at the top than the bottom. Thanks for your knowledge and advice.

mlz1413

Ask the vendors about it before paying for a valuation, has it been there years? has it changed?

It will get picked up so you would be best to pay for a strucutural engineer before buying the house, I didn't pay that much to my local engineer (found via yellow pages) £200? as he came out and said 'oh that's fine its year old and hasn't moved', this included a drawing for the work I wanted too.

Fire_Fox

Sounds like the extension was not 'tied in' to the main house, ask a reputable builder to have a look if you don't want to pay for a survey yet or ask the vendors to pay for it to be investigated.

Astara

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Sounds like the extension was not 'tied in' to the main house, ask a reputable builder to have a look if you don't want to pay for a survey yet or ask the vendors to pay for it to be investigated.

Thanks Fire Fox will do that before I pay out for a survey or structural engineer. This is my 3rd attempt to buy something and if it's no good I'll be walking away.

martindow

When I sold my last house that had a small crack that I had never noticed until a buyer dropped out after it came up on a survey which frightened them off. The survey was the usual thing flagging it up and suggesting further investigation.

We paid for a structural surveyor to look at it as the crack was likely to cause problems with subsequent buyers. The survey cost a few hundred pounds but gave it the all clear, when the next buyer's surveyor came along we gave a copy of the structural report to them and that sale went through fine.

Could be worth suggesting the seller pays for this to avoid a series of collapsing sales.

Astara

martindow wrote: »

When I sold my last house that had a small crack that I had never noticed until a buyer dropped out after it came up on a survey which frightened them off. The survey was the usual thing flagging it up and suggesting further investigation.

We paid for a structural surveyor to look at it as the crack was likely to cause problems with subsequent buyers. The survey cost a few hundred pounds but gave it the all clear, when the next buyer's surveyor came along we gave a copy of the structural report to them and that sale went through fine.

Could be worth suggesting the seller pays for this to avoid a series of collapsing sales.

Thanks, it's actually rather a large crack! I will suggest they get a structural report.

Astara

Astara wrote: »

I have just seen a Victorian house and had my offer accepted. But then saw a long vertical crack in the wall where the house joins the extension. Before I get a survey done any thoughts or knowledge of this type of crack please? Many thanks in advance! The crack in the brickwork is about a quarter of an inch wide and very long. Would it be a good idea to ask a strucutural engineer to look at it before I pay for a survey? Or is this trouble in the making?

An update - I've had a letter from the seller's surveyor who did a survey last year when they bought it and did the property up and this is what he wrote' ..a degree of historical movement was noted to the rear addition of the property whereby slight displacement and differential settlement was noted between two portions of the property. We are of the opinion that this movement is clearly historical in nature and of no ongoing current concern.'

Their surveyor goes on to suggest it should be raked out and re-pointed. The seller has not done this yet which seems slightly strange. I am now thinking of getting my own survey done.

Is it wise to now go ahead with this purchase? Thanks for your thoughts in advance.

Doozergirl

Astara wrote: »

An update - I've had a letter from the seller's surveyor who did a survey last year when they bought it and did the property up and this is what he wrote' ..a degree of historical movement was noted to the rear addition of the property whereby slight displacement and differential settlement was noted between two portions of the property. We are of the opinion that this movement is clearly historical in nature and of no ongoing current concern.'

Their surveyor goes on to suggest it should be raked out and re-pointed. The seller has not done this yet which seems slightly strange. I am now thinking of getting my own survey done.

Is it wise to now go ahead with this purchase? Thanks for your thoughts in advance.

The surveyor has suggested it isn't a problem. Repointing often isn't something on a list of concerns for a homeowner; it's a bit of a shame that they haven't done it if their aim was to give the property an overhaul - however, it's hardly the sign of them trying to cover up a problem; quite the opposite in fact, if you knew there was a problem perhaps you would try to disguise it!

It's not a big job at all to do to fill in the gaps from a crack - not even a days work, I bet. I don't really see why you are more concerned now than you were before (if you are) - someone had already suggested that it is simply the fact that they are two separate structures - the extension has settled whereas the original house settled a long time before that. The survey has confirmed that. It's perfectly normal.

If they fancy themselves as developers then I'd ask that they have the repointing carried out for you before you exchange contracts.

I'd have my own survey on the whole house as a matter of course, not simply because of this but purely for a second opinion? probably not.