Any advice welcome

judojub

Hi everybody.
I am just posting a quick question and hope that somebody might be able to help in some way or another.
Basically, I have discovered a rather worrying crack appear behind the radiator in my daughters bedroom wall.
The crack starts at the top of the skirting board and travels up to the window ledge. The crack is larger at the bottom but looks just like a surface/plaster crack at the top.
We did have a friend come round and look at it. He put forward the opinion that the support (i forget the name he called it) above our patio doors in our lounge is perhaps weakening or whatever and not fully supporting the brickwork above (which leads up to my daughters bedroom). I do not have any photos to hand or anything but was just wondering if there was any advice out there. I am worried. I don't know if this would be covered under my insurance. My builder friend is almost sure it isn't subsidence. Help!!! If you can.:eek:

ormus

highly unlikely to be subsidence. the recent cold/hot weather will be to blame. the plaster expands at a different rate to the brick walls.
hence the cracks.

judojub

Hi ormus and thanks for your reply. This crack goes deeper than just plaster. The brickwork has split ( I am female so please bear with me). My friend has told me to monitor it over the next few weeks. He also said to tape some paper over the crack. His reasoning being that if it is still moving the paper will rip. I am so worried about this. Basically I have checked through my insurance, I don't know if I would be covered for this or not! To top it off we are now in an IVA so funds are extremely limited.

ormus

if the brickwork has split then you need a builder/surveyor to examine it.
dont inform the insurance co yet. generally, if it is subsidence then you pay the first 1000 quid. also the problem remains on file.
and you may have a lot of trouble selling your house in the future.

judojub

ormus wrote: »

if the brickwork has split then you need a builder/surveyor to examine it.
dont inform the insurance co yet. generally, if it is subsidence then you pay the first 1000 quid. also the problem remains on file.
and you may have a lot of trouble selling your house in the future.

This is what is worrying me.:( Our excess for 'subsidence' is 1k. We are in an IVA. We don't have that. We have no intention of selling our house any time soon. Tis why we chose IVA over bankruptcy. Although if these kind of problems are anything to go by then BR might have been the better option.!!!
I guess the main thing is, I don't want the house to be unsafe and especially not my daughters bedroom.!! I don't know what to do to be honest. Perhaps things will seem better in the morning!
Thank you Ormus

lagaaa

Hi
I am afraid as a useless female I have nothing useful to say but just wanted to say I hope things look better in the morning. i had a big crack in my bedroom in old property, kept channelling it out, refilling, redecorating, kept coming back. When we sold it was not an issue. I hope yours is something like this and looks worse than it is.

27col

If the crack is not visible from the outside it is unlikely to be of any importance. I have had this problem in both the houses that I have built. It happened on several windows. I filled the cracks and they have not reappeared in 25 years. If the cracks are in both skins of the wall then perhaps they need a local expert to give an opinion.

judojub

27col wrote: »

If the crack is not visible from the outside it is unlikely to be of any importance. I have had this problem in both the houses that I have built. It happened on several windows. I filled the cracks and they have not reappeared in 25 years. If the cracks are in both skins of the wall then perhaps they need a local expert to give an opinion.

Hi.
There is no crack visible on the outside (good sign I hope). I wonder, my friend said it is probably happening due to the support above our patio doors in the lounge but, could it possibly be condensation? Or is that just a stupid thing to say!!:)

anotherbaldrick

If there is no crack in the exterior brickwork it is probably thermal expansion and contraction in the inner wall leaf. We have a few ourselves. Remember there will be a solid lintel spanning the patio door opening below. Monitor it for a few months and if it gets no worse fill it with a flexible crack filler.

judojub

anotherbaldrick wrote: »

If there is no crack in the exterior brickwork it is probably thermal expansion and contraction in the inner wall leaf. We have a few ourselves. Remember there will be a solid lintel spanning the patio door opening below. Monitor it for a few months and if it gets no worse fill it with a flexible crack filler.

Thanks so much!!! We were told that if the crack gets no bigger over the next month or so then it could just be plastered over. That would be fine but I still worry that when we eventually change the patio doors (the glass is blown) then this might prove to be quite an expensive task?