worried about horizontal cracks

huwy123

hi there,
I've had an offer accepted on a house I really like but I'm a little worried about some horizontal cracks.
I'll get a surveyor to look at it obviously but was wondering if its worth going for the full builders survey or just a home buyers survey? I've spoke to a couple of surveyors would were of the opinion that the builders survey was a waste of money (however that wasn't about this particular property/issue).
There are some pics of the cracks here...
xxxx
I'm curious what others would recommend/do.
Cheers,
-Huw

Sugared-frog

Guessing ... could it be wall ties since they are horizontal?

But you will need to get in a qualified person to look anyway.

pauletruth

the bay looks bad. it could just be a badly done render. the windows look new as well. really would be worth getting someone into check it.

G_M

Is anything visible inside?

Quite possibly this is superficial. Pebbledash is just a cosmetic coating added on top of the brickwork. If the cracks penetrate through the brickwork underneath as well, it might be significant, but it could well be that some water has penetrated the pebbledash only.

huwy123

thanks for all the replies.

No I didn't see any sizeable cracks inside. The windows are double-glazed and look in pretty good condition (I'd guess not that old).

I guess I need to speak to a surveyor about whether looking into this would be included in their report. I don't want to spend £400 on a report only for it to be inconclusive!

H

PasturesNew

Get a huge, illegal, bomb firework (they're big cubes, about 8" cubed) ... and pay some feral £20 to let it off right outside the house on 5 November.... pop down the road the next day and see if the front dropped off.

poppysarah

The render stuff (got memory block on what it's called) is hiding something serious. It looks fresh so I assume what's covered up is still active.
RUN don't walk.

kingstreet

I'd probably bypass a surveyor and go for a structural engineer's report if you want to pursue the purchase and have real concerns about the fabric of the property.

If you have an extended survey and there are issues with the property the surveyor may well recommend a structural engineer's report, so you might find it quicker and cheaper to go straight for that option.

http://www.findanengineer.com/

Choose "Surveying: Domestic Property" for your area. Once you've found an engineer, call them and see what they think.

red40

If you want to spend a small fortune on a structural surveyor for piece of mind, I would recommend that option. Personally wouldnt go anywhere near the building.

kingstreet

When I've commissioned structural engineer's reports in my area in the past, the cost has been in the £200 to £250 range, assuming there's no requirement for trial holes.

This is often less than the cost of a mortgage valuation and well under the price of a chartered building survey.

huwy123

Thanks again for all the (sensible) replies!
From what I've read, high horizontal cracks are usually due to wall tie corrosion.
So I'm thinking go for a"home buyers" survey with a structural engineers report as opposed to a "builders" survey.