crack seems to be right through??

snowmaid

We are thinking of buying the house we are currently renting and were wanting to get a structual survey done next week.

As I posted before, we have an external crack running from the corner of the patio door up to the window ledge above. We have been told that this is a plaster crack. However, I have noticed that there is a hairline crack that has developed on the inside of the house, following the same direction as the external one! :eek:

Of course we are now extremely nervous even to get a structual survey done because we don't know how much this little lot would cost to fix?

Is is a mid terrace. Is it possible that this patio door hasn't been installed properly and if there isn't a lintel, what is the obvious signs of this? The door itself doesn't appear to be under any stress as such, i.e. no signs of bowing etc. Its just this ugly crack! Wider than 3mm in places.

If someone can tell me how to insert a pic in here I will gladly do so.

Tiger_greeneyes

If there is any structural movement then it would be covered by your landlords buildings insurance. It would be down to the insurers to get it fixed, not yourselves.

Maybe you could speak to your landlord and they can get their insurance company to send a structural engineer around.

If you want to post a picture then you'll need to upload your photos to something like photobucket.com and then post the link to the photo.

snowmaid

How do I do the link once I have created a slide show??:o

snowmaid

snowmaid

Eeerrrmmmm.....think that is right......?!?!?

Here are some pics.:o

cattie

Ooh, that's some huge crack there. Is your landlord aware of it?

snowmaid

cattie wrote: »

Ooh, that's some huge crack there. Is your landlord aware of it?

Oh yes, very much aware. They remortgaged the property and had a builder do some type of test on it (before we moved in). Apparently its plaster??

I have asked to see the result of the survey that was conducted at the time but they say that this is in storage 'somewhere'. They don't appear to be people who would take a chance, but at the same time I would like to know what costs would be involve in putting this crack right. We are very happy where we are.

Hubby is now reluctant to pay out £1000 on a structual survey, to find out it may cost thousands to put right. That is why I am wondering if there is someone who is familiar with these type of cracks.

real1314

regardless of whether someone on here has experience of these types of cracks, how will that help you?

I wouldn't have thought you'd need to pay a fortune to have it checked, you could just make your offer subject to seeing the previous report on the crack?

snowmaid

real1314 wrote: »

regardless of whether someone on here has experience of these types of cracks, how will that help you?

I wouldn't have thought you'd need to pay a fortune to have it checked, you could just make your offer subject to seeing the previous report on the crack?

I realise that I would still need to get it checked, any fool would be aware of that. As far as I am aware to conduct a structual survey will cost approx £900/1000 - to me this is a lot of money. What I was wondering if there was a builder or experienced person on here who had come across something like this who would be able give SOME kind of indication as to what kind of fault this is, of course, bearing in mind that they haven't looked at the crack first hand. Of course I am aware that someone would still have to have a look.

Tiger_greeneyes

I'd be wondering if there's a lintel above the patio doors tbh. I know there's a wooden fascia but whether it's supporting or not - I very much doubt. Some houses were built without a lintel but had supporting window/door frames instead. It could be that these were removed and replaced with standard (unsupported) patio doors.

If it is a lack of a lintel, you're looking at around £2k so not the end of the world. I can't say if it is the lintel for sure but - it looks like a fairly recent crack after fairly recent replacement windows/doors.

Are either of the doors a bit stiff to open? I'd not have both of them open at the same time btw, not until you know what the problem is.

Are there any obvious signs inside of any problems? You'd most likely be looking at the cracking being in the same place (mirrored), or sagging above the patio doors.

Don't spend any money yourself - if your landlord isn't worried they he won't mind getting his insurance company involved. You need to make sure before you commit to buying.

snowmaid

Tiger_greeneyes wrote: »

I'd be wondering if there's a lintel above the patio doors tbh. I know there's a wooden fascia but whether it's supporting or not - I very much doubt. Some houses were built without a lintel but had supporting window/door frames instead. It could be that these were removed and replaced with standard (unsupported) patio doors.

If it is a lack of a lintel, you're looking at around £2k so not the end of the world. I can't say if it is the lintel for sure but - it looks like a fairly recent crack after fairly recent replacement windows/doors.

Are either of the doors a bit stiff to open? I'd not have both of them open at the same time btw, not until you know what the problem is.

Are there any obvious signs inside of any problems? You'd most likely be looking at the cracking being in the same place (mirrored), or sagging above the patio doors.

Don't spend any money yourself - if your landlord isn't worried they he won't mind getting his insurance company involved. You need to make sure before you commit to buying.

Aaahhh thankyou!! Now that is the kind of help I was hoping for! :T The door. Ok, the one side of the double door sticks and drags against the bottom of the frame, not bad, but obvious. There is a crack which appears to be mirrored on the inside, at the moment a hairline crack.

There doesn't appear to be any sagging above the door, but we have noticed the window above - the window sill is leaning down noticably, towards wear the crack meets at that window. Seems to be almost bowed?