Should I be worried about these wall cracks ?

Hoof_Hearted

You did the right thing. Better not to sink your money into a something that you are going to worry about.

teneighty

Looking at the rightmove details and streetview why all the mis-matched brickwork and some rendered elevations along the street?

It looks like some of them, yours included, has had the outer skin of brickwork rebuilt/added?

Are the houses traditional brick/block cavity wall construction? Has there been any history of major structural repairs?

Sadly the building surveys and homebuyers reports carried out by the large national chains linked to the lenders and estate agents are pretty much useless as they are usually carried out by valuation surveyors. I would always recommend getting a local independent Chartered Building Surveyor if you want a reliable and thorough survey report.

NinaSwiss

teneighty wrote: »

Looking at the rightmove details and streetview why all the mis-matched brickwork and some rendered elevations along the street?

It looks like some of them, yours included, has had the outer skin of brickwork rebuilt/added?

Are the houses traditional brick/block cavity wall construction? Has there been any history of major structural repairs?

Sadly the building surveys and homebuyers reports carried out by the large national chains linked to the lenders and estate agents are pretty much useless as they are usually carried out by valuation surveyors. I would always recommend getting a local independent Chartered Building Surveyor if you want a reliable and thorough survey report.

Some of the houses where originally non-traditional builds but mine amongst others were repaired in in the 1990s (PRC licensed repair to rebuild external walls) and this is only documented major structural work it has had.

I'll definitely choose my own surveyor next time and very glad I discovered the issue before it was too late. Hopefully I'll find something else just as nice by the time the year runs out.

desthemoaner

You've done the right thing by sacking the property off.

I live in a pre-1900 house, and it has some hairline cracks on the outside of the structure which aren't repeated on the inside. They're indicative of nothing more serious than a very slow ageing of the building. However, the ones in your pictures look like something more substantial, and remind me of a flat I once worked on, and which was riddled with serious internal signs of movement.

teneighty

Given the history of the property and obvious defects which were missed by the surveyor/valuer and subsequently dismissed as minor shrinkage cracks after you emailed photos, this is at least unprofessional and probably negligent.

I would suggest you lodge a formal complaint with the survey company with a view to getting your fee refunded. Contact them and inform them that you intend to lodge a formal complaint and ask them to confirm exactly what their complaints procedure is and the name of the designated complaints handler in the company. It is important that it is handled as a formal complaint so they cannot wriggle out it and the RICS can get involved if they try to stall and fob you off.

Good Luck

DRP

desthemoaner wrote: »

You've done the right thing by sacking the property off.

I live in a pre-1900 house, and it has some hairline cracks on the outside of the structure which aren't repeated on the inside. They're indicative of nothing more serious than a very slow ageing of the building. However, the ones in your pictures look like something more substantial, and remind me of a flat I once worked on, and which was riddled with serious internal signs of movement.

I live in a terrace built c1886 - we get hairline cracks in plaster and around door frames every spring, so have the annual job of filling and painting... Also these houses use wooden lintels so cracking of exterior render is inevitable.

I love old houses but next time i;'m going Edwardian!

NinaSwiss

I have the letter and email below ready to send to the original survey company, so will see what their response is following receipt.

---

RE: xxx property...address

I write in relation to the Building Survey carried out at the above named address, on 28/02/2013 and by surveyor's name.

On re-visiting the property, I discovered significant looking cracks which were not highlighted in the building survey report and on bringing photos of these to the attention of the surveyor a few weeks ago, I was advised that these were shrinkage cracks and could easily be made good. Due to lack of confidence in the original work done, I commissioned a second survey from a different company, which found that the crack sizes and positions indicate movement in the property.

The decision to proceed with purchase and associated costs were made based on the original survey report so it is disappointing to discover that significant defects on the surveyed property were omitted in the original report findings.

As a result of the second survey findings, I am no longer purchasing the property but had I discovered the significance of these cracks just after the original survey, I won’t have proceeded with purchase and won’t have incurred additional expenses. I’ am therefore requesting a refund on the original survey cost.

Please find attached:
1 – The original building survey report.
2 – Findings from the second survey, which includes photos of the cracks mentioned.

I look forward to hearing from you on this matter.