Buying house - crack on wall - should I worry

jataayu

Dear members,

I am a First time buyer and saw a house which we like it. The house has a integral garage and there is a crack inside. The crack is on the wall and on the pillar. Since I have no experience about builds I am turning for your help before deciding to make an offer. The house is a 4 bed terraced priced at £245,000

The first picture shows inside garage where the cracks are and the second shows outside house with relative position to cracks.

What I want to know is whether it is a simple crack on plaster or on the structural wall/pillar which will cost a lot to fix.

I really appreciate your help and thank you in advance.

[Deleted User]

I'm no expert so can't advise, but get a full structural survey done.

lincroft1710

It is probably a settlement crack, but be on the safe side and as Domino9 suggests get a full structural survey.

maninthestreet

That's not a pillar - it looks like a lintel supporting the first floor part of the cavity wall.

DaftyDuck

There is obvious evidence of damp penetration around the supporting beam (inside photo, by downward cabling). That is probably the only source cause of damage, and probably isn't a long-term problem, or expensive.

The lead flashing needs tending to, to stop damp penetrating. Hopefully, the water penetration has done no lasting damage. It may be a cracked tile by that downpipe... I hate discharge onto a roof like that, and it looks like there's no directed flow at the bottom. No wonder it is getting through.
....

..... but get a survey done, or a builder in....

jataayu

Domino9 wrote: »

I'm no expert so can't advise, but get a full structural survey done.

Thank you. I am in talk with the Estate Agent with regards to this. But need to decide whether I need to pay for survey before making an offer. Thanks

jataayu

maninthestreet wrote: »

That's not a pillar - it looks like a lintel supporting the first floor part of the cavity wall.

You are right and sorry for my mistake. It is a beam or lintel supporting the first floor wall.

jataayu

DaftyDuck wrote: »

There is obvious evidence of damp penetration around the supporting beam (inside photo, by downward cabling). That is probably the only source cause of damage, and probably isn't a long-term problem, or expensive.

The lead flashing needs tending to, to stop damp penetrating. Hopefully, the water penetration has done no lasting damage. It may be a cracked tile by that downpipe... I hate discharge onto a roof like that, and it looks like there's no directed flow at the bottom. No wonder it is getting through.
....

..... but get a survey done, or a builder in....

Thank you. The seller says the cracks were there when he bought the house 12 years ago and has not got any worse.

I will speak to a builder in local area and try to arrange them to have a look.

I greatly appreciate all your help.

lincroft1710

jataayu wrote: »

Thank you. The seller says the cracks were there when he bought the house 12 years ago and has not got any worse.

But he would say that, wouldn't he?

Kazza_Monkey

A builder friend of mine told me once to always be weary when there are cracks both inside and outside of the wall. It can be a sign of structural movement but then again it could just be settlement cracks. I would advise to get hold of a decent trusted builder and do another viewing with them that way neither you nor the vendor will be wasting each other's time

Actually on second look at the picture the cracking along the ceiling (top part of picture) would make me feel extremely worried at is quite deep. I'm not an expert though but it looks like the front part of the garage is pulling away from the rest of the house!!

ruggedtoast

I couldn't tell you anything about these cracks if I were standing in front of them. For goodness sake have a professional survey by someone with indemnity insurance.