Cause of cracks - subsidence or window installation?

seafarer82

I'm currently interested in buying a house, however it's in a pretty bad state of repair, having been vacant for at least 8 years. Apparently the previous owner (now deceased) started putting in double glazing, did 3 sides of the house and then stopped for some reason, as the south side is still single glazed.

There are several cracks in the west-facing exterior around the windows (a couple of diagonal ones from the top edges of windows, one horizontal and one vertical crack from a lower window edge and a 'staircase' one from another window edge). These correspond with patches of damp on the interior walls, and there are also three large vertical cracks on the interior walls, either above or below the windows.

I'm getting a surveyor and builder in to have a look as I'm worried about subsidence, but to me the window installation looks like a pretty poor job and I'm wondering if this is what's caused the cracks instead. Being west-facing, wind, rain and sun is likely to have made any cracks worse over time. Is bad window installation likely to cause the type of cracks described and if so does anyone have any tips about what to look for to narrow down the cause before I get the surveyor's report back?

dacouch

Are they bay windows?

seafarer82

No, they're not bay windows. They're either 2 or 3-pane double glazed. Two are PVC framed and one is a deteriorating painted wooden frame, for some reason.

anselld

Windows (i.e. the frame plus glass) do not contribute to the structure of the building. Bad installation would not be the cause of such cracks but might be a contributor to damp.

There may be other possible causes besides subsidence, e.g.,
Failed wall ties
Roof spread
Inadequate lintels

Probably best to get it looked at by a structural engineer/surveyor.