Does this look serious?

Manchee

We've been looking round houses the past couple of weeks, we've found a bit of a project house in a nice area nearby that we are quite interested in, however theres something that I don't know if we should be concerned about. We're first time buyers without any family in the area so its a but difficult to know. When we were looking round inside the 2 back upstairs windows (on the same wall) have cracks from the corner of the windows up to the ceiling, but the thing that concerns me more (and might be possibly related?) is outside just under the roof there seems to be an issue with the brick work:

1:

2:

3:

Is this something to be worried about (like a big crack), or are we making a big deal out of nothing (ie its prob not connected and the bit outside is missing mortar and just needs repointing). I think we're just worried it might be something big-ish but as we have no experience we're not sure how concerned we should be if that makes sense? If we were interested in making an offer we would get a builder to have a look, just trying to get an idea beforehand.

Thanks

anselld

As a general rule the same crack present on both inside and outside skin is not a good sign.

Difficult to make out on the photos what is going on though. Best get it checked out.

Manchee

Thanks for the reply. I'm not sure it does go all the way though, as, if you can see in the picture the below (the red circle shows where the outside issue is, the red lines show roughly where the cracks are on the inside) the don't actually line up - just some additional info in case it makes any difference:



But yes, you are right, we would want to get this looked at then.

cherylsurrey

Get a survey done before you buy it, at least then a professional can have a look and give you an opinion. I have had a survey done on the last 3 places I have bought.

DaftyDuck

Roofline fault as well. End gable and front wall prolly poorly, and will be expensive to fix. Several thousand pounds, but not more. No reason to believe it is subsidence, which would cost more still.

King_Slayer

OP, If you really like the house you can have a homebuyers report done or a structural survey should highlight the issue. You can also highlight your area of concern to the surveyor before they visit.

teddysmum

Have a look online to see if anyone nearby has issues with subsidence.


Some years ago, a new estate was built on an area known , in my childhood, as the 'open holes' as there used to be mine ventilation chimneys in the fields.


Anyway, one day, a 'lucky' couple arrived home to find that most if the furniture in their living room had fallen into a large hole which appeared in front of the fireplace. Others , on the estate had related, but more minor mishaps and , eventually the houses were demolished. ( These have, since, been replaced by other, presumably, safely underpinned houses).

Mallotum_X

Do you know a builder or have any family who have a builder they trust worth getting a view before committing to a survey and the cost that entails.

Manchee

Thanks for the replies everyone

Mallotum_X wrote: »

Do you know a builder or have any family who have a builder they trust worth getting a view before committing to a survey and the cost that entails.

Unfortunately we don't. We would need to pick a builder out of the phone book as none of our friends own their own place so ever needed to employ one.