Help - subsidence?!

tkndnv

We have just bought a house which suffered some damage to the foundations 35 years ago and was repaired.

Before buying, we had a structural survey which said any residual cracking was historic and not reoccuring. Great, we thought. We'll buy it.

However, since moving in I have found so many internal cracks I am really worried the surveyor was wrong/slap dash.

There are cracks in every room, mainly over doors and windows, of varying degrees of severity. Some are in the middle of the wall.

However, by far the worst is around the edge of the front door, extending up to the ceiling and along. The front door also sticks very badly.

If anyone knows anything about cracks, please could you have a look at this photo and tell me how bad it is? I suspect bad, but please be gentle For some reason it won't let me post links so I have disguised the link below.

it's on flickr dot com then forward slash photos forward slash 140541445@N03/sets/72157665001279592

xyz123

Can't help with any advice but here's the link to photos fixed.
https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/140541445@N03/sets/72157665001279592/

Doozergirl

You have to monitor them.

Where you have cracks, mark the end with a pencil. You'll then see if there is any change.

If you have a house of any age it will have cracks and ALL houses move.

If the cracks weren't repaired before then they will remain. Underpinning won't reverse movement.

It could also be that your plaster work is blowing in places. Perfectly normal in older houses. You can knock on the walls and listen for any hollow sound where the plaster has lost its bond to the wall.

If the one by the front door is the worst, then that is probably the only query area, and that does look like movement as it goes through the coving. Is there any corresponding cracking on the outside of the house? If so, picture, please.

The door looks relatively new. You wouldn't expect a lintel above an arch as the arch is structural, so you can't have a lintel missing, but I wonder if with the previous movement, that the previous door held some load and the arch has lost some of its strength and dislodged slightly when it was removed.

It could be a late symptom of previous movement rather than new.

Lots of different reasons for cracks!

Furts

It also appears this is an existing area of weakness that has been decorated over and has re-appeared. Nobody on this Forum will be able to answer when the re-decoration occurred - only you will know that. Equally, nobody will be able to tell you how long the crack, or weakness, has existed.

However, if this crack was not present when you viewed the house this suggests the crack was decorated over to disguise it. Now it has simply re-appeared. If disguise has occurred you cannot blame your surveyor. However, you could have asked questions of the vendor, and been street wise or savvy over this.

Speculation on my part, but it looks like a 1930s style house, and these were not built with coving. Hence the coving may have been installed to disguise cracking. Again, only you will be able to shed light on this.

I suspect the fixing of the new door, or the banging of the door, or looseness with the door frame has opened up the crack.

Hope this helps.

phil24_7

Looking at the coving there appears to be a definite step in it which suggests this was in place when the original subsidence occurred. This crack looks to be in the same place. It could be simple movement or it could be indicative of something more severe. You will need to closely monitor it as Doozergirl said.

Regards
Phil

Davesnave

It's unlikely, but were any trees close to the house cut down in the year or two prior to the sale?

Street View may help you check this.

Sometimes, the removal of trees can change gound conditions significantly, and it's not unknown for large trees to be taken down to improve kerb appeal.

tkndnv

Thanks all

I definitely agree I should have been more savvy! I will know to look for this stuff if there's ever a next time. I didn't notice this crack on looking round - God knows why - but am sure it was there.

As far as I know the previous owners redecorated in 2012 and I would not be surprised if the new door was put in then. I think they replastered but whether or not they just put new plaster on old, I do not know.

There's no corresponding cracking on the outside for this particular crack, but there is old cracking in other places which the surveyor confirmed as historic.

Is there a technical way of monitoring cracks? I'm happy to pay for this.

Le_Kirk

There is a plethora of crack monitoring kit, see link: -

http://www.surveyorsequipment.co.uk/shop/measuring/crack_monitoring_tell_tales/

but the simplest way has already been posted, pencil mark at end of crack to see if it elongates and I would add a pair of lines at a known set distance across the crack and see if the measurement changes over time.

Doozergirl

tkndnv wrote: »

Thanks all

I definitely agree I should have been more savvy! I will know to look for this stuff if there's ever a next time. I didn't notice this crack on looking round - God knows why - but am sure it was there.

As far as I know the previous owners redecorated in 2012 and I would not be surprised if the new door was put in then. I think they replastered but whether or not they just put new plaster on old, I do not know.

There's no corresponding cracking on the outside for this particular crack, but there is old cracking in other places which the surveyor confirmed as historic.

Is there a technical way of monitoring cracks? I'm happy to pay for this.

Yes, they can be monitored electronically. Call a structural engineer.

It won't be cheap so I'd monitor myself first. Nothing terrible will happen. Even if there is a problem, it will be slow.

EssexExile

tkndnv wrote: »

I definitely agree I should have been more savvy! I will know to look for this stuff if there's ever a next time.

Don't beat yourself up to much, you will never see everything in a few visits. Next time you'll see all the cracks but miss the woodworm, & so on.

Whatever the problem is, it's fixable & nothing is going to fall down any time soon.

brightontraveller

Plenty of cheap easy DIY methods pencil mark (and date) ditto duck tape (mark each end at the vertical with a pencil mark/date ) bigger cracks timber wedges (must be dried timber) care taken not to make crack worse when banging in (simply fall out if crack expands) , arguably “professional” paranoia ones out there Standard “Tell – Tale” if you can use adhesive or install screws you can fit them ? as example
http://www.surveyorsequipment.co.uk/shop/measuring/crack_monitoring_tell_tales/crack_monitoring_standard_tell_tale.php
other easy to use bits
http://www.surveyorsequipment.co.uk/shop/measuring/crack_monitoring_tell_tales/

Really impossible to say if its new without further investigation (but I’d say looks more historic to me) all the above though would give you much better indicator