Cracks in house

Bean_Counter

Hi,

I admit to being pretty ignorant on DIY / house building issues and was looking for some advice / reassurance.

Our house is 13 years old and we have lived in it for 4 of those. It was a self-build by the previous occupant, a joiner I believe.

I have noticed over time some cracks around the inside of the house and also around external doors etc. As far as I know they have always been there and I have no evidence that they are getting any bigger. I do know, however, that it is normal for some cracks to appear as the house settles after being erected.

There is of course every chance that I am being completely irrational about this and have no evidence of problems other than a bad feeling. I am currently thinking of either extending the house or moving.

When we bought the house we did not get a structural survey done, maybe not the best decision in retrospect.

We live in Scotland if that has any bearing on anything.

So, my questions are as follows:

1. How do I tell if any cracks are structural or cosmetic?

2. Is it worth having a structural survey done for peace of mind or is that just a waste of money?

Thanks in advance for your time.

LandyAndy

Any chance of posting pictures of the cracks or a better description of where they are exactly, how wide and whether they travel vertically horizontally or diagonally?

Bean_Counter

LandyAndy wrote: »

Any chance of posting pictures of the cracks or a better description of where they are exactly, how wide and whether they travel vertically horizontally or diagonally?

Thanks for the reply.

I am afraid pictures are beyond my aptitude! However on discussion and closer examination it looks like the worst of what I thought were cracks are in fact cracks in the putty around all the windows and the doors. The cracks are all around and at worst are approx. 3mm wide.

I presume this now means the original builder used poor quality putty. Is it likely that serious consideration needs to be given to having the windows and doors reputtied (if that's a word.)

The other internal cracks were mainly vertical cracks at the corner of rooms and were a consistent width. Neighbour seemed to think this was nothing to worry about.

barrymung

Bean_Counter wrote: »

Hi,

Our house ... some cracks around the inside of the house

We live in Scotland if that has any bearing on anything.

Well, there's your answer. Your house obviously lies astride the fault line that runs aling the anglo-scottish border...

Seriously, probably nothing to worry about but either settlement cracks or the plaster drying out.

Try filling 'em with some "decorators filler" and see if they come back.

barrymung

Read your 2nd post.

Cracks in putty are most likely the putty simply drying out.

Bean_Counter

barrymung wrote: »

Read your 2nd post.

Cracks in putty are most likely the putty simply drying out.

That's great, thanks for the reassurance.