Crack in exterior of house - found by surveyor.

Laear1

Hi,
Just after a bit of advice following a survey on our Edwardian London mid terrace.
We are in a ground floor flat with one flat above us. We are both leasehold.
We have had our buyers surveyor around this morning and this was the final hurdle before exchange. He has said that while there are no major issues within the house he will have to put on his report a crack which runs from the upstairs flat window to our window on the exterior of the building.
We have noticed this crack before and had a surveyor friend look at it and were told that it is nothing to worry about and that the pointing used (well before our ownership) is just too strong. So really, just a repointing job to repair the cosmetic damage.
I cannot post a link but it is vertical and follows the line of the bricks in a stepped pattern. It is 10 bricks in length between the two windows and the area he mentioned is only really visible on 2.5-3 of those bricks and only one actually has a thin crack in the actual brick.

Any experts or DIY buffs out there to reassure me that this will not cause my first time buyers to panic and pull out of the sale?

Many thanks,

kilby_007

Are you sure it's not subsidence? When did you notice it and has it got any worse since? How wide is the crack? Are we talking a hairline or is it a few mm gap?

Laear1

Hi Kilby, thanks for your quick reply.
I couldn't say if it was subsidence or not? There is not any known issue of subsidence in the area and a survey when we purchased the flat 6 years ago didn't bring up any mention of it.
I noticed it first in Sept/Oct last year when the upstairs flat were having their windows replaced and the workmen pointed it out. It does not appear to have moved at all since then.
The cracked brick would be hairline and the bits where the motor visabally needs replacing are maybe 3-4 mm.

Laear1

/tinypic.com/r/ptb1c/9

If you add http to the front of this link it will show you a picture.

Doozergirl

Who knows what will frighten a FTB. It will depend partially on what the surveyor suggests and the rest is down to their attitude towards it.

You could try to head it off with your own structural engineer or surveyor's report.

Fact is, all houses move. Not everyone can appreciate that.

Victorian houses were built with a soft lime mortar mix which allowed the house to move much more easily. If it is replaced with a heavier concrete mix then that can cause issues and cracking where it shouldn't otherwise happen. Your friend may be correct.

Your property may well not be suffering from subsidence, but there is a maintenance issue there. Aside from the crack, there are spalled bricks and the mortar is falling out in places. There is a damp risk there if nothing else and it isn't going to improve.

The spalled bricks should be replaced and repointing undertaken where appropriate.

Laear1

Hi Doozergirl,
Thanks for replying. My friend echoed what you have said about the lime mortar mix so that is good to hear.
Now that we have looked at it is obviously a maintenance issue that will need to be sorted out and we are happy to reduce the cost of the property to reflect this.
Am embarrassed to say that I didn't notice it until it was pointed out by the workmen and then have not given it any thought since otherwise we have taken steps to get it corrected before selling. No visible damp issues to date.
Fingers crossed the buyers will not be scared by it, hopefully a cash reduction will sway them (and cost would be split between flats as freeholder would have to be involved) so there is light at the end of the tunnel!

MyOnlyPost

If the flat is leasehold, who is responsioble for repairs? Check your lease before making repairs or lowering your price as it may be the freeholders responsibility to maintain the building

Laear1

Am pretty sure the FH is responsible for the maintenance of the building but in the past they have then just passed the cost on via the service charge back to us.
Will double check to see exactly what the lease says though, so thank you for the suggestion.
Having looked on the internet it (fingers crossed) seems we are looking at £500 - £1,000 for the repointing and replacement of bricks.
Anyone have a ball park figure having had it done in the past?

jimbog