Wall cracks/subsidence

JackieR2

Hi - I dont come around here too often, just when I need something but I usually get pushed in the right direction by you guys so I thought my latest dilemma was something I could seek your advice on,


Ive been away on holiday for 2 weeks, before that I was away with work for 2 weeks so Ive only been at home for about 3 days in the last 5 weeks or so, this means I have not really been paying attention to the house.


Yesterday I noticed 2 cracks that run down the sides of the window frame in the front room of the house, there is a draft coming in through these cracks and there does seem to be a similar crack on the outside of the house but a little lower down.


I do wonder if this has something to do with the heat we have had and the lack of rain, the cracks seem so have appeared very quickly or I have somehow totally missed them....


I called the insurance company because basically I dont trust any builders/anyone at all not to rip me off on this, I assumed that they would be the best people as they could send out someone who is a real expert to check out the cracks. They have said that since a subsidence claim is so impactful to future insurance they would not start a claim but would help me diagnose the issue. They have said that they can do this by looking at photos which I am to email them. I have done this.


Surely they cant diagnose subsidence from photos? Im a bit in the dark, I do need to wait for them to come back to me and I suppose they may send someone out still but this seems a strange approach to me.


Also - interestingly I just did an insurance quote on a comparison site with a nearby address and all other details as my own to get an idea, I put that there was a subsidence claim and it cost £25000 to fix because I wanted to see what this might do to future quotes. The quote came in much lower than what I am paying now so I think I need to look around when renewal comes up.


Any advice/clues/guidance would be reassuring or perhaps scary but appreciated wither way.


Thanks for reading!

Doozergirl

You gave them photos but not us?

I've seen plenty of photos on here that aren't subsidence.

Davesnave

JackieR2 wrote: »

I called the insurance company because basically I dont trust any builders/anyone at all not to rip me off on this, I assumed that they would be the best people as they could send out someone who is a real expert to check out the cracks.

It sounds as if your insurers have already been overcharging you, so I'm not sure about the logic of trusting them!


The person they might send would, hopefully, have some background in structural engineering. A structural engineer would have been who I'd call, if I didn't like what my usual builder told me for free.


To help with a distance diagnosis, is this a bay window, or a window with infill under it that's different from the other walls?


Are the cracks beside the frame, or under it? It sounds as if they are gaps alongside the window frame, but I want to make sure. How wide are the gaps?



What are the walls made of and what's the rough age of the house?



Someone else better than me will be along soon, but I think these answers might help. It has been a very dry summer and it's possible things may change again when the weather does.


P.S.If you haven't enough posts to link to a hosted photo, post a broken link.

JackieR2

Ah okay good point Ill share some more images.


This is not my house but this is the exact style of window:
https://www.miltonkeynesdoubleglazing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/bay-window-1.jpg


This is the worst crack from the inside:
http://prntscr.com/kev1oz


and this is that crack from the outside:
http://prntscr.com/kev244


As you will see the crack on the outside is in the same vertical line but much lower down


The walls are brick, Im trying to find out the age of the house but I would guess early 1900s

Doozergirl

Bay windows often weren't built with any footings to speak of.

Given this summer, the ground will be shrinking and there will be some differential movement between the bay and the house. It is the bay sinking slightly on what is probably a clay based soil.

When the weather sorts itself out, which it no doubt will, the crack will probably close back up to a degree and not be a problem until we have another long, hot summer like this. The last summer that really caused issues was 1976, so I don't think it's worth panicking over.

So, it is a subsidence of sorts, but for a bay window it isn't the worst sort. You will need some remedial filling once the weather starts to change as it is a risk for water ingress. You should keep an eye on it over time, but if were my house I wouldn't be having kittens over it, nor would I be involving insurers at this point at all. That opens a whole can of worms with resale values for a pretty obvious and relatively minor fault. You've already started down that road and they have the photos. Don't persue it any further at this point.

You need to spend more time on this site if you haven't been comparing insurance quotes every year!

parking_question_chap

Just here to second the above post.

Maybe just monitor the situiation and if nothing much changes want and see what happens in autumn, assuming we get one.

Many older properties have at least some small cracks somewhere or other, its probably that as you dont pay them much attention other than yours, you will not notice them.

Caveat: This comment is based on no actual knowledge of this subject.

fezster

Could just be the bay window brickwork has not been tied properly to the wall when constructed. Take a look at this link for info:

https://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/tiebrickwork.htm

As others have said, I wouldn't worry about it too much if it doesn't get much worse. If you want to put your mind at rest, pay a structural engineer to give a professional opinion.