Conservatory subsidence

MSaxp

Thank you. It does make me feel a bit better.

The cracks are not huge, we hadnt even thought of subsidence until now, just put it down to standard cracking that you get in all joints. As long as it doesnt get any worse, we dont really mind.

Any ideas of a sealant that looks mortar-like?

EachPenny

MSaxp wrote: »

The cracks are not huge, we hadnt even thought of subsidence until now, just put it down to standard cracking that you get in all joints. As long as it doesnt get any worse, we dont really mind.

Any ideas of a sealant that looks mortar-like?

I would do absolutely nothing until the ground conditions have returned to something more normal.

Your pictures are showing what I'd call 'gaps' rather than 'cracks' - in one of them you can see a roughly equal 'gap' in the brickwork, along the top of the windowsill and then up the side of the window frame. This is just movement of the conservatory relative to the house.

Hopefully the gaps will close up when the weather is wetter - if they don't that is the time to do something.

Filling the gaps now will mean as the conservatory moves back to its previous position (assuming it does) the material you've used as a filler will become compressed. Flexible sealant will absorb some of this compression, but probably not all.

That will then put a compressive stress on the brickwork, windowsill and window frame and potentially do further damage.

If the gaps close up in the winter, but then start reopening next summer (if it is a dry one) then you will know it is a seasonal issue. Looking at the size of the gap, I don't think it is something that flexible sealant will effectively deal with - the required 'stretch' is too much - unless you perhaps wait until the mid-point before doing the filling.

MSaxp

Thank you all.

This is where we are at the moment. This is the joint between the house and the conservatory. Hope it gets better when it rains a bit.

https://ibb.co/krD35f

PhilE

Don't report subsidence to your insurance company, unless you actually have subsidence to the main property. Your premiums will rocket and the value of your property will go down.,

From what you've described you have cracks in a temporary outbuilding, which has a shallow foundation and life expectancy of around 10 years. There is no need to report this to your insurance company.

MSaxp

Sorry to come back to this.

We have a willow tree in the garden, about 10ft away from the conservatory, can that cause significant issues with regards to subsidence?

Its only a small tree (about 10 feet tall) and is pruned every year, so doesnt grow taller than that. Would pollarding help reduce subsidence risk? Ideally, I dont want to kill the tree.

Ganga

Most insurance copanies do not like willow trees as their roots go a long way underground and can cause damage to property.

Stanleybasin

It sounds and looks like the start of subsidence, presuming your on clay soil? Willows shouldn’t really be anywhere near buildings unless the foundations have been designed with it in mind.

Do you know how old the willow tree is?

Without knowing all the ins and outs I’d say remove the tree, I’m pretty sure your insurance company would decline a claim.

MSaxp

Thank you. Sounds like if it was up to insurance companies, there wouldn't be any trees anywhere and we'd all have artificial turf

I dont know exactly how old it is, but it cant be more than 10 years old, as that is how old the house is and the tree was planted by the previous owners. Its a corkscrew willow and i really like it to be honest (not at the cost of bringing my house down).

I will start by pollarding and see how that goes