Structural Survey - First Time Buyer

FaeB

Hello, I am a first time buyer and have found a fantastic 1930s first floor maisonette which, on first viewing seemed to be a great investment. The previous owner was an elderly woman who had been tenant for over 20 years and, seems not to have made any major changes, however, on pulling back some of the wall paper, I am finding significant cracks, which even from an untrained eye, look quite serious. I am sure this means that there are some structural problems (possibly with the foundations) and I have arranged for a surveyor to carry out a full structural survey. However, I am concerned that even this type of survey will not provide all the answers that I am looking for. For example, I would not have noticed these major cracks had I not done some investigating (ie. pulling back the wall paper), and want to be sure that a full building survey will be able to give me a comprehensive status of the structural integrity of the property even if there are some significant cracks hiding under wall paper elsewhere in the property. What assurances can I expect from a structural survey, if any?

NOTE: I am very comfortable with walking away from a property if there are significant structural issues that require attention (minor ones I can handle) but even with a positive survey result, I want to be sure that if I moved forward with the purchase, I won't have serious issues 5 or 10 years down the line because some of the key indicators weren't visible at the time...

Doozergirl

Are those cracks visible on the outside? If they aren't, then it's probably blown plaster.

You don't get significant structural cracks that don't go through a wall.

Pick a good surveyor, is the answer. Someone who isn't going to write a report using tick boxes and is happy to discuss their findings with you on the phone. They're not going to go behind carpets or wallpaper and presumably they can't access any cellar. They will recommend specialists for certain items - the survey is a working document, not a definitive picture.

If you think the place hasn't been touched in 20 years, it's probably longer.

FaeB

Hello Doozergirl,

Thank you so much for your reply. No there are no cracks on the external of the building apart from a failed lintel which seems to have been effectively repaired (apparently this had been on the building even before the previous tenant moved in.

This link shows the photos of the internal cracks: dropbox.com/sh/0uaxd8oqht2xr4l/AAAObqI6vpIu1cbOld3lBdKpa?dl=0[/url]

These cracks are all on a wall that goes through the centre of the property so I am not sure what this would mean if there are no external cracks.

Not sure if you can see these on the link but the cracks look quite frightening although if they are blown plaster then that would make me feel a lot better!

The only thing is, is that we haven't been able to completely remove the wall paper so I'm not sure how long these are, or how prevalent they are around the rest of the property.

Once again, thank you for your advice,
Fae

Doozergirl

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0uaxd8oqht2xr4l/AAAObqI6vpIu1cbOld3lBdKpa?dl=0&preview=1.JPG

It's hard to draw anything from a picture of just the cracks, you need to view the room and walls as a whole to see what can cause it.

The fact that the wallpaper has torn isn't great as blown plaster won't do that. There's a clear stretching, pulling downwards.

I was going to ask if any walls had been removed in the house but you won't know what's happened downstairs unless there's a floor plan on rightmove or zoopla.

Any similar signs of an opening up or bowing of the line between the floor and skirting boards?

I think rather than a full structural survey by a surveyor, I would start with the specialist - a structural engineer first. Get some verbal advice on site if you want to keep the cost down - you can walk away without having spent out on a full survey which checks the general condition of everything and then refers you to a structural engineer - which, in my opinion, it would. It doesn't look good at all.

FaeB

I couldn't see any cracks at the bottom of the walls and there did not seem to be any gaps between the walls and the skirting boards, all the disturbance seems to be at the top of the walls. For example, the wall paper has rippled and torn and if you peel that back there is a long ways gap between the ceiling and the wall (Photo 3) which I assume, runs the full length of the wall.

Not sure about removing walls, I know for sure that there have not been any walls removed by the tenant who owns the ground floor of the maisonette, who has lived there for 40 years, as I knocked on her door and she was kind enough to invite me in to her flat for a chat. She had a BEAUTIFUL flat which was spotless, it had been well maintained, and there were no cracks but it is such a different story with the first floor flat - very strange..

In any case I think I will need to get a specialist in...

Tom99

I have similar creasing in the ceiling paper and in your case you seem to have a gap between the ceiling plaster and the wall.
In my case it is the rafters spreading and pushing the wall outwards.

hazyjo

How many years left on the lease? If it started off at around 99 instead of around 999, she doesn't sound like the sort who would have extended it...

FaeB

Hazy jo, The lease is 999 years from 1955....

FaeB

Tom 99, thank you for your feedback!

Following on from what you have said, I have looked into this and think I may have 'Truss Uplift' whereby the ceiling lifts up and away from the central running wall, causing a gap and cracks in the dry wall.

The cracks are only on the central wall and there are no external cracks so I think this may be slightly different from your issue, ie the ceiling is lifting, rather than in your case where the rafters are spreading under the weight and pushing the walls outwards...

Out of interest, can I ask what the issue was that you experienced and how you fixed this?

Thank you again for your help.

Dean000000

That’s not blown plaster. I would guess movement.

Get an engineer though

Tom99

FaeB wrote: »

Tom 99, thank you for your feedback!
Following on from what you have said, I have looked into this and think I may have 'Truss Uplift' whereby the ceiling lifts up and away from the central running wall, causing a gap and cracks in the dry wall.
The cracks are only on the central wall and there are no external cracks so I think this may be slightly different from your issue, ie the ceiling is lifting, rather than in your case where the rafters are spreading under the weight and pushing the walls outwards...
Out of interest, can I ask what the issue was that you experienced and how you fixed this?
Thank you again for your help.

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]I had a structural engineer look at the crack about 5yrs ago. He took a lot of record photos etc and recommended monitoring the situation annually. This was in the old part of the house with a high vaulted ceiling so whilst inserting a tie between the front and back wall would be possible is was far from straight forward.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]The cracks do not seem to have got any worse since and one day I will fill them in and re-paper.[/FONT]