House purchase/survey/external wall cracking

Doozergirl

Could you just post the whole link and break it with a space. Otherwise it's like the krypton factor.

LisaA81

https
/
www.
dropbox
.com
/s/60sii15pua4g8z5/render%20crack.PNG?dl=0

LisaA81

sorry this was the only way it would allow me to post

Fosterdog

https://www.dropbox.com/s/60sii15pua4g8z5/render%20crack.PNG?dl=0

That doesn't look like normal render crack to me, render crack is usually a more random pattern but that is following the lines of the blockwork exactly which could mean something worse going on with movement of the actual blocks underneath. Although I've only ever really looked at it on much older stone built houses so maybe that is a common pattern in a more modern house

LisaA81

Following on from these posts, I spoke out surveyor who did confirm that he believed the cracking was relating to house movement, suspecting damages drains because there are no trees near to this area of the house. We the. Made the decision to pull out of the sale. I advised the estate agent of this and said he could share this section of our report with the vendor. The vendor has now paid for a structural engineer to visit the property and their findings are not the same as our survey. I have seen this letter and it states the render cracks are very fine, no cracking in the bricks, no cause for concern and there is no subsidence in the house (except the conservatory a which we were aware of)
I now have two conflicting reports and attempts to get a clearer answer from our surveyor is proving challenging.
I’m at a lose as to what to do, as I can’t understand how we can have two completely different views ����!♀️

Doozergirl

The surveyor isn't qualified to state what the issue might be; a structural engineer is.

If you want another opinion, commission your own structural engineer as they will be answerable to you and their statements backed by professional indemnity insurance.

Your survey should signpost you to specialists - a surveyor is not a specialist. Their advice should have been to commission a SE.

It's not exactly the world's biggest crack, but you've posted no context to it. If you're looking for potential cause, you have to look at the wider context. A crack by itself means nothing. If there is a problem, cracks tend to point towards the area causing the issue. On the other hand, cement render is not flexible and it does crack and blow over time because ALL houses move, it's just whether it's problem movement.

Cakeguts

Makes me wonder what is under the render. It isn't brickwork.



Get your own structural engineer to report on it. Do not rely on anything provided by the seller.

AdrianC

Cakeguts wrote: »

Makes me wonder what is under the render. It isn't brickwork.

It's blockwork, usual score - rendered block for the bulk, brick for prettifying the corners and details. And the cracking's following the mortar.

Cakeguts

AdrianC wrote: »

It's blockwork, usual score - rendered block for the bulk, brick for prettifying the corners and details. And the cracking's following the mortar.

Must be quite a modern house then? I suppose that blockwork covered by mortar is cheaper than doing the whole of the outerskin in brick? So a cheap build to start with?

Fosterdog

Cakeguts wrote: »

Must be quite a modern house then? I suppose that blockwork covered by mortar is cheaper than doing the whole of the outerskin in brick? So a cheap build to start with?

Or it could just be an extension? I've never seen a whole house built with blockwork but it's pretty common for extensions, I guess most people do try to keep the costs down when building extensions so would explain the cheaper materials.