First time buyer - Horizontal crack on external wall

Davesnave

I agree that's a very thorough survey for a Homebuyers'. Looks as if there's a few issues to address; some immediately and  some over time, but nothing that ought to put you off. Go for it!

LoveSauce

OP, who did you use for your survey?

nora_nora

Out of interest what part of the River Roding is this near? I'm very close to it myself (on high ground) and the Roding bursts it's banks every year around Abridge and to the south along the M11 corridor through Loughton, Woodford Bridge, Chigwell & as far south as Wanstead. Having seen how bad it gets & how long the water stays for It's not somewhere I'd be comfortable being close enough to get water in my basement from it. How close exactly is it & to which part of the river?

Davesnave

nora_nora said:

Out of interest what part of the River Roding is this near? I'm very close to it myself (on high ground) and the Roding bursts it's banks every year around Abridge and to the south along the M11 corridor through Loughton, Woodford Bridge, Chigwell & as far south as Wanstead. Having seen how bad it gets & how long the water stays for It's not somewhere I'd be comfortable being close enough to get water in my basement from it. How close exactly is it & to which part of the river?

Do you understand ground water? We live on a ridge, so our property isn't capable of being flooded, but thanks to digging trial holes to inspect the foundations, we know how high the water table gets in winter. If we had a cellar, we'd have water in it.

It was the same in my childhood home; a Queen Anne monstrosity in a town on a hill from whatever direction one approached it, especially on a bike.Two or three inches of water in that coal cellar at peak rain times, but no big deal. Even in the 60s we'd moved on from house coal.

[Deleted User]

High water tables can, indeed, be alarming to someone unused to them, where i am we have a high water table and new folks to the road/area get quite spooked by it !

nora_nora

Davesnave said:

nora_nora said:

Out of interest what part of the River Roding is this near? I'm very close to it myself (on high ground) and the Roding bursts it's banks every year around Abridge and to the south along the M11 corridor through Loughton, Woodford Bridge, Chigwell & as far south as Wanstead. Having seen how bad it gets & how long the water stays for It's not somewhere I'd be comfortable being close enough to get water in my basement from it. How close exactly is it & to which part of the river?

Do you understand ground water? We live on a ridge, so our property isn't capable of being flooded, but thanks to digging trial holes to inspect the foundations, we know how high the water table gets in winter. If we had a cellar, we'd have water in it.

It was the same in my childhood home; a Queen Anne monstrosity in a town on a hill from whatever direction one approached it, especially on a bike.Two or three inches of water in that coal cellar at peak rain times, but no big deal. Even in the 60s we'd moved on from house coal.

Do you understand the river roding?

Davesnave

nora_nora said:

Davesnave said:

nora_nora said:

Out of interest what part of the River Roding is this near? I'm very close to it myself (on high ground) and the Roding bursts it's banks every year around Abridge and to the south along the M11 corridor through Loughton, Woodford Bridge, Chigwell & as far south as Wanstead. Having seen how bad it gets & how long the water stays for It's not somewhere I'd be comfortable being close enough to get water in my basement from it. How close exactly is it & to which part of the river?

Do you understand ground water? We live on a ridge, so our property isn't capable of being flooded, but thanks to digging trial holes to inspect the foundations, we know how high the water table gets in winter. If we had a cellar, we'd have water in it.

It was the same in my childhood home; a Queen Anne monstrosity in a town on a hill from whatever direction one approached it, especially on a bike.Two or three inches of water in that coal cellar at peak rain times, but no big deal. Even in the 60s we'd moved on from house coal.

Do you understand the river roding?

I understand that it floods, because you said so. If the OP's house is in the flood zone, then what you said is relevant to them and they will reply.

Meanwhile,they could also check the level of risk here:

https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/long-term-flood-risk/

However, getting a few inches of water in a cellar still isn't flooding, whether it comes from the River Roding or from underground aquifers of unknown provenance.

Davesnave

[Deleted User] said:

High water tables can, indeed, be alarming to someone unused to them, where i am we have a high water table and new folks to the road/area get quite spooked by it !

The one that may catch people out is surface water. Only happened once in 21 years at our last address. Through luck more than design, it went through the neighbour's garage instead of their house.