Please help my anxiety I’m terrified

sbird90

Hi I hope someone can help 

I noticed the wall paper crinkled and blackened in the top right hand corner of our dining room (where ceiling meets wall - wall is an external wall) I pull the paper back thinking it was mould/damp but found a funny looking little hole and then noticed under it , the full wall from top to bottom in the “V” (where two internal walls meet) seems to have been filled in with a polyfiller type material as as wide as a pinky finger. The right of the photo is where our house joins next door (semi detached) but there’s also a boiler in a cuboard on that wall and the filled in gap runs right down past that too and can see a few more gaps near the dado rail as the filler used is starting to come away under the wall paper. Looks like it could be on the ceiling of the same wall too. 

Outside there is step cracks that have been filled too but I’ve already had two builders look at those as survey said wall tie failure but was advised by both not wall ties and due to the window having no lintel. 

House was purchased a year ago, now worried the previous owner has been naughty and hid subsidence?! (They faked a EIC so wouldn’t put it past them). 

Attached photos will get more if needed. I don’t want to contact my insurance company if it’s not subsidence 

can’t sleep. Worried sick. Everything going wrong in the house and this isn’t helping. I have booked in a builder for mid week for an opinion but I can’t cope!! 

youth_leader

So sorry I can't help with what the problem is, but I understand your fear as my house was full of problems and I worried myself sick too because I didn't have the money to fix things.  Now I've left that house I realise worrying was a waste of time as it doesn't change anything.  Make a list for your builder,  put it to one side, and wait until he comes to advise.  I hope it costs far less than you think to fix. 

davidmcn

Are you so anxious that you've forgotten you've already posted about this (with a more useful subject line)?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6209378/subsidence-help#latest

sbird90

davidmcn said:

Are you so anxious that you've forgotten you've already posted about this (with a more useful subject line)?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6209378/subsidence-help#latest

not forgot but hoped to like bump it? as hadn’t had any replies and yea I’m that anxious sorry if that isn’t allowed. 

sbird90

sbird90 said: U.K.

davidmcn said:

Are you so anxious that you've forgotten you've already posted about this (with a more useful subject line)?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6209378/subsidence-help#latest

not forgot but hoped to like bump it? as hadn’t had any replies and yea I’m that anxious sorry if that isn’t allowed. 

Many* not any. Appreciate the person that did reply! X

sbird90

youth_leader said:

So sorry I can't help with what the problem is, but I understand your fear as my house was full of problems and I worried myself sick too because I didn't have the money to fix things.  Now I've left that house I realise worrying was a waste of time as it doesn't change anything.  Make a list for your builder,  put it to one side, and wait until he comes to advise.  I hope it costs far less than you think to fix. 

Thank you. 

So worrying. This month you name it it’s happened. Subsidence would be the cherry on the cake. I don’t even know what I would do. 

Do you sell because of your problems? It’s crossed my mind may times the past week I love the area but I think it’s too much to take on (wasn’t bought as a fixer upper but turned into it!)

sbird90

oldbikebloke said:

yes, the house is about to fall down, you should evacuate immediately to the nearest hotel 

Thanks

Splatfoot

Hi sbird90. Sorry you're feeling so stressed. It could be something really simple so wait for your builder to come. Lintels above windows are a common thing and it's not such a huge deal to put one in. Also, our wall ties needed replacing (I don't recall the walls bowing) and we had those done after we'd moved in. It wasn't a massive job. Ours was obvious because the roof had a 'pagoda' effect which has taken a few years to settle back down! I myself know what it's like to be irrationally anxious sometimes, but you have to bring yourself back down to earth. It's a house and pretty much everything is fixable. 

Soot2006

OP, you have my sympathy. I walk around the house looking for cracks and lumps and bumps and then worry myself sick over them. I crawl around the loft space in the rain to "catch" the water in the act ... etc etc etc ... It's all expressions of anxiety which has been hugely heightened by the pandemic situation and other life stressors. In my rational moments, I can laugh at myself. In my super rational moments I call a contractor to have a look at things, and then I feel reassured for a while. Until the anxiety creeps up again.  It's hard for people without that sort of anxiety to understand what it feels like, but once your meds kick in and you get the support you need, the house issues will show what they truly are: silly material problems that happen to be a good target to focus your fears. Houses rarely fall down, a builder once told me, and when they do they usually give a little bit more warning than a few small cracks. This made me laugh and I try to remind myself that most material things are fixable.  

Rambosmum

How old is your house? We've had loads of gaps and cracks like that in the Victorian houses we've bought, it's settlement and years of receding plaster, really not much to worry about. I honestly wouldn't have blinked a what you found - unless it's a new build!

sbird90

Soot2006 said:

OP, you have my sympathy. I walk around the house looking for cracks and lumps and bumps and then worry myself sick over them. I crawl around the loft space in the rain to "catch" the water in the act ... etc etc etc ... It's all expressions of anxiety which has been hugely heightened by the pandemic situation and other life stressors. In my rational moments, I can laugh at myself. In my super rational moments I call a contractor to have a look at things, and then I feel reassured for a while. Until the anxiety creeps up again.  It's hard for people without that sort of anxiety to understand what it feels like, but once your meds kick in and you get the support you need, the house issues will show what they truly are: silly material problems that happen to be a good target to focus your fears. Houses rarely fall down, a builder once told me, and when they do they usually give a little bit more warning than a few small cracks. This made me laugh and I try to remind myself that most material things are fixable.  

Thank you so mush for this message. It helps knowing I’m not the only one. My other half gets annoyed “stop seeking out problems”. Pandemic has defo highlighted the issues I agree. I’m going to try now worry (haha!) until the builder had had a look but I’m already planning on how to sell the house if he says subsidence because I couldn’t cope with the stress and cost of underpinning! Mayeb I need to stay away from google too. Thanks for your words means a lot