Victorian bay window subsidence crack (1.3-3.7 mm); should I pull out?

coffeehound

The TV aerial cable will be bringing a surprisingly large amount of water down onto the slabs there

Section62

mattheus said:

Some more images of house front and bay:

It looks like there has been some fairly crude repointing done... and looking more closely, it appears there might be a sag in the brickwork with the front main wall of the house, the low point corresponding with the problematic side of the bay.

It could be how the bricks were originally laid, or it could just be a 'trick' of the camera lens.  But I would suggest a closer look at the main wall and see if there is any hint of cracking on that, plus using a line to check whether the apparent sag is real or not.

AAZ

Section62 said:

mattheus said:

Some more images of house front and bay:

It looks like there has been some fairly crude repointing done... and looking more closely, it appears there might be a sag in the brickwork with the front main wall of the house, the low point corresponding with the problematic side of the bay.

It could be how the bricks were originally laid, or it could just be a 'trick' of the camera lens.  But I would suggest a closer look at the main wall and see if there is any hint of cracking on that, plus using a line to check whether the apparent sag is real or not.

That's an eagle eye !!

mattheus

I am not sure it is the camera; the front looks distorted to me as well, although the surveyor was surprisingly chill. Also, see front of alternative house, mentioned initially, for comparison.

mattheus

Section62

Where is the "crude repointing" you talk about? I think the bit under windows is just them ripping out original Victorian sash windows for plastic equivalents, that did not fit, hence added brickwork.

stuart45

It's quite a common problem with old bays and also shop fronts. The beam below the brickwork is usually a timber beam known as a bressumer. The bearing ends tend to rot and the beam drops a bit. Replacement is a steel beam.
I have worked on a few jobs like this. Sometimes it's easier to just rebuild the bay. Yours is a bit more complex because of the decorative masonry work.

Section62

mattheus said:

Section62

Where is the "crude repointing" you talk about? I think the bit under windows is just them ripping out original Victorian sash windows for plastic equivalents, that did not fit, hence added brickwork.

Just the overall impression really - again it is difficult to tell from a photo vs real life, but the area above and to the left of the front door in particular didn't look very good.

For example, on the attached image you can see three different colours of mortar.  There appears to be some kind of repair around the door (arrowed) and the area circled has an "I" shape which is one colour, some patches next to the flashing which are a greyer colour, and the larger area which has a different colour again.  It is this kind of thing which means you need to start looking more closely, and try to figure out why there is a variation in colour and what it means in terms of history of repairs. It may not be significant, or it could be a pointer to where movement has happened.

greyteam1959

Have a look at other bay windows on the street.
Have they got cracks in similar places ??

greenface2

almost 150 years old . you could try for a 30% reduction but I wouldn't entertain a drop of 150k for dropped bay base . Investigation and decent fix wouldn't be expensive nor too messy . did you instruct a structural surveyor to get such a vague response on your almost half million pound property or a valuation survey ? What is the inside wall like . I could buy a small council estate around my patch for that price . 

mattheus

greyteam1959 said:

Have a look at other bay windows on the street.
Have they got cracks in similar places ??

I previously quickly checked the neighbouring bay windows -- my impression was that they were in much better nick. No obvious cracks and base (distance between ground and window sill) seemed higher.