Buying a house, cracks in the walls - to be worried about?

jtaylor477

Hi all,
First of all, I know some people get wound up about these things. Rest assured I'm not expecting professional advice and rest assured a survey is being done! I just want to have some thoughts and second opinions.

So, hoping to buy a 3 story 3 bed house. 1930s build but with an extension within the last two years. Viewed twice, big fan of it but on second viewing noticed the cracks below. 
In order:
1) kitchen/diner extension
2) kitchen/diner extension (other side)
3) top floor bedroom (with recently added dormer)
4) "
5) first floor bedroom facing onto extension
6) can't remember but definitely on the side of the house where the extension is (prob 1st or 2nd floor)

Any thoughts? I'm new to all of this and I'm just wondering what you think. I gather the angle/width of the cracks is a big deal. These are all internal walls. If we paid for a full structural survey would they definitely have a very good idea what's going on? Like I said, there's been a recent extension and this could all just be natural settlement (from my very limited knowledge). But what if it isn't, the surveyor would have a good idea, right? Thanks for anything in advance.

Skiddaw1

I'm no expert but the size of the cracks would be giving me concerns. Is that a bit of damp in the second pic too?

jtaylor477

Skiddaw1 said:

I'm no expert but the size of the cracks would be giving me concerns. Is that a bit of damp in the second pic too?

thanks, so by size do you mean length? because they're not very wide are they (yet...).

not sure if damp painted over or a leak, seems more likely to be a leak given the location of its appearance. 

Section62

Skiddaw1 said:

I'm no expert but the size of the cracks would be giving me concerns. Is that a bit of damp in the second pic too?

I agree.  There appears to be water ingress in the second picture.  The size and near-horizontal direction of the crack in the third picture. And the shape and position of the crack in the fifth picture, are all individually things that would have me considering seeking advice from a SE.... the combination of all of them together would make the need a certainty in my view.

stuart45

The surveyor will probably recommend an SE looks at the cracks. Surprised the seller didn't fill them before it went on the market.
You can see the beam has moved a bit, and the brickwork below looks like it's following the lines of the toothing. It could be they used wall starters to tie the pier, which doesn't spread the load from the steel properly.

jtaylor477

thanks again all.
why do you reckon - in the 2nd pic - the lower part of the crack goes vertical, then horizontal at a 90 degree angle, and then vertical again at a 90 degree angle (all of the aforementioned being pretty uniform, ie. prety straight lines, pretty similar angles which are both close to being 90 degrees).

and what's an 'SE' (like I said, I'm new to this)

thanks again.

Section62

jtaylor477 said:

thanks again all.
why do you reckon - in the 2nd pic - the lower part of the crack goes vertical, then horizontal at a 90 degree angle, and then vertical again at a 90 degree angle (all of the aforementioned being pretty uniform, ie. prety straight lines, pretty similar angles which are both close to being 90 degrees).

and what's an 'SE' (like I said, I'm new to this)

thanks again.

'Structural Engineer'

The pattern of that crack with the 90 degree angles is probably as stuart45 said - the toothing - i.e. the vertical and horizontal joints between bricks/blocks.  It's an indication that movement is occuring in the wall, rather than just something like the plaster cracking due to shrinkage or impact damage.

Noneforit999

I am no expert but looking at the pictures, I would put my money on those being caused by movement. 

Those show cracks in the plaster, can you see the cracks on the other side (external) of the wall?

jtaylor477

you can't see anything on the exterior. 

so I guess (from what I've ascertained) it's whether it's settlement or subsidence? 

Section62

jtaylor477 said:

you can't see anything on the exterior. 

so I guess (from what I've ascertained) it's whether it's settlement or subsidence? 

Structural movement is also a possibility, if something hasn't been tied together properly, or if a structural element is under-designed.

The crack under the bedroom window suggests movement of part of the wall below.  It could be movement in the foundations, or for example insufficient support for the wall if an opening has been made/increased, or additional loads have been applied to the wall.

An inspection by a SE would help clarify what the issue(s) might be.

stuart45

If steel and work for a knock through has been properly designed and the works carried out correctly there will still be a very small amount of settlement, but not normally the amount shown in your photos.