Conservatory Cracks - What to do ?

Jaguar_Skills

Looking for any advice please as I keep going round and round in circles.  I will try and keep it as short as possible. 

A few years back we claimed on our house insurance for cracks that had developed in our conservatory - it is separate to the house, completely open plan and full width.   We never really got anything rectified other than just doing a brief fill and plastering over.  The cracks then developed again, presumably down to the TPO tree and changing land - the survey we had basically put it down to inadeqauet footings and tying in. 

Fast forward to now we have been trying to sell the house but to no real avail as even though we have reduced the house price by circa £35k. 

We are in a bit of a dilemma about what to do, do we somehow try to fix the cracks which could be really costly and we won't get it back on house price (the insurance payout was only circa £10k), or do we demolish the conservatory altogether which will make the house much smaller and in the opinion of our estate agent friend devalue the house.   Just trying to think of all options before we make a decision. 

We are in a fairly lucky position that the mortgage is basically paid off so even if we had to spend (and lost some money on the house) it wouldn't be the end of the world.  

I've attached some external and internal photos which may help. 

I'If pictures are useful I can also provide these.   Thanks for any thoughts anyone has. 

TripleH

What soil do you have?

Is it clay for example?

FreeBear

What I would suggest you do is reinstate the doors & windows between the main house and the conservatory. These need to be proper exterior grade and should be fitted by a FENSA or similar installer. You will then get the appropriate certificates that will make the property much easier to sell.

Whilst you can fill the cracks, it will only be a short term fix. Conservatories are often built to the minimum of standards and would never meet building regulation requirements for insulation or foundations.

Jaguar_Skills

TripleH said:

What soil do you have?

Is it clay for example?

I have no idea, I am afraid.   The report we had done basically said this if any use:

Jaguar_Skills

FreeBear said:

What I would suggest you do is reinstate the doors & windows between the main house and the conservatory. These need to be proper exterior grade and should be fitted by a FENSA or similar installer. You will then get the appropriate certificates that will make the property much easier to sell.

Whilst you can fill the cracks, it will only be a short term fix. Conservatories are often built to the minimum of standards and would never meet building regulation requirements for insulation or foundations.

Thanks for this, is there a reason you think this would make it easier to sell?

TripleH

I think Freebear's point is that you can present a fully sealed house to sell to buyers. If the conservatory needs demolishing then the new owners won't have to worry about a flimsy door to the outside that is easy to open.

I asked about clay in case the weather had dried the soil out causing it to shrink and crack, but you have answered by saying naff foundations is the reason.

FreeBear

Jaguar_Skills said:

FreeBear said:

What I would suggest you do is reinstate the doors & windows between the main house and the conservatory. These need to be proper exterior grade and should be fitted by a FENSA or similar installer. You will then get the appropriate certificates that will make the property much easier to sell.

Whilst you can fill the cracks, it will only be a short term fix. Conservatories are often built to the minimum of standards and would never meet building regulation requirements for insulation or foundations.

Thanks for this, is there a reason you think this would make it easier to sell?

Simply put, conservatories are rarely built to the requirements for a habitable space. Surveyors will point this out to the buyers (or they should if they are any good).

In addition, all that glass will be sucking the heat out of the main part of the house in the winter months driving up your fuel bills. Bet it gets roasting hot in there during the summer too.

markin

Jaguar_Skills said:

FreeBear said:

What I would suggest you do is reinstate the doors & windows between the main house and the conservatory. These need to be proper exterior grade and should be fitted by a FENSA or similar installer. You will then get the appropriate certificates that will make the property much easier to sell.

Whilst you can fill the cracks, it will only be a short term fix. Conservatories are often built to the minimum of standards and would never meet building regulation requirements for insulation or foundations.

Thanks for this, is there a reason you think this would make it easier to sell?

 How much gas do you use every year? I bet a Lot, Conservatories are meant to be sealed off.

You should have spent the 10K under pinning it.

Jaguar_Skills

markin said:

Jaguar_Skills said:

FreeBear said:

What I would suggest you do is reinstate the doors & windows between the main house and the conservatory. These need to be proper exterior grade and should be fitted by a FENSA or similar installer. You will then get the appropriate certificates that will make the property much easier to sell.

Whilst you can fill the cracks, it will only be a short term fix. Conservatories are often built to the minimum of standards and would never meet building regulation requirements for insulation or foundations.

Thanks for this, is there a reason you think this would make it easier to sell?

 How much gas do you use every year? I bet a Lot, Conservatories are meant to be sealed off.

You should have spent the 10K under pinning it.

We still have that option to be fair.   So you think underpin and add in the doors? 

Re the underpinning, would this just be done by a normal builder?

stuart45

There are different ways to underpin, such as helical piles. There are also specialist firms that carry out this kind of work. 
However if you put in exterior grade doors, at least then the conservatory will be just that, and not part of the house.
You.might find that the gap closes slightly as the ground re-hydrates.The
Plaster could be repaired and a movement.joint put.In at the.junction.

Section62

Jaguar_Skills said:

We still have that option to be fair.   So you think underpin and add in the doors? 

Re the underpinning, would this just be done by a normal builder?

Rather than underpinning I'd give serious thought to demolition and rebuild.

The balance between the cost of underpinning and the cost of building new foundations/walls will vary by technique used, but by demolishing the existing you would be able to respond to any queries when you come to sell the property that there was an issue with the old conservatory, but you got rid of that and had it replaced with a new construction.  The value of having a property unblighted by subsidence/underpinning may well exceed the saving/cost of the alternative approaches to dealing with the problem.

Look at all the options and get quotes for comparison before deciding which approach is best overall.