Subsidence -positive experiences please

kayeb

Hi Forumites.  Our house has just been diagnosed as having subsidence.  We’ve made an insurance claim and a surveyor came today & agreed it definitely needs intervention, although the house isn’t in danger of collapsing!
He’s ordering soil, tree, foundation and drain reports, then we’ll have to see where we go from there.
i know it sounds dreadfully self indulgent, but I’m just so upset and stressed about it.  I can see it being a long road ahead.  Apparently the average time to sort everything is 1-2 years and can be up to 5 years 😱.  
Has anyone had any experience of housing subsidence and can share positive experiences?  

I understand from the insurance company that this is a bad year for subsidence claims due to the long hot dry summer, and we are on clay here, so I don’t think we’re the only ones.
Thanks in advance.

tacpot12

I'm afraid I can't offer any positive experience, but it seems like you have caught the problem quickly and the insurance company isn't being awkward, both of which bode well. I also know that if the remedial work is done to a good standard, the property will remain insurable and saleable, albeit that some buyers will always be put off by subsidence. 

dunstonh

I understand from the insurance company that this is a bad year for subsidence claims due to the long hot dry summer, and we are on clay here, so I don’t think we’re the only ones.

Every old building in our area suffers with movement in drought summers.  Our house gets stretched back and forth every year, and we get new openings (or old ones reopening) in drought years. It's been doing it for generations and routine for an old house on clay.   All perfectly normal and nothing to worry about for us other than occasional repointing, adding some helifix ties if external or if internal, waiting until autumn/winter before filling and painting until the next drought year opens them up again.

Typically, if it's only internal or only external, it's usually nothing to worry about other than routine maintenance.  We don't involve the insurance company as there is no point.

Nowadays, most of our cracks are internal as we have done a lot of work on the outside with mortar & ties and at some point, we will start work removing the internal plaster and repairing the internal brickwork.

If yours is just minor drought movement, then don't let it scare you.  It's really common in the South East.   If you have matching internal and external cracking, then it's a bit more of a concern (as in my work), but until you can put your fingers into the crack, it's all repairable and often routine.  

kayeb

Thank you both for your kind words.  The surveyor man said it would need intervention, & I can accept that.  My biggest fear is the insurance company wriggling out of a claim, which really shouldn’t happen.  It’s a fesr of having to navigate the process myself, I just wouldn’t know where to start.  But I’ve just got to get my head around taking a day at a time & waiting for the next visit & trying to keep busy with other things to stop myself worrying!