Cracks on exterior of house

snowqueen555

Hi,

I can see two noticeable cracks on the exterior of this flat, is it anything to be worried about

Both flats share ownership of the building so we would share any potential repairs.

Kiran

It looks like on the ground floor an opening has been bricked up? Any idea when that was done?

Where is the downpipe in photos 1 and 4 in relation to the cracks shown in photo 2 and 3?

Section62

snowqueen555 said:

I can see two noticeable cracks on the exterior of my flat, is it anything to be worried about

You need to get a structural engineer to have a look, particularly at the vertical crack at the end/side (picture 1).  My guess is something is causing that end/side wall to tilt outwards at the top, as the crack gets wider the higher up you look.  The end of the fascia also doesn't align with the wall, by an amount which looks to be the same as the possible movement of the wall.

Was the building originally a corner shop?

stuart45

Section62 said:

Was the building originally a corner shop?

This is a key point. Shop fronts back then usually had large timber beams (bressummers) spanning the openings. The bearing ends are often suffering from timber rot by now and are causing the masonry above to fail. 

snowqueen555

Section62 said:

You need to get a structural engineer to have a look, particularly at the vertical crack at the end/side (picture 1).  My guess is something is causing that end/side wall to tilt outwards at the top, as the crack gets wider the higher up you look.  The end of the fascia also doesn't align with the wall, by an amount which looks to be the same as the possible movement of the wall.

Was the building originally a corner shop?

stuart45 said:

Section62 said:

Was the building originally a corner shop?

This is a key point. Shop fronts back then usually had large timber beams (bressummers) spanning the openings. The bearing ends are often suffering from timber rot by now and are causing the masonry above to fail. 

Hi, yes it used to be some sort of milk delivery business here, not sure how long ago.

I should reframe the situation, I do not own the flats, I am looking to purchase one of them but wasn't sure whether it is worth it. The location is ideal and I've been looking for a long time. Getting a structural engineer in as well as having the survey might be something I'm not willing to do.

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For reference, because I didn't think it relevant at the time, this was recently relisted because the roof needed replacing. So there is a new roof (including frame/structure) on there (reusing the old tiles), I believe this may have also caused the issues, the roof was not strong enough for the tiles and has had lots of dodgy makeshift repairs over the years.

stuart45

There are specialist firms that deal with the problem of defective bressummer beam replacement or repair. They might give you a rough idea of the sort of cost you'd be looking at. The cracks need to be repointed anyway, as water will be getting there and causing even more issues with the beams.

Section62

snowqueen555 said:

Section62 said:

You need to get a structural engineer to have a look, particularly at the vertical crack at the end/side (picture 1).  My guess is something is causing that end/side wall to tilt outwards at the top, as the crack gets wider the higher up you look.  The end of the fascia also doesn't align with the wall, by an amount which looks to be the same as the possible movement of the wall.

Was the building originally a corner shop?

stuart45 said:

Section62 said:

Was the building originally a corner shop?

This is a key point. Shop fronts back then usually had large timber beams (bressummers) spanning the openings. The bearing ends are often suffering from timber rot by now and are causing the masonry above to fail. 

Hi, yes it used to be some sort of milk delivery business here, not sure how long ago.

I should reframe the situation, I do not own the flats, I am looking to purchase one of them but wasn't sure whether it is worth it. The location is ideal and I've been looking for a long time. Getting a structural engineer in as well as having the survey might be something I'm not willing to do.
...

In which case I'd amend my reply to "I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole".  I doubt a SE report will come to any conclusion other than there are structural issues with the building.

stuart45

The bargepole advice is probably the best advice you'll get, without getting an SE in. What you probably have behind the rendered bands between the floors are timber beams. The upper floor brickwork will be sitting on top of these. You don't know the condition of these beams, but there's a good chance they are starting to fail. They can also be taking the upper floor joists.

twopenny

There's been a lot of strange changes made to 'decorate' the exterior that aren't original it looks like.
Wonder what the reason was?
Often it is to cover something up. Probably changes made to convert to dwelling.
You don't know what's underneath. Is it desirable enough to you to pay for structural repairs shortly after purchase?

No I wouldn't take the chance.
I've recently dismissed an appealing place because of internal cladding and discoloration outside. No way of investigating.

snowqueen555

Section62 said:

In which case I'd amend my reply to "I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole".  I doubt a SE report will come to any conclusion other than there are structural issues with the building.

stuart45 said:

The bargepole advice is probably the best advice you'll get, without getting an SE in. What you probably have behind the rendered bands between the floors are timber beams. The upper floor brickwork will be sitting on top of these. You don't know the condition of these beams, but there's a good chance they are starting to fail. They can also be taking the upper floor joists.

That's a shame, I really had my heart set on it. Thinking about it, when I was walking around upstairs the flooring was really uneven, but I thought that might be normal because the building is somewhat old.

twopenny said:

There's been a lot of strange changes made to 'decorate' the exterior that aren't original it looks like.
Wonder what the reason was?
Often it is to cover something up. Probably changes made to convert to dwelling.
You don't know what's underneath. Is it desirable enough to you to pay for structural repairs shortly after purchase?

No I wouldn't take the chance.
I've recently dismissed an appealing place because of internal cladding and discoloration outside. No way of investigating.

I'm beginning to think so. The street (especially the ones on the corner) used to be shops so a lot of it has been converted into rentals.

I've been looking for quite a while. It seems that so many properties I am interested in have issues. Thanks all.

twopenny

I've noticed that most places for sale do. Especially at the moment.
Those left market are left for a reason.

But there's issues and issues. Internal refurb you can do at your leisure, external is expensive.
Mind I've seen one with the whole floor caving in but otherwise great and that sold. Someone with builders in the family no doubt 🙂