External cracks in brickwork

124

Comments

  • Doozergirl
    Doozergirl Posts: 33,781
    Name Dropper Photogenic First Anniversary First Post
    Forumite
    Houses do settle onto their foundations. I think it's fair to say that isn't regular settlement. That is a problem.

    Driveways don't settle. They would move if they'd been laid really badly without compacted hardcore etc, but I wouldn't call that settling! The dipping that I think I can see is too great and too much of a coincidence in conjunction with the cracking.

    I really think you meed a structural engineer on your side. I was asking where you were on the tiny chance that mine covered the area and I could recommend him. Have you spoken to anyone else yet or just the designer and builder involved?
    Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
  • EachPenny
    EachPenny Posts: 12,239
    First Post Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    Onto Fursts questions, Harry originally bought the piece of land to have built a house by sub-contracted brickies, plasterers, sparkies etc for his own family, when his wife wasn't happy with it for reasons unbeknownst to me, the house was put on the open market.

    Unfortunately I think in the coming months you will discover what these 'reasons' really were. :(

    Regardless of the quality of the construction, there is something in the overall appearance and detailing of the design which looks 'odd'. Unfortunately it isn't necessarily something which would be picked up on a survey when buying, but someone with experience of building looking at at the rear elevation of your house is quite likely to be getting a 'gut' feeling, if not very loud alarm bells.
    "In the future, everyone will be rich for 15 minutes"
  • Furts
    Furts Posts: 4,474 Forumite
    I have pointed out numerous concerns and if Jude is competent then he too will have pointed out these and no doubt many more besides. In fairness to me my comments are just based on one small photo appraisal - I have not viewed your home, but Jude has been given the opportunity to go through everything.

    Your approach to house purchase is incredibily casual, incredibily naive and incredibily nonchalant. If your approach to engaging Jude mirrors this then alarm bells start ringing.


    Who recommended Jude? Precisely what does it say on his business card and his letter heading? What designatory letters are present? Have you verified these? What feedback exists when you did your web search, and also spoke to Jude's clients? What PII exists?

    No doubt you have learned from the past and have checked all this out. But in fairness to all those trying to help on this Forum it would be good to be 100% certain on each of these matters.
  • torch_light
    torch_light Posts: 30 Forumite
    EachPenny wrote: »
    Unfortunately I think in the coming months you will discover what these 'reasons' really were. :(

    Regardless of the quality of the construction, there is something in the overall appearance and detailing of the design which looks 'odd'. Unfortunately it isn't necessarily something which would be picked up on a survey when buying, but someone with experience of building looking at at the rear elevation of your house is quite likely to be getting a 'gut' feeling, if not very loud alarm bells.


    I wasn't over enamored by the olde worlde looking bricks, but that was just from an aesthetic view.


    Don't think that it hasn't run through my mind that it was him that decided that he didn't want it rather than her.
  • Furts
    Furts Posts: 4,474 Forumite
    Doozergirl wrote: »
    Houses do settle onto their foundations. I think it's fair to say that isn't regular settlement. That is a problem.

    OP has not commented on their construction. In practical terms brick and block houses do not settle on their foundations, although moisture drying out can be an issue with first and second fix items. However if OP has a timber frame then that is a different situation. Over to OP here.

    In essence a timber frame has to be built allowing for structural settlement. This is within the realms of everyday easy to competent builders. But was OP's builder competent?

    OP appears to have only one storey - so up to say 20mm settlement. If there are rooms in the roof then more concerns arise and consequently more settlement. But all this should be factored into the build. It is the builders problem to overcome this - that is what they are paid to do! The purchaser should have no issues with any of this. Hence the purchaser should have no significant issues with settlement.
  • torch_light
    torch_light Posts: 30 Forumite
    Furts wrote: »
    I have pointed out numerous concerns and if Jude is competent then he too will have pointed out these and no doubt many more besides. In fairness to me my comments are just based on one small photo appraisal - I have not viewed your home, but Jude has been given the opportunity to go through everything.

    Your approach to house purchase is incredibily casual, incredibily naive and incredibily nonchalant. If your approach to engaging Jude mirrors this then alarm bells start ringing.


    Who recommended Jude? Precisely what does it say on his business card and his letter heading? What designatory letters are present? Have you verified these? What feedback exists when you did your web search, and also spoke to Jude's clients? What PII exists?

    No doubt you have learned from the past and have checked all this out. But in fairness to all those trying to help on this Forum it would be good to be 100% certain on each of these matters.


    Jude pointed out the very basics because anything more in depth will be in the report that he will write up in the assessment.


    Your approach to house purchase is incredibily casual, incredibily naive and incredibily nonchalant. We looked at loads of houses before we settled on this one, of course we are naive because in this lifetime we had purchased the grand total of one house between us. I don't really know what else there would have been to do, I mean unless you have a background in house building, engineering or surveying what else is there to do? Things that seem obvious to someone looking at it with an educated eye are not obvious to those who have no expert knowledge whatsoever in the field.



    The paperwork that goes along with a sale of anything complicated is what the majority of buyers rely upon I would guess.


    Maybe my description comes across as nonchalent and casual, but we went through the process that many others go through no more no less.


    As for Jude he is a Chartered Building Surveyor and his letters he has are BSc, BSc (Hons) DMS MBA FRICS FCABE. His company has over 21 years experience in the Surveying business and has four branches nationwide that are all his.


    How would I go about contacting a companies customers? I have no idea what a PII is, you can blind me with all the science and details all you want but at the end of the day I have to place my trust in someone don't we?
  • torch_light
    torch_light Posts: 30 Forumite
    Furts wrote: »
    OP has not commented on their construction. In practical terms brick and block houses do not settle on their foundations, although moisture drying out can be an issue with first and second fix items. However if OP has a timber frame then that is a different situation. Over to OP here.

    In essence a timber frame has to be built allowing for structural settlement. This is within the realms of everyday easy to competent builders. But was OP's builder competent?

    OP appears to have only one storey - so up to say 20mm settlement. If there are rooms in the roof then more concerns arise and consequently more settlement. But all this should be factored into the build. It is the builders problem to overcome this - that is what they are paid to do! The purchaser should have no issues with any of this. Hence the purchaser should have no significant issues with settlement.


    The floor is concrete pillars and blocks across it with a concrete scree and a wooden floor. Or so I am led to believe.


    We didn't have a builder, this was already built before we viewed it, we bought it from new off of the open market.


    It is a house, two floors but with sloping upstairs walls to give the impression of a bungalow. The window in the photo is the kitchen that has a spare bedroom above it.



    The purchaser should have no issues with any of this. Hence the purchaser should have no significant issues with settlement. So if this is the case it is upto the builder via the contractors problem to put it all right at their expense?

    Thanks again for your input.
  • Lorian
    Lorian Posts: 5,698
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post Photogenic
    Forumite
    I wouldn't have guess there were two floors from the pic. Do you a slightly wider angle shot including the roof?
  • Furts
    Furts Posts: 4,474 Forumite

    The purchaser should have no issues with any of this. Hence the purchaser should have no significant issues with settlement. So if this is the case it is upto the builder via the contractors problem to put it all right at their expense?

    Thanks again for your input.

    I cannot see any practical mechanism for you to make the builder put right any settlement. I am guessing you have a timber frame - your design and history lends itself to a kit house, but only you know what you purchased.

    The builder is not going to sort out settlement it at their expense, unless they are feeling generous, or protecting a reputation, or like doing goodwill gestures.

    Any settlement involving a timber frame should have been dealt with before you purchased. If it was not then you have purchased these problems.

    Ultimately your buildings insurance may step in. Here it depends on what cover you have arranged and where the insurer stands regarding problems that existed when you took out the insurance. Since the problems were likely there you may not be covered, but only you know here.

    Put another way, insurers do not like taking on new builds without a warranty mechanism in place. You have no warranty in place so this concerns me. Do you have buildings insurance that will assist you or are you on your own?
  • EachPenny
    EachPenny Posts: 12,239
    First Post Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    I wasn't over enamored by the olde worlde looking bricks, but that was just from an aesthetic view.
    Aesthetics are certainly an issue, but I'm not necessarily talking about the brick choice.

    Look at the size of the window (the kitchen?) compared to the total surface area of the wall between the door and the end wall. It looks too small and is located in a strange position. Depending on the room layout I'd expect there to be two windows in that area, or for the kitchen window to be much larger (not least because people like lots of light in their kitchen).

    If the floor plan precludes a second window then I'd expect to see some kind of detailing to break up what appears to be a big unbalanced slab of brickwork.

    It just doesn't 'feel' right.... which would make me want to dig into the design process and who made various decisions.
    "In the future, everyone will be rich for 15 minutes"
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 342.5K Banking & Borrowing
  • 249.9K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 234.6K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 607.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 172.8K Life & Family
  • 247.4K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.8K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards