Cracks in Walls - Help Needed!

[Scrooge]

We bought a house in East Dulwich 2 years ago (2-storey Victorian terrace) and had a full structural survey which did not show any problems.

Since we've moved in, cracks have started to appear on one side of the house. They run all the way along the join between the wall and the ceiling, and there are also some diagonal cracks in the corners of the house.

They are relatively small at this stage (just smaller than the "10p coin test") but are slightly worrying given they are all on the same side of the house. I know subsidence is a possibility in the area so this is a concern, but it's also clear the house was re-decorated shortly before we bought it so it may be due to sloppy building/plaster work.

We're hesitant to contact our insurer at this stage (?3k excess on subsidence claims!) and the only structural engineers I've been able to find are charging ?400-500 just to come and have a look.

Can anyone offer any advice at this stage, or is there anyone that would be prepared to come and have a look and has the knowledge to determine whether or not this is likely to be a structural issue?

[KidKruger]

May not be sloppy building/decorating work so much as a cover-up job.

[Sue]

KidKruger Wrote:

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> May not be sloppy building/decorating work so much

> as a cover-up job.

xxxxxx

Sadly, yes.

You can buy monitoring things to monitor any changes in the cracks yourself, can't remember what they're called, but that may just be putting off the inevitable. But at least you'd know if there was ongoing movement and if so how much.

Hope for your sake it isn't subsidence.

[Salsaboy]

If you are mid terrace, it may be worth asking your next door neighbour if they have the same problem on their side of the wall.

[Ramble66]

It may just be seasonal movement. Some cracks are normal. They may have just been covered up and then slight movement has uncovered them again. It doesn't mean there is a major problem.

[Rianoo]

Do you have double glazing and ever leave your heating on, max, for long periods of time ? This can cause all sorts of cracking issues as the air drys out the walls then they crack, normally at the join between ceiling and wall where the most heat resides. A bowl of water on a shelf helps if you pump the heating right up. Salsaboy and Ramble are also giving good advice. If it were a patch up job you would have noticed it pretty soon into you moving in and not over two years - especially the first summer when the house heats up. If you are mid terrace and your neighbour is not having problems then it is fill, sand and paint job. If you are semi-detached on the affected wall then I would consider lifting the floor boards and looking at the brick work beneath to see if it has slumped donwwards at all, also a good time to check that your joists are in good condition. On a last note a 10p is less then 2mm in thickness, this size of crack isn't a problem - although I wouldn't try to repair until the weather gets warmer and then if it persists in getting larger then come back and I will take a look for you. Old houses eh! I also had the same problem in my own property but mine maybe have been for a different reason to yours. Best.

[tekton23]

Hi,

Are any of your neighbours doing any building works? Or have any been carried out within the last 6 months or so?

Tekton23

[Scrooge]

Thanks for the advice so far. To answer a few of the questions,

- we are end terrace, and it's the wall without a neighbour which is having the problems

- yes we have both double glazing and central heating so this is a possibility - but again there is no issue on the other side of the house at all

- no major building works going on at our neighbours'

I think we'll have to keep a close eye on it, fill the cracks when the weather gets better, and keep fingers crossed! In the meantime if anyone has any other thoughts we'd be very grateful.

[tekton23]

Hi,

Look on the outside wall for any other evidence of things not looking right, cracks etc. Is there any evidence of damp to the outside wall either inside or outside? Are there any large trees within 6m of the wall?

T23

[HannahSE23]

Double check your insurance policy. The ?3k excess may just be if there's underpinning needed and not just to check if there's a subsidence problem. If you take action now underpinning is less likely than if you leave the problem to get worse. It could be just a tree problem or a drainage problem, which wouldn't necessarily mean underpinning. Unfortunately full structural surveys don't always show subsidence as the tension can suddenly give and cause the cracking. Hope that helps...

p.s. take photos of the cracking at every stage! If it is subsidence this will help you with your claim and with selling the house on one day.

[monica]

Hi I had a similar issue in a buy to let property. Cracks had appeared a few years ago, my property is mid terrace and I have double glazing. However before I rented it, I had the cracks investigated, and was told I should consider natural movements of the building, ie constant passing traffic, may contribute to the movement of the property.

There was nothing suspicious about the cracks, and I have since had the house redecorated.

Hope this helps.

[Sue]

I involved my insurance company at an early stage when cracks appeared in my (mid-terrace) house.

They were monitored over quite a long period and the problem was eventually diagnosed as subsidence due to a problem with drains.

This was sorted, but now as soon as I answer "yes" to insurance companies' question "Have you ever had subsidence?" I am automatically struck off from taking out insurance with them, and they are not interested in the fact that it was all sorted long ago.

So I'm stuck with my existing insurer who basically hikes up the premiums year on year even though I haven't claimed on the policy for years.

Just to make you aware ......

Oh, and I've remembered that the monitoring device is called a Tell Tale :)

[enjoy]

just to be aware of the insurance thing:

We've never used our insurance regarding subsidence, but our neighbours had their house repaired (paid by their insurance).

Some time later, we received a letter from our insurance, that there were subsidence in our area and the won't extend the contract with us.

Bingo.

[Sue]

enjoy Wrote:

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> just to be aware of the insurance thing:

> We've never used our insurance regarding

> subsidence, but our neighbours had their house

> repaired (paid by their insurance).

> Some time later, we received a letter from our

> insurance, that there were subsidence in our area

> and the won't extend the contract with us.

> Bingo.

xxxxxxxx

I don't think insurers are allowed to do that, enjoy?

Unless they find you another insurer?

I'm not an expert, but I believe they can't just stop insuring your house once you are with them. They can of course hike up the premiums.

[red devil]

enjoy was talking about a contract being extended Sue. Unless I'm missing something here, aren't insurance policies usually up for renewal on a yearly basis? Therefore either party can opt out when the policy runs out...

[Mrs TP]

We've had loads of cracks appear in our Victorian Terrace recently and had our insurer out twice to look at them - they said it was due to non-specific movement that you get with old houses but not specifically subsidence and so not something we were insured for.

I think last year was particularly bad in that the clay was dry for the first few months of the year and then it bucketed down for much of the rest of the year and so is much more sodden than it has been for years thus 'pushing everything' around. (I love being such a technically minded person.)

[Sue]

red devil Wrote:

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> enjoy was talking about a contract being extended

> Sue. Unless I'm missing something here, aren't

> insurance policies usually up for renewal on a

> yearly basis? Therefore either party can opt out

> when the policy runs out...

xxxxxxx

I didn't think that was the case.

I was under the impression that it was illegal to leave somebody without buildings insurance in a situation where they were previously covered but now can't get cover elsewhere (eg due to a subsidence claim).

I've tried to google it but can't find anything either way. Maybe somebody more familiar with insurance than me can say.

[Jeremy]

I think your main options are to either change your policy to reduce the excess, or fork out for the structural engineer. Those cracks sound too big to ignore.

[jimbo1964]

We get little cracks. I've had them looked at and nothing to worry about.. But very annoying when you've just decorated. Looking at how wonky our house is I can't believe it was built that way 100 years ago. So it's in a state of constant slow movement (like the continents).

[nictao]

Cracks generally speaking are the result of many different factors. Quite a few have already been mentioned on this link, but things like; timbers drying out(floor joists and floor boards) and excessive heat in a property can effect the masonary, seasonal conditions for the soil, size and location of trees to property (and previous), drainage issues for surface water run off, location and frequency of road and traffic.

The Victorians understood that buildings move hence the reason for using lime mortar, lathe and plaster for walls and ceilings these materials allow for such settlement or movement. If your really worried, and before any money is forked out you can use a simple technique that uses masking tape.

Place a strip of masking tape over the crack, make sure the strip is quite long, say 8-10 inches. with a rule draw a pencil/pen line running through the tape and over the crack, with a sharp knife cut the tape going through the crack. The idea behind this is that you can now note on the masking tape date of first reading 0,0. 0 movement seperating the 2 srtips of tape like its expanding, the 2 lines moving apart along some sort of vertical axis. 0 movement laterally along the horizontal axis.

This takes a while for you to get any data, and with a long crack you can have half a dozen or so, strips of tape along the wall/crack, and the movement is never simply vertical or horizontal but it does give you an indicator or how quickly or slowly movement or settlement is occuring.

Hope this helps, Nic