Big Crack - advice

damomeasa

Looking at a house to buy. Mid 50s, appears to be solid wall construction. Only problem is there's a big crack inside and out which seems to correspond.

Outside crack begins at a window sill above the picture shown and end is visible in the picture, about 1.5m off the ground. Inside crack begins at ceiling where visible in the picture, no sign of the crack in the room upstairs. Lots of other houses on the road have similar cracks that have been filled.

As you can see in the outside pic, there appears to have been another crack that has been filled previously, you can see the different shade of render.

What should we do? We haven't made an offer on the house and our budget (without major repair works) is about 20% under the asking. It's been on the market for a while and needs complete redecoration so I think we stand a chance, but I'm not sure about paying for a structural survey when we really have no idea if they'd accept an offer that's within our budget.

Any ideas? Advice greatly appreciated.

martinn123

Wow, does not look pretty.

First I am not a Structural Engineer, but was doing a project in an estate recently, and saw similar cracks in a whole row of houses in the same place in each house.

turns out the houses were built over an old land drain, from when the land was agricultural, it would have been put in by the farmer to drain the land.

General opinion was that the foundations had given way, in each house, causing the subsidance, and cracks.

I cannot advise any solution as I am not qualified, but if it was my cash, I would want to know what was going on.

I would assume if you make an offer subject to a mortgage, that the Bank will send out a valuer, remember he is there only to value the property and may not be qualified as an engineer.

bravojohnny

I'm not a structural engineer, but if a crack apperas on the outside & on the inside then more then likely its a structural problem (as opposed to asthetic).

If it was me I would hire a profesional; in this case a structural engineer & get them to have a look at it. Your making a major invesment in buying a house the last thing you want is a structural problem.

Let us know how you get on & I hope things work out well for you.

FesterBeatty

I'm a structural engineer, and although it's possible to solve any problem if it was me I'd steer clear of this one. I'm working on a similar project at the moment, more extensive cracking than what you've shown here but there's about 10k worth of foundation repair works commencing next week, at which point it will be good as new. But save yourself the hassle and money - walk away. (Or else buy it and give me the job!! haha)

DOCARCH

To counter balance the above posts, the crack may only be a relatively minor issue.

They key thing is establishing whether or not the crck is getting bigger/worse. If the crack is getting bigger, then there may be on ongoing problem with subsidance and expensive to rectify. If the crack is not getting bigger (looks pretty old to me) then this may simply be just a settlement crack that can be relatively easily repaired.

My opinion would be that it is the latter and not too serious. This type of crack is not unusual in this era of house.

However, do not take opinions on here as gospel! As suggested above, if you like the house and think you may be in with a shot of getting the house, do get a structural engineer to check it out. It may not be as bad as it looks!

Lewotsil

I am in similar position to OP.

The period house I like and viewed has a long vertical crack on the outside of an old solid block extension at the rear - didnt notice a corresponding crack on the inside though. The project would involve gutting the internal of the house, including floors etc and building small extension on to the old existing extension would have to remain however.

How much would a structural survey cost - would a survey give any insurance on drains/sewers ? The house is in Drumcondra.

Thanks

damomeasa

Update from us. EA claims the vendor had a structural survey done and that the crack was purely superficial. We're going to get our own one done if our offer is accepted. If anyone has a recommendation for someone experienced and thorough who'd do this for a reasonable price, I'd love to hear it.