Possible subsidence

bullmccabe2010

Looking at buying a house which has hairline cracks outside all over the house and quite a few near windows and vents inside the house. Got a building surveyor to check it out and he’s of the opinion it’s probably just settlement and nothing to worry about.

I noticed all the upstairs windows and very sticky to the point of almost being impossible to open, but the surveyor said this is down to lack of use as house was only used a few weeks of the year as a holiday home. Most internal doors are sticking as well. There’s no cracking on footpaths but one of the back garden walls is definitely suffering from subsidence.

The house is only 18 years old so should we be worried if the problems are showing at this stage? Any advice is much appreciated.

T-Maxx

bullmccabe2010 wrote:

The house is only 18 years old so should we be worried if the problems are showing at this stage? Any advice is much appreciated.

Do you really want to take some random Internet stranger's opinion over that of your appointed surveyor?

Maybe get a second opinion from another surveyor, or a structural engineer to have a look.

Calahonda52

fotos... fotos

bullmccabe2010

Calahonda52 wrote: »

fotos... fotos

No real depth to these cracks but cracks they are nonetheless. All seem to be running from the air vents and windows internally-upstairs only.

onrail

T-Maxx wrote: »

Maybe get a second opinion from another surveyor, or a structural engineer to have a look.

A geotechnical engineer would be the best expert you could get for subsidence issues.

Very hard to know without seeing the site. If the house was built 18 years ago and little else has changed, much of the subsidence may have past and it's just a bit of a patch up job.

Any recent changes in the surroundings (e.g. drains, trees etc) and you may have an ongoing problem.

See another professional, preferably a structural or geotechnical engineer if you're worried.

bullmccabe2010

Cheers, definitely getting a second opinion. The surveyor didn’t instill confidence as he kept using phrases like “there’s a good chance it’s nothing serious” and “it’ll more than likely be ok”. I’d imagine it’s to cover his own arse and I understand this as he can’t say 100 percent and put his neck on the line, but I don’t want to be taking too many “chances” when there’s over 300k riding on it.

There’s no trees in the area and the block work in attic etc seems fine. Ground around house has no cracks either. There is definite subsidence on a wall in the back yard though which is a little worrying, but that was put down to a neighbours rain gutter and drains being blocked meaning the water was running into our dividing wall.

It’s hard to investigate the cracks in the internal walls too much as we don’t own the house yet and that’s really the only way of seeing just how bad the problem is.

I’ve a structural engineer friend looking at it later in the month, but just thought I’d throw it out there to see what people think. Appreciate all the feedback.

Calahonda52

bullmccabe2010 wrote: »

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The house is only 18 years old so should we be worried if the problems are showing at this stage? Any advice is much appreciated.

You don't know how long the problems have been there.
Its possible that the roof was not tied with sufficient collars, or insufficient ties in the wall if it is a cavity wall, or the wall plate not strapped/fixed down and that the inner leaf has moved a bit.
tough to tell without external pictures

What material are the windows?

bullmccabe2010

Calahonda52 wrote: »

You don't know how long the problems have been there.
Its possible that the roof was not tied with sufficient collars, or insufficient ties in the wall if it is a cavity wall, or the wall plate not strapped/fixed down and that the inner leaf has moved a bit.
tough to tell without external pictures

What material are the windows?

According to the estate agent-the owner says they appeared shortly after the house was first built and haven’t worsened since then. The rooms look like they were painted in the last few years and the fact the cracks aren’t painted over would indicate to me that they have worsened a little.

You can see some of the cracks on outside of house in attached images. Windows are double glazed pvc but don’t seem like they’re great quality.

Metric Tensor

The ones you show upstairs would make me look further up as well as further down!

You have a structural engineer coming so he'll have a good idea after he looks at it.

Quality of build is not looking great from the limited photos.