Possible Subsidence - need help!

Hi everyone,

I know this is a very strange time and I’m not looking for anyone to break any laws, but I desperately need help.

We live in Offaly and our house appeared fine when we bought it about 6 years ago (it’d be about 15 years old now I think). But in the past few years and especially it seems in the past few months, more and more cracks are appearing. Now it feels like new ones are appearing every day, bolts pushing out, etc. Also there’s often sounds of creaking and movement during the day and night. The house is semi detached and wooden framed, but our neighbours are fine. All cracks are hairline, maybe a mm or so at worse, though there are a couple on the outside wall that are a bit wider.

My husband tried to contact structural engineers or anyone to so much as come out and take a look, but obviously heard nothing back. We don’t know what it is, but we’re starting to panic, especially given as we don’t seem to be able to get the ball rolling on any of it due to the quarantine.

My question is, is there anything we can do? Can anyone give us any advice at all? And most importantly, if you know of anyone that can help that can still offer their services, can you please put us in touch with that person?

Thank you so much.

Calahonda52

what do you mean by bolts pushing out?
are you in an estate?
Any external cracks?
..

BryanF

Hate to be alarmist but..

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/devastating-pyrite-epidemic-hits-20000-newly-built-houses-26634603.html

You need an engineer, you’ll get more of this type of response until you get a site inspection

Best of luck. I hope I’m wrong.

Tails142

If it's only hairline cracks or 1 to 5mm you've got nothing to worry about. You only need to start worrying when cracks are so big you can fit your hand in.

Normal practice if you get an engineer in will be to monitor cracks for a while, he will put a gauge called a tell tale on the crack and measure it every few months. If the cracks aren't growing or and they're only a couple of mm the advice will be to fill the cracks and redecorate. You will pay for this and if there is a problem, a professional has now told you and you should disclose it to your insurers and if you decide to sell the property any potential buyer.

Unless it's severe, and I can't see how it is if your attached neighbors aren't affected, my advice is to fill the cracks and paint over. Pyrite would be affecting the whole estate.

Don't ever mention your house is subsiding unless a blind man in the street can see it, would be my advice anyway. You will have trouble getting insurance, you will have trouble selling and fixing subsidence costs mega bucks.

Houses settle over time, expand in the heat, contract in the cold, the ground also swells in the wet and shrinks in the dry, cracking of finishes is to be expected - fill paint forget.

lomb

Newer houses aren't built like they used to sadly ie thinner foundations, wooden frames versus old style cavity exterior and block interior walls.
I'm sure they have a lifespan that's less than the older houses. Persumably if there's any water leakage from a bad roof the whole house could become condemned as it takes out the walls under the plasterboard( seen it on YouTube on Detroit houses)
Not really relevant to you but just some thoughts.

Calahonda52

Calahonda52 wrote: »

what do you mean by bolts pushing out?
are you in an estate?
Any external cracks?
..

Hi,

I mean like this (see photo attached). There is a couple of external ones but I doubt they’re wider than 5mm and are quite old I think.

Forgive my ignorance, but a few people mentioned bigger cracks... would these not start as hairline cracks?

And I wish I could get someone out to see... no one would come, that’s partially why I’m here...

Thanks everyone.

punisher5112

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Hi,

I mean like this (see photo attached). There is a couple of external ones but I doubt they’re wider than 5mm and are quite old I think.

Forgive my ignorance, but a few people mentioned bigger cracks... would these not start as hairline cracks?

And I wish I could get someone out to see... no one would come, that’s partially why I’m here...

Thanks everyone.

That's just the filler or plaster above nails, that will happen walking above also where they eventually just pop ...

enricoh

Just looks like the plaster over the slab screws fell off to me.
I wouldn't be paying for a structural engineer for that!!

punisher5112

punisher5112 wrote: »

That's just the filler or plaster above nails, that will happen walking above also where they eventually just pop ...

I see. Thank you. I’m sorry, I’ve never seen it before and didn’t realise it was normal...

enricoh

enricoh wrote: »

Just looks like the plaster over the slab screws fell off to me.
I wouldn't be paying for a structural engineer for that!!

It’s not just that... there are cracks in all ceilings and walls, built in wardrobes coming off the ceiling, cracks in door frames... (doors and windows are not catching, except for the two that did when we first bought the house and that hasn’t gotten any worse)

punisher5112

Throw up pics of other issues.

My house was built in 98 we have it ourselves a year and there are cracks and few other niggly bits but a lot of it is down to cheaping out....

Doors are basically cardboard, hear everything through them and the walls aren't much better....
You can hear everything upstairs or downstairs.

The plastering wouldn't have been all that either and where they taped between boards and skimmed is so noticeable it's actually really bad. Some crack over time too....

Got pain a couple of weeks before lockdown and hadn't foreseen it actually happening and was just put fluke so most of downstairs is done and as I'm still working on doing when off....

Cut out the cracks and fill, sand down and paint over and see how you get on....

There will always be certain movement.

punisher5112

punisher5112 wrote: »

Throw up pics of other issues

Here are some examples. Also, we painted the house about a year ago. Most of the cracks are from after.

BryanF

That’s frustrating that the boards in ceilings have parted but nothing I’ve seen is cause for concern. Start by Raking out and fill the joints with polybond filler and repaint.

do same or use flexible filler and paint the skirting/architrave

Calahonda52

enricoh wrote: »

Just looks like the plaster over the slab screws fell off to me.
I wouldn't be paying for a structural engineer for that!!

could be too much bedroom exuberance, all this confinement

Calahonda52

OP, NOTHING, I mean nothing here gives cause for concern.
Our house, and the last house I lived in, was/is a lot worse
I mean nothing.
Please post some outside pics.
Rest easy, I would gladly drive to Offaly to put your mind at ease, but I wouldn't take your money, it would be robbery.

amadangomor

enricoh wrote: »

Just looks like the plaster over the slab screws fell off to me.
I wouldn't be paying for a structural engineer for that!!

Painted my parents new house inside and this created more work than the painting. What causes it? ****ty slab screws?

listermint

All looks very normal, If you started seeing misalligned doorways, cracks above window lintels, external paths around the house disjointing and levels becoming different to the house then you would start looking for engineers.

Your images show plasterboards that have poor slab nails or have been stood on in the attic forcing them down. And same for wardrobes just shrinkage due to drying out.

Hi,

I just want to thank everyone who replied so far. I really hope you’re right.

It’s dark now, so won’t get a good picture of the outside cracks, but will post one tomorrow.

Thank you again.

Turns out my husband had a photo of one of the cracks outside. Also attached are cracks around the skylight shaft, which are a bit worrying...

Thanks again.

Shaunoc

Deleted User wrote:

Turns out my husband had a photo of one of the cracks outside. Also attached are cracks around the skylight shaft, which are a bit worrying...

May want those gutters deforested

s1ippy

Hahaha OP I'll have to take pictures of our house for you when it's bright tomorrow. It's built on a lip in a hill and the back half is falling into the lip while the front is attempting to slide down the hill

Liamo57

I have looked at those pictures and there is nothing to worry about. I have had all of those cracks and my house creaks every day. Fill the cracks and paint over them. They are settlement cracks.