Cracks in mortar where extension meets original house

[wessex101]

The engineer appears to be either inexperienced or incompetent, and is expressing random unsubstantiated statements as fact and conclusion.

I can't see a way out of this for you. The buyer has instructed a bad engineer and there is no way out of this situation for you unless the buyer chooses to ignore their engineers advice.

Bit harsh. There has clearly been movement. Reading the extracts from the report it would seem it is a sloping site with a deep drain run running along the rear of the extension. The engineer has also identified dubious drainage work potentially causing localised saturation of the ground.

No professional is going to give this a clean bill of health without further investigation. Not everyone has Woody's x-ray vision and blind faith that all movement is caused by "shrinkage".

It rather begs the question why did the OP not deal with the visible cracking before he put the property on the market?

 

[guy820]

The "visible cracking" is about 7ft up on an exterior wall. There's no signs of cracks within the property. The house passed a survey when I purchased it not so many years ago and it passed another survey last year when I'd previously agreed to sell the house before that fell through for entirely different reasons. This survey even says the cracks are likely old and settled so aren't recent.

I didn't even know it was there. Perhaps would have been easier to ask for additional context rather than make an unnecessary remark like that?

 

[wessex101]

The "visible cracking" is about 7ft up on an exterior wall.

So just above eyeline then? And I thought one of the cracks was below the kitchen window? As for the cracks not being mentioned on previous surveys ..... either the previous surveys were poorly done or maybe the cracking is more recent?

The surveyor and engineer are just doing their jobs, they work for the buyer and have a duty to highlight any potential problems. They have correctly pointed out defects in your house with clearly visible movement cracks so it would probably be more constructive to read the report properly and take on board what they are saying.

The engineer has flagged up possible deficiencies in the drainage so it might be worth getting that looked at rather than wasting your time making an unjustified complaint.

I would also be interested how deep the foundations for the extension are in conjunction with the drain and how deep the foundations are for the house. It could be that the extension is sat on deep foundations because of the drain and house on shallow which may be causing minor cosmetic differential settlement.

No one can answer those questions without further investigations.

It ultimately depends how much the buyer wants your house. Either they will be reassured by whatever further investigations reveal, they will disregard the reports and buy regardless or they will pull out of the purchase. If they pull out lets hope the new buyers use Mr Magoo Surveyors or Woody.

 

[^woody^]

Bit harsh

Au contraire.

Every single crack can be diagnosed from its pattern, so all that remains is either to determine whether any movement is static or on going, or to confirm the cause before specifying remedial work. I would suggest that 9/10 cracks can be diagnosed visually within a few minutes of turning up.

That engineer has not even done a proper assessment of the most probable cause, not carried out a sufficient diagnosis, and has just made wild statements based purely on speculation. The "localised flooding" statement for a surface drain is a gem.

 

[wessex101]

Every single crack can be diagnosed from its pattern

I'll add that to my list of favourite Woodyisms.

 

[^woody^]

I'll add that to my list of favourite Woodyisms.

Very wise

 

[jks7492]

I'm that annoyed by it that I might as well put in a complaint to The Institution of Structural Engineers of which he is a member. I reckon I could fairly argue points 1 and 2 in their code of conduct have clearly been breached and I'm impacted by that.

Would be a complete waste of your time.

I agree that the report is over the top based on the cracking in the photos, but you’ll get nowhere arguing against a report pointing out ‘potential’ issues that recommends further investigation.

 

[johnny2007]

The job of these engineers is to find POTENTIAL problems so to lower thd price.
Hence the estimate for mostly unnecessary work.
Tell the buyer that if they don't like the house they need to find another one.
You haven't lost anything, they've already lost the engineer's fee.
Stand your ground and don't drop the price based on this report alone.
Or, if you are in a bad mood, accept their lower offer and pull out a day before exchange.
That'll teach them.
In fact, they'll probably offer you the full price.