FTB - masonry cracking

[Adamjdmuir]

Hi all, FTB here. Ive had an offer on a house accepted, the surveyor acting for the mortgage advisor has been unable to value the house, on the basis that he has noted that
there is structural movement in the form of cracking to masonry, and rhay i now need to get a structural engineer or chartered building surveyor to make a detailed investigation.

Ive seen the cracking they’re referring to, and wanted to check if this should be cause for concern.

We’re initially thinking we should be requesting the seller to pay the cost of the survey, but all advice is welcome.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

The opinion of this utterly unqualified amateur from two photos is that it's nothing to worry about. It's horizontal only minor movement at the point where a newer extension adjoins the original. We have very similar here, it shrank once shortly after it was built, when it dried out. It probably hasn't moved for years.

I had two vertical cracks inside too. Both skimmed over, neither has cracked 5 years later.

The only issue is that the builder attempted to bond it into the original house. It would have been preferable to leave a vertical join line and fill it with flexible sealant. Then your surveyor wouldn't have wet himself when he saw it.

I'd remove the mortar from the whole jagged line to a reasonable depth, clean it out then refill with buff coloured sealant.

We have the same bricks, LBC Rustic Antique. We also have a previous extension where the builder used the lighter coloured Rustic (non-Antique). They're not lighter as they're newer, it's because the dipstick builder bought the wrong bricks.

Rustic Antique London - London Bricks - Forterra

Rustic Antique London is London bricks from Forterra used to build over five million homes, primarily in London and the Home Counties. Pressed and heavy textured.

www.forterra.co.uk

Rustic London Brick 73mm - Forterra

www.forterra.co.uk

It sounds like the surveyor is being useless like most are, and doesn't want to give an opinion so you can't sue him if he's wrong. He's probably never built anything and just pastes this paragraph in if he sees a crack. I'd say choose whether to pay for another expert to give you pages of waffle about it or just buy the place and don't worry about it. I'd do the latter, but I'm me.

You could ask them to pay for the report or pay for it yourself. If it's a good house at a good price they may just choose to sell to someone else who doesn't make a fuss.

But if you're getting a mortgage then someone sitting at a desk in a bank who's also never built anything might also insist that you get more £100s worth of pieces of paper about it before they approve it. Yes, I'm cynical!

 

[Adamjdmuir]

@Ivor Windybottom much appreciated, we’re leaning towards the latter. Unfortunately need the full survey before the mortgage can be approved, so may just need to absorb that cost.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Agreed, however FYI if the seller pays for a survey then the surveyor will be working for the seller not you and that could bias their findings.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

I saw a long-time builder on Youtube saying he used to "tooth in" extensions but now refuses, as they all look good on day one then later crack and look alarming. Much better to put a clean break and flexible sealant in.

A few overlapping bricks won't stop 50 tons of building from moving, just accept it will move and deal with it.

Building regulations now insist that movement joints are put in at intervals on long walls, even when it's all being built at the same time. Work with physics by putting the cracks in, rather than letting the building decide where to snap.

We bought our cracked old place for cash so thankfully didn't have to jump through any expensive hoops. I didn't even bother with a basic survey. It hasn't collapsed into the centre of the earth.