Possible subsidence (1)

[vanessa1357]

Hi I am desperately looking for some advice. I moved house into a 50 year old detached property which is built into a hillside (looks like a bungalow from the front but has two floors visible from the side and back if that makes sense). A very short while after moving in I noticed a 5mm wide stair step almost pyramid shaped crack at the back of the house running from under the first floor window down to the lower ground level window beneath. Internally in the first floor room the floor boards are quite bouncy near the window, there is a slight gap in between the floor and the skirting, the window has a crack around its perimeter (all windows are original timber windows) and there are a few cracks but these dont match the location of the external crack. In addition externally under the lower ground window there is a very thin hairline stair step crack which goes down towards the ground but which stops about 1 foot from the ground. There is also a full length ceiling crack in the first floor room which the home report stated was plaster shrinkage and doesnt continue down a wall. I will attach photos if anyone could give some advice that would be great as I am worrying myself sick.

 

[vanessa1357]

Photos

 

[Pat ex]

Hi Vanessa. You've posted in the wrong section. It should have been in the Building Section. I'll ask the mods to move it for you.

 

[Notch7]

internally the damage is cosmetic, the cracks between plaster and timber window are pretty standard, it’s what plaster does.

Hairline surface cracks in plaster mean nothing really - internal block work can be very weak, hairline cracks are extremely common in newly built work.

Externally, the brickwork looks generally pretty good and I’m not convinced the position of that crack is an indicator of subsidence. It could just be historic settlement of shrinkage - some types of house brick are weak and prone to cracking.

It’s a vertical toothed crack, which is likely to be thermal expansion.

 

[^woody^]

Those reconstituted stone/ concrete bricks are prone to high shrinkage movement, and that's what those external cracks are indicative of, not foundation movement.

The internal cracks are plaster appear to be shrinkage too not structural.

 

[George_engineer]

There's nothing there that is worrying.

You could draw some pen marks on the internal cracks (with the date) and get some crack monitors to go on the outside to see whether any future movement occurs.

 

[vanessa1357]

Thank you for your replies. My phone doesn’t give the best quality images so I took some on my husbands phone to give a better image which I will attach. Does this still look harmless? Thank you so much for your advice, it is really appreciated.

 

[^woody^]

The original photos were good enough. No change.

 

[vanessa1357]

Thank you so much for your help. Can I possibly ask your opinion about the ceiling cracks I have. They run straight through the centre of most of my rooms but don’t continue down the wall. From the look of them up close it looks like they have been previously plastered over and then reoccurred. Thanks again.

 

[mrrusty]

It's a fact that buildings move about slightly with temperature and humidity. There is nothing I can see that would be a cause for concern. As you are built on a hill, I think it's to be expected that you'll get some differential movement. If you get cracks that get wider and wider over time, then start worrying. otherwise, just enjoy life.

 

[noseall]

Thank you so much for your help. Can I possibly ask your opinion about the ceiling cracks I have. They run straight through the centre of most of my rooms but don’t continue down the wall. From the look of them up close it looks like they have been previously plastered over and then reoccurred. Thanks again.

The ceiling is blown away by that chandelier. Completely cracked him.

 

[^woody^]

The ceiling is blown away by that chandelier. Completely cracked him.

Philistine.

 

[noseall]

Philistine.

Guilty.

 

[RandomGrinch]

Philistine.

I'm afraid me too... I dont approve of the painted ceiling stars!


...and is that a deer walking through the door?

 

[Notch7]

Thank you so much for your help. Can I possibly ask your opinion about the ceiling cracks I have. They run straight through the centre of most of my rooms but don’t continue down the wall. From the look of them up close it looks like they have been previously plastered over and then reoccurred. Thanks again

that’s just plasterboard joint cracking

timber joists shrink, warp and bounce up and down as people walk above.