Vertical Crack through bricks - 3 storey townhouse
- Thread starter JoStu001
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The wall is clearly cracked around the corner up to about the same level as the front door height, then it seems it starts and goes up vertically on the front elevation.
Long
Do you suggest I contact my insurance company please?
Thank you.
Hi Woody, so it is, I'd not noticed that, thanks for pointing it out.
Do you suggest I contact my insurance company please?
Thank you.
So I've just popped outside (nearly dark here now) and taken a photo, these are on the 'corner'?
Thoughts?
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Check your policy. It should be covered.
Some people are hesitant to make claims for fear of increase in premiums, but for something like this and a a proper repair, diagnosed and specified by the engineer they should get involved, any premium increase will be much less than the cost of the works if you paid for it.
Some people are hesitant to make claims for fear of increase in premiums, but for something like this and a a proper repair, diagnosed and specified by the engineer they should get involved, any premium increase will be much less than the cost of the works if you paid for it.
Ok, thanks again, I'll take a look.
7. We’ll pay claims where your buildings or your contents are damaged by:
Subsidence, heave & landslip
By ‘subsidence’ we mean the downward movement of the ground underneath your buildings,
which isn’t caused by the weight of the buildings.
By ‘heave’ we mean when the ground underneath your buildings expands.
By ‘landslip’ we mean fast sudden movement of ground down a slope.
It looks to me like it's just cracked at the weakest point between the two buildings.
It's a long length of wall, there should have been a movement joint somewhere along its length. It's probably just shrinkage, as there's no vertical movement.
Basically the two houses have shrunk and moved apart. The ceiling has moved your way, but the party wall has remained attached to the neighbour. If the two leaves of the wall are rigidly tied then your internal wall may have moved their way. The decor issues may well be related.
There probably should have been a movement joint on the internal corner between your neighbours and your end wall. But there isn't, and this wall has decided to become theirs.
It's probably done most of its moving though. Your rooms are now a couple of mm bigger.
It's a long length of wall, there should have been a movement joint somewhere along its length. It's probably just shrinkage, as there's no vertical movement.
Basically the two houses have shrunk and moved apart. The ceiling has moved your way, but the party wall has remained attached to the neighbour. If the two leaves of the wall are rigidly tied then your internal wall may have moved their way. The decor issues may well be related.
There probably should have been a movement joint on the internal corner between your neighbours and your end wall. But there isn't, and this wall has decided to become theirs.
It's probably done most of its moving though. Your rooms are now a couple of mm bigger.
Great name!
The house was built in 2006, we had it redecorated 2 years ago and in places it's showing the same traits as it was before we got it decorated, IE cracking where ceiling meets wall.
It's hard to tell from the photo, but I'm wondering if there's meant to be a movement joint in the internal corner where the neighbour meets your end wall - it looks like there may be brown sealant there? If so then it's failed to move there and should be looked into - it may be a fake movement joint, basically a bead of sealant over the mortar to keep the inspector happy.
You'd need to dig out some sealant, find out whether there's mortar or foam under it.
You'd need to dig out some sealant, find out whether there's mortar or foam under it.
Appreciate your response, thank you.
I think my best bet is contact me insurance company, to be on the safe side.
Do you think that's wise?
Yes, and/or get someone qualified in to have a look, perhaps a structural engineer. You may not have much comeback against the builder after 18 years if it was botched.
It's not going to fall down though, it's just an annoyance and it looks bad, and would have been much easier to prevent it happening than to now have to fix it.
It's not going to fall down though, it's just an annoyance and it looks bad, and would have been much easier to prevent it happening than to now have to fix it.
I’ll do just that, really appreciate your thoughts & advice. Thank you
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