Bay Window & Cracks

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27 Feb 2016
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Hi all,

Looking to make an offer on a property and I am concerned by the cracks I've seen on the bedroom bay window, repointing of downstairs bay window and general cracks. Any advice on the seriousness would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
 
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Looks like the bay is settling away from the house. Pretty common. Eventually the brickwork will need to be 'stitched' back to the house.
 
Is it a single storey bay, or a 2 storey one, and what's picture no 2.

Bays we're often built on smaller foundations, so have a tendency to crack and sink, and pull away from the house; hence the cracks are wider at the top of the bay.

The bay will likely need underpinning, and the owner may be able to get it done on their insurance, assuming they're prepared to start the ball rolling. The brickwork outside would need repointing to make it look even, (or rendering), and inside, you'd hack off the plaster, rake out the mortar on a couple of courses 300mm apart, and then put in helical tie bars that start from the innermost part of the wall in the bedroom.

A structural survey will cost you, but may well save you a few bob on the price of the house - which you'll then spend doing the work. Or a quick chat with your conveyancing solicitor might be tell you how best to handle the situation.
 
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Hi,

Thanks for the replies.

Doggit - sorry to sound dumb, how do you mean single or 2 storey? The 1st and last pics are the downstairs bay window, pic. 2 is a crack on another room on the ground floor - the pics with the wallpaper are the cracks from the bay window directly above the ground floor bay.

From what you have mentioned, is this a serious and expensive job? Are you suggesting getting a building survey done to find out the true cause and associated cost?

Thanks again.
 
Hi S1m, I worked most of it out, but it's always best to check, and never make assumptions. Having Pic 2 being unrelated to the others, required some clarification.

I reckon the bay is only on the ground floor, and doesn't go up to the second floor (hence a 2 storey bay) which would mean there's a lot more weight on the foundations. With a single story bay, you could just take down the bay, and brick straight across as a cheap option, but you'll want to retain the character, so that'd mean underpinning to stop the bay going out any further. You could then tie the bay into the front wall, but that'd be putting a bit of a strain on it, and it's not something I'd opt to do.

Underpinning a bay isn't difficult, you've just got to dig down in sections, and drop some concrete in, then move onto the next section.

Or you could also take the bay down, do the foundations properly, and then rebuild the bay.

But it's pic 2 that determines whether you need a surveyor, as it's also cracking, and may well be a problem that's been covered up already. Is the render on the other houses in the street in the same places.
 
Hi Doggit, many thanks again for the response and details. Would you have an idea on cost for the work you have identified? The house next door (attached part of semi) has the render in the same place, but no sign of cracking, but the render looks like it has been updated more recently. This house hasnt really been properly maintained for some time, hence the concern with going ahead with putting forward an offer.
 
Sorry to costs, this is always difficult to do at a distance.

As long as you're not in Scotland, then you can put an offer in subject to survey, and you can withdraw from the sale if the survey makes you too concerned at the state of the place. In this situation, it's going to be money well spent, especially as the house hasn't been very well maintained. When was it last rewired, how old is the boiler, do any of the floorboards bounce or floors dip the wrong way, are there any cracks in the render that might mean it's coming away, and are there any suspicious recent redecorating that might cover up problems
 
As a further observation in Pict. 2 there appears to be a horizontal crack. this can be an indication that there is a problem of wall tie corrosion??

Ken.
 

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