Crack

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I am looking at a Victorian end terrace, there is however a vertical crack down the left hand side. It does look like there has been some dodgy repointing, with cement instead of lime mortar too, not sure if this could be the cause or merely making a symptom of a problem worse. It doesn't look fresh. Does look like there was another crack between the top right hand side of the door and the window which may indicate subsidence.
All of the other terraces have no visible cracks, rooflines look fine etc.
There are no internal cracks/no dampness and the gable end of the terrace as well as the back of the house is fine.
Can anyone offer any advice?

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Here is the gable end too - no issues on there or on the back wall of the property
 

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All the weight is at that point between the two doors.
It's not my area but I'd be looking at stitching bricks.
Neighbours render my stop that.


 
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OP,
What you show on the front elevation is an historic crack & attempts at remedial pointing.
The remedial pointing is loose & failing, and gaps have appeared in the beds & perps.
You have another crack on the RH side of your doorway headwork.
Between the doorways, a brick has been spelched out and a mortar blob can be seen?

Your neighbour has a crack on the RH side of their doorway headwork.
Render is sometimes applied to cover cracks or damage?

Your gable photo shows three Lateral Restraint Tie Bar plates - the presence of Remedial tie bars suggests that historic movement has taken place in the property.
Do the ties end in your property or do the ties extend through the party wall?
Have any walls been removed inside the property?

Your gable photo also shows a chimney stack in need of Remedial work (the stack has been previously partly re-built) chemicals from dirty flues have leached out to present on the upper gable - have the interior chimney breasts been retained all the way up to the stack?
 
As a 'layman', unless I was desperate for this property, (for whatever reason), I would avoid this like the plague.
To me, that looks like quite a serious crack, and I'd be suspicious if no internal cracking is visible. I also don't subscribe to this being a 'historical' crack that has settled down. It has clearly been repaired previously and has now opened again.

But then, I am neither a builder or a surveyor/structural engineer and it's your money.
 
Where does my post say its "a 'historical' crack that has settled down"?
Perhaps you dont understand the meaning of historical in remedial terms?
 
Thank you for your helpful reply tell80, yeah the pointing is terrible, it will be re-done with a 3.5 lime 1/2 ratio with sharpsand which obviously has more flexibility than cement and allows moisture to exit the brick, and it does seem historical and not current. I will get the chimney done at the same time whilst the scaffolding is up, in regards to the interior chimney breasts, I do not know at moment, how come you ask?

I agree regarding the neighbours render, although it isn't new and hasn't cracked (besides the ones that looks like it extends from the vertical one.

No walls have been removed from the inside of the property.

In regards to the lateral tie bars, unfortunately I do not know if they extend into the party wall or not at this moment, I need to find out. I was under the understanding that alot of Victorian terraces usually have lateral tie bars and that it often makes them more structurally sound than a modern house?

Thank you for your help!
 
Obviously, I dont know what stage of buying the house you are at but if there's still time then you would do well to get a SE's report before closing.
Ask the SE for written remedies not just itemised faults ie the SE must explain what you should do & how to do it.
Tie bars are remedial measures, & afaik they were never used except as remedial measures.
Chimney breasts esp. on a gable are important structural features.
The correct mix for pointing that property is 4:1 sand and lime. The SE will specify anything different.
 
Where does my post say its "a 'historical' crack that has settled down"?
Perhaps you dont understand the meaning of historical in remedial terms?

OP,
What you show on the front elevation is an historic crack & attempts at remedial pointing.
The remedial pointing is loose & failing, and gaps have appeared in the beds & perps.
You have another crack on the RH side of your doorway headwork.
Between the doorways, a brick has been spelched out and a mortar blob can be seen?

Your neighbour has a crack on the RH side of their doorway headwork.
Render is sometimes applied to cover cracks or damage?

Your gable photo shows three Lateral Restraint Tie Bar plates - the presence of Remedial tie bars suggests that historic movement has taken place in the property.
Do the ties end in your property or do the ties extend through the party wall?
Have any walls been removed inside the property?

Your gable photo also shows a chimney stack in need of Remedial work (the stack has been previously partly re-built) chemicals from dirty flues have leached out to present on the upper gable - have the interior chimney breasts been retained all the way up to the stack?

You called it a historic crack. I agree you didn't mention anything about it having settled down.
I also said in my post I was a 'layman'. In other words, I am not experienced, technically or otherwise, to advise on the faults, but I am entitled to an opinion.
Relax a little and let others have their say unless what they say/advise is dangerous or downright silly.
 
The crack appears wider a the top than at the bottom. This, combined with the diagonal crack just at the edge of the photo, suggests there is rotation away from the row of terraces.

Combined with the pattress plates on the end wall, I would suggest that the end wall and chimney stack have sunk a bit.

Unfortunately, the only way to know whether this property is not going to be a heap of problems is to install crack monitoring for at least 6 months, ideally 12 months. If this monitoring shows movement has stopped, then you could crack stitch. (Crack stitching when movement is carrying on will just result in more cracking somewhere else - possible in the neighbours house! Bad bad bad.)

If the monitoring shows that the movement is continuing in the direction of the end wall, then you'd need to look at grouting or traditional underpinning to secure the end wall.

I don't think I'd be willing to buy. At a minimum get a structural engineer's report but - if my diagnosis is correct (albeit from three photos online), they'd say something similar to me.


£500 please ;)
 

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