Cracks in walls on house we're buying. Your opinion?

[AlexGTR]

Hi guys,

This is my first post on here so, Hi!

I'm sure this forum will certainly come in handy when we finally move in to a house (FTBers). I have not done much DIY but am pretty handy so quite looking forward to it.

So, I'm sure plenty of people ask this same question - Is this house worth buying?

We had our offer accepted on it a couple of weeks ago after a fairly horrible bidding war and the estate agents messing us about. The house is a 3 bed semi built in the 1930's

We have just had a PDF full of pics back from the structural survey we paid for over a week and half a go. That has also been an absolute nightmare and I can never get hold of the guy. We are still waiting for the written part of it.

For the brief time i did get to speak to him he said there are a fair few cracks in the house but he cant determine whether they are serious (maybe subsidence) or not, and i would have to ask the Estate Agents to pass on my questions to the Vendor. We have done that and are still waiting to hear back.

When we went to look at it the main concerns we had were the first floor landing floorboards tilted to one side leading to the front small bedroom and there was also some cracks in the render on the side of the house, the render looked fairly new.

The survey mentioned the floor but again, he couldn't say how long or why it was like that. And his concern was also the crack outside in the render as the render was quite new.

He also found quite a few cracks inside the house in some corners of the rooms, pretty much the front two rooms upstairs from what i can tell.

We knocked at the neighbours house which is the other side of ours (two semis detached) to see if they had any big cracks, subsidence or anything else similar and they hadn't noticed anything. They moved in a year ago. Also a very nice couple.

The house we are buying, they say has been pretty much empty for the year they have lived there except for the guy selling the house will pop back every now and again. I am assuming his last parent died a year ago and he has been trying to do it up and sell for a profit as the only two rooms that are decorated are extremely dated. The rest of the house is floor boards and plastered walls.

I would like to know your opinion on the cracks. We really love the house and are not planning on selling it, we will leave there till we die. There are quite a few pictures so thanks in advance for looking!

I look forward to your replies.

 

[tony1851]

wondered when it was coming to an end; what was the qustion?

 

[AlexGTR]

wondered when it was coming to an end; what was the qustion?

Are the cracks serious? Does it look like subsidence?

 

[big-all]

havent got a clue really but its 85 years old and still standing

my thoughts is it clay soil
is there or was there tall trees close by
we have had wet winter followed by a dry summer
when was the decorating/ filling last done
are there new windows or doors [last 2 or 3 years]
is there any known problems with the drains
have any building or groundwork alterations happened in the last year or so
has it been reroofed perhaps with heavier tiles/slates

as i say i havent got a clue but others might

 

[Beefpotnoodle]

I'd be concerned about the cracked gloss paint on the door frame, the rest no so much. But...where are these cracks????
Work out if there a pattern ie front corner etc.
Next is problem solving...has the seller done something silly, say removed a chimney or done an extension...soil conditions as stated (coal mining?). Look at it yourself, you need to be happy, don't just accept what someone tells you! Start at the top...if the roof or guttering causing it, work your way down.
1930's housed were built to outlast the modern half chipboard house.

 

[AlexGTR]

I'd be concerned about the cracked gloss paint on the door frame, the rest no so much. But...where are these cracks????
Work out if there a pattern ie front corner etc.
Next is problem solving...has the seller done something silly, say removed a chimney or done an extension...soil conditions as stated (coal mining?). Look at it yourself, you need to be happy, don't just accept what someone tells you! Start at the top...if the roof or guttering causing it, work your way down.
1930's housed were built to outlast the modern half chipboard house.

Thanks for the reply.

The cracks on the rendering are on the side of the house, if your are looking at the house from the front it is the right side of the house. They seem to go right down the middle. There are also a couple of cracks at the back of the house in the rendering too but that rendering is alot older than the side of the house.

The other cracks seem to be in the front two bedrooms from what i can tell. Having just had the survey back, he says all the cracks seem progressive and some in newish plaster.

There is a chimney that runs through the middle left side of the house if that makes sense. He has removed the side that is in the downstairs back room but left the one in the front room and the two upstairs. Could this have caused it, if there is no support under the back upstairs part of the chimney? If it is that, would it be a simple case of supporting the chimney and the house should be fine? I did ask the estate agents to ask the seller if the chimney was supported after being removed but havent heard back yet.

In regards to soil, the house is in Swanley, Kent so I beleive a high clay content, pretty much everywhere in the south east?

There is a small tree at the front of the house and quite a few plants and bushes too.

 

[Beefpotnoodle]

So two chimneys upstairs but the section downstairs at the back of the house is gone?
Show some pictures of the front and rear of the house please, what's under the floor. Is the floor wood(possibly suspended) or concrete..if you know

 

[Beefpotnoodle]

But to save the thread getting too far along, to answer your original question...
I don't think its worth buying on the present info.
House always have surprises, the house already sounds nasty....cracks in the CENTRE of the house and progressive!

 

[Nige F]

Agree with beef- I wouldn`t go with it , particularly with you being messed about - doesn`t inspire confidence I would take the £ hit - I`ve had to myself in the past , hurts @ the time , but worth it with hindsight. Good Luck

 

[AlexGTR]

Thanks for all the comments guys. It looks like a lot of money will be involved getting this house put right. Pretty gutted to be honest as we have been looking for ages and this is the only one that fit the bill.

 

[big-all]

Thanks for all the comments guys. It looks like a lot of money will be involved getting this house put right. Pretty gutted to be honest as we have been looking for ages and this is the only one that fit the bill.

theres the rub
you have at last found a house you like in the right area you can afford-----
theres always a reason it looks so good at below the going rate at least you found out why before buying a possible money pit

 

[arkie]

Any chance he could get repairs done under insurance? Could take some time thought.

Get builders to quote and knock it of the price?

Comes down to how bad you want it.

 

[B1N9S]

Hi Alex. I personally would be cheesed off at laying out for a surveyors report, that only points out the obvious, but can't give any answers as to why !!!

I had the same problem with surveyors when I bought a 1930's house a few years ago, complete waste of money and not inexpensive either.

See if you can find a 'decent' structural engineer, or even a very good builder, to take a look at it. But from my limited experience, I would be prepared to walk away from this one mate. Most of the cracks, look like render/plaster cracks, apart from the big vertical one midway down in your pics. That looks a bit more serious.

At this point, it shouldn't cost you much to walk away, but it may be a LOT of money saved if you do. Buying houses is an emotional rollercoaster and all too often we buy with our hearts, when everything is staring you in the face about why you shouldn't buy it.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do.

 

[AlexGTR]

Hi Alex. I personally would be cheesed off at laying out for a surveyors report, that only points out the obvious, but can't give any answers as to why !!!

I had the same problem with surveyors when I bought a 1930's house a few years ago, complete waste of money and not inexpensive either.

See if you can find a 'decent' structural engineer, or even a very good builder, to take a look at it. But from my limited experience, I would be prepared to walk away from this one mate. Most of the cracks, look like render/plaster cracks, apart from the big vertical one midway down in your pics. That looks a bit more serious.

At this point, it shouldn't cost you much to walk away, but it may be a LOT of money saved if you do. Buying houses is an emotional rollercoaster and all too often we buy with our hearts, when everything is staring you in the face about why you shouldn't buy it.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do.

Yes, I am not to pleased with the survey and the experience I had with the guy. He ended up sending me two PDF's one full of unlabelled pictured and the report in writing that didn't reference any of the pictures. The survey seems very lazy and like he is trying to cover his own back.

We are getting a Structural Survey done by an engineer just to be sure before we say yes or no.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Beefpotnoodle]

Ask the owner to go halves on the price, in the end if you don't buy, the next buy will do exactly the same. No-one will buy that house with any sense without getting a proper structural survey done. Its in their interest.