Have I got subsidence ??

[TheHornmeister]

Noticed cracks in the rear wall, above the kitchen window and across the lintel, does it look like subsidence ?? We do have clay soil around here (Wirral) and Ive recently had a massive tree removed which was about 20 ft from my house and pushing up my path.

Cheers

Untitled

• TheHornmeister
• 8 May 2013
• 1

Untitled

• TheHornmeister
• 8 May 2013
• 1

 

[^woody^]

It does not look like subsidence

See what it looks like in November

 

[Joe Malone]

Noticed cracks in the rear wall, above the kitchen window and across the lintel, does it look like subsidence ?? We do have clay soil around here (Wirral) and Ive recently had a massive tree removed which was about 20 ft from my house and pushing up my path.

Cheers

Untitled

• TheHornmeister
• 8 May 2013
• 1

Untitled

• TheHornmeister
• 8 May 2013
• 1

No, the cracks displayed are not anywhere near severe enough to start worrying about subsidence. According to the BRE crack interpretation guide they'd be classed as nothing more than decorative cracks. The cracks above the window appear to be caused by the common problem of having timber windows replaced with UPvC.

 

[tony1851]

The cracks above the window appear to be caused by the common problem of having timber windows replaced with UPvC.

I thought that at first, but if you look carefully, there appears to be a concrete boot lintel there, so would it necessarily be affected when the window was replaced?

 

[Joe Malone]

The cracks above the window appear to be caused by the common problem of having timber windows replaced with UPvC.

I thought that at first, but if you look carefully, there appears to be a concrete boot lintel there, so would it necessarily be affected when the window was replaced?

There's no bearing surface on the outer leaf brickwork so I think it would. Be interested in knowing when the windows were replaced and when these cracks appeared.

 

[tony1851]

Years ago I thought I'd seen some of these patented lintels which only had their bearing on the inner skin. The front lip (which obviously supports the outer skin) was just a cantilevered section from the back. Very 1950s.

 

[TheHornmeister]

Thanks everyone, (will check in November).. the original window was indeed timber (before I moved in) but has been replaced twice with upvc as the upvc windows that were in when I moved in, were externally glazed so I replaced them with internally glazed ones. Maybe the fact that they've been replaced twice hasn't helped ????

 

[TheHornmeister]

I moved in in 1998 and got upvc changed from external to internal glazed in 2003. Will check some old bbq photos to see if cracks were there prior to this yr. Looking at various pics online, the cracks do seem small for subsidence but a lot of subsidence websites mention cracks around windows, doors, lintels.