2 Vertical Cracks in extension minor or major?

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About to go through a home report surveyor and heard I made have a severe cracks which downvalues the house significantly. See url.

 
Shrinkage..rake it out and use polyurethane caulk.
Certainly will not devalue the property.
 
I got told by a civil engineer it was catergory 3 on a home report survey. Even getting it repaired only goes to catergory 2 as repairs have a lifespan of 10 years before renewal is required. Also, its around 4mm but as you go higher it goes 5mm and beyond right in the corner. I heard these knock off £6k-£12k off your home value the bigger it is.
 
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Think it's a structural engineer you would need to speak to.
Is that an extension?
There are engineers on here who may give you a more concise answer.
 
its a 1997 built extension we have a main road nearby where huge 44 tonne trucks go over potholes and shake the houses at times esepcially early hours of the morning. I think thats what is caused it over time rather than bad workmanship meaning the extension is sinking.
 
It's hard to tell from the videos. If it's a consistent width line from top to bottom then it's shrinkage so nothing to worry about.

If it's closed at the bottom and widens towards the top then the far end of the extension has sunk, so the whole thing has tipped away from the original building. This may or may not be a problem, depending on the extent and whether the foundations are on subsoil or topsoil.

Check for signs of sinking at the far end of the extension. If it's severe to the extent that the brickwork and floor are out of level then there's definintely a major issue. But I doubt it's that severe, I've seen a porch that had a 2" gap at the top of the joint to the original building.
 
Any cracks inside?

Looks like shrinkage to me...
 
It would be amazing if an extension bonded to the original house with mortar hadn't cracked.

It's likely that the surveyor didn't learn much about cracks on their how to be a surveyor course, and is making a right fuss about nothing.

But, as I say, impossible to say just from the videos.
 
I had similar on our 1990 extension, inside and out at both joints. I haven't bothered with the outside, and just had a re-skim inside. Nothing has cracked since, 5 years later, so it must have done all the moving it wanted to.
 
When i built the extension BC told me that the wall joining the house should be mortared, pointed at an angle and then filled with a silicone as a new wall joining an old wall will more than likely move, cracking the mortar
 
It's hard to tell from the videos. If it's a consistent width line from top to bottom then it's shrinkage so nothing to worry about.

If it's closed at the bottom and widens towards the top then the far end of the extension has sunk, so the whole thing has tipped away from the original building. This may or may not be a problem, depending on the extent and whether the foundations are on subsoil or topsoil.

Check for signs of sinking at the far end of the extension. If it's severe to the extent that the brickwork and floor are out of level then there's definintely a major issue. But I doubt it's that severe, I've seen a porch that had a 2" gap at the top of the joint to the original building.
One corner its closed at the bottom then as we go up it cracks around 3mm further up its goes to 5mm along the top and in the corner its around 10mm away from the original building as you can only see mortar on 1 side.

The other joint show gaps rather than a crack. Looks like not enough mortar was put on an smoothed out properly with a trowel or finishing tool its a bit messy however they are parts/mortar missing?

Is it worth fixing these issues before a survey?

Did the 2" gap on the porch have a survey done? if so did it pass or get category 2?
 
Use a polyurethane caulk it's flexible thats what it is designed for.
 
It doesn't sound like a big deal. 10mm is quite a lot though, I suspect some mortar has fallen out there.

Are you buying or selling? Who's instructed the surveyor? Is this a house-buying survey or something else?

The one with a 2" gap was one I viewed to buy. It needed a sledge hammer!
 

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