Advive needed on next step re : cracked rendering.

[MorayGub1]

Hi first post on the forum i am hoping some of you guys can give me some advice on the following

On the gable end of my semi-detached house a two floor extension (kitchen,dining room and bedroom) was built in 2007 and we moved in 2008. Last week i noticed some small hairline cracks on the gable end side of the building in a mostly vertical direction with one going right down to the ground. On closer inspection i found an ever bigger crack on the front of the extension roughly going from the bottom of the upstairs window to the top of the lintel on the downstairs window.

I have attached phtos to help, basically i need some advice on what to do next before getting the insurance company involved i would like to know what maybe caused it and if can be repaired. there are no internal cracks that i can see so not sure if this is evidence of subsidence or movement or what ?

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• MorayGub1
• 31 Dec 2011
• 1

Untitled

• MorayGub1
• 31 Dec 2011
• 1

Untitled

• MorayGub1
• 31 Dec 2011
• 1

Untitled

• MorayGub1
• 31 Dec 2011
• 1

2 of them show the large crack about the width of 10p on the front and the other two show the hairline cracks running down the gable end and past the vent to the ground. The front crack when tapping it with a hammer at the bottom does sound hollow as if its blown.

Any comments most appreciated.

 

[joe-90]

They are just shrinkage cracks. Just forget about them and stop looking for trouble. If you make some kind of subsidence claim your house will be blacklisted for decades and cost you a fortune when you resell it, and there'll be a £1000 excess.

 

[MorayGub1]

Thanks for your reply i know the issue re : subsidence claims but i wanted to find what they wre before i went down that route. So what is/are shrinkage cracks and why is the one on the front so wide ? and why after 5 years ?

 

[joe-90]

It's a bit like flexing a biscuit - sooner or later it will crack at the weakest point.
It was probably rendered due to previous problems and they are surfacing once again. A lot depends on your foundation type and ground it's built on.

 

[peaps]

More than srinkage cracks IMO