Bay window subsidence vs whole building subsidence

[jezztri2]

I've notice big cracks on both internal and external of my bay window. It is also on both sides of the window itself and looks like it is pulling away. On on wall where there is a chimney breast the wall is detached from the ceiling 'skirtings'.

I had a builder in to update a kitchen and he suggested it was just the bay window and that all it needed as cement poured to prop it up.

I'm thinking i need to get insurance involved to get the full building assessed in case it's a bigger problem, but I'm trying to weigh up the costs. Ie: insurance excess is £1,000, or get a chartered surveyor independently as if it is only bay window then it'll likely be cheaper to resolve with involving the insurance company. But I've also read that if not done properly it could cause more issues further down the line.

 

[blup]

Do you have a pic of the outside of the bay?

Blup

 

[jezztri2]

Do you have a pic of the outside of the bay?

Blup

Yes

 

[jezztri2]

View attachment 289115

 

[Notch7]

bays windows sometimes have a different foundation the the house and are a bit vulnerable to movement.

subsidence of the house wall would probably show up as diagonal cracking

you do have cracks above and below middle window - I wonder if they are render or wall?

 

[jezztri2]

There's nothing internally on that top window.
There's this crack on the third floor bedroom door

 

[jezztri2]

In the room with the bay window there are these cracks.

In the second floor, the crack underneath the window to the right, can also be seen internally.

 

[justigator]

I am no expert but they don't look too bad to me. How long has it taken for the cracks to get to that stage? If many years, then yes possibly differential movement in the ground - maybe as a result of a very dry period over the summer. But whether that is a big deal? Not sure. One thing though. If it is ever officially labelled as subsidence, for ever after you will either have to lie to your building insurers (absolutely not a good idea) or fess up and - presumably - pay hugely increased premiums, or at least accept a much bigger excess. This always strikes me as unfair, since if you have real subsidence and it's properly fixed, you should be less of a future risk, not more. But there you are. Over 30 years, a narrow crack from window sill to ground through several courses of bricks on the front of the ground floor bay of my last house (1920s north London semi on London clay) remained but didn't grow. There was no way I was going to call it subsidence and sold the house successfully a few years ago without doing so.

 

[jezztri2]

Yes, that is my concern too about the insurance aspect, so just wanted to get a few different opinions to work out how next to proceed. I initially had a panic attack that that the bay window would collapse!

I've got a structural engineer coming out next week and will go from there.

Thank you, so much for your thoughts.