Crack diagnosis - subsidence?

[cdbe]

You're seriously blowing this up. What makes you think any buyer will trust a survey commissioned and paid for by you?

Just push a bit of mortar in and rub some mud or soil on top to blend it in or stick a bit of trellis over the top of the door to cover it.

I think (look at the general condition from the wider photos) there'll be many more issues eg render breaching dpc, ancient windows etc that the house will need to be sold as a doer-upper anyway - not a problem if a nice plot in a nice location etc but if you need to sell quickly your probably better playing with the price rather than playing with the house.

 

[Jon12345]

I think I am going to need a structural engineers report. They are a little bit more expensive but can diagnose more complex stress patterns on walls.

I've been using an advanced AI and it suggests it could be a combination of factors, including aged lintel, stress from door hinges contributing to an already weakened wall and water ingress. It is giving a lower probability to subsidence, around 10 to 15%. It also suggested that the main building could be exerting some lateral forces onto the "outbuilding", leading to wall stress. This seems like a complex picture and it recommended going straight to a structural engineers report because a chartered surveyor would be at their limit of what they can do. The engineer can calculate the forces involved and so on. More cash, but less if I pay for a chartered surveyor only to find I needed a structural engineer in the first place.

 

[cdbe]

WTF!

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

advanced AI

I really hope this is a joke.

 

[Jon12345]

I've had a brainwave. Instead of getting in an expensive consultant straight away, would it be safe for me to chip away a little bit of the pebbledash by the crack to see if the underlying brickwork also has cracks and how severe they are?

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

How do you think it's physically possible that the bricks have NOT moved? The render is attached to them at each side, and there's a blooming great gap between the two halves.

Just use a torch. Look into the crack, you'll see a gap between the bricks there.

Your expensive consultant will tell you that the wall has moved.

I hope you are able to agree that the bricks are not made of jelly. So please explain how you think it's possible that the top has moved while the bottom has remained stationary.

 

[Jon12345]

It is possible to get cracks in just the render. And then you can get freeze/thaw cycles that expand the crack. You have ruled out this possibility, while I say it is a possibility.

My best guess is that the brickwork also has cracks, but the size of those cracks is significant because it can indicate if it is perhaps settlement or subsidence.

If indeed it is movement, which I suspect it is, I will still need to get a consultant in because they need to diagnose the cause. Otherwise, it could get worse. Fortunately I've found a picture from 8 years ago that shows the crack. It is a little bit smaller than it is now, but at least it can give an engineer a guesstimate regarding the pace of the crack widening.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

Sigh...

How exactly do you think the render could move apart to form a gap without the bricks that it is attached to moving?

Is this thread a wind-up?

 

[Jon12345]

I can provide a link to a website that explains this for you, but I am not sure if we are allowed to drop links on this forum. Read my previous post for how this gap can expand. I'm not sure you are interested in seeing any evidence of this because you are already saying it is not possible.

Just google this: Can cracks be just in render

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

You'd get a lot more information by putting your shoes on and looking for yourself than you'd get from cooking up theories and asking AI and the internet.

It's not a crack, it's a gap. And it's right at the weakest narrowest point of the wall, exactly where it would snap if there was movement.

Do you think the render has shrunk?

 

[Jon12345]

Earlier today I got a stool out, a tourch and a bbq skewer. I poked it in the crack and it went a long way, which concerned me. It went in about 16cm. Made me think there is likely to be a crack in the brickwork matching the crack in the pebbledash.

But the picture is a bit confusing, because of the impact of the door hitting the pebbledash. I've uploaded a video so you can see what I mean. Hopefully the link will be acceptable here.

https://imgur.com/a/rCKrsOF

 

[noseall]

I've been using an advanced AI and it suggests

O.M.F.G!

I'm thinking this thread might be wind-up.

 

[Nige F]

It's a catslide roof with a catladder up it

 

[Jon12345]

It's a catslide roof with a catladder up it

Good observation.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

So, after all the expert investigation and advanced AI, it appears to be a bit of loose render.

I still say it's moved at the top though. But investigating further may involve another three pages of debate before someone prods a screwdriver in and finds out.