Crack In Wall In The Middle Of My Property

[Geps]

Hi,

I have a 1930s ex council semi. The exterior wall on the opposite side of the party wall (the wall facing the neighbours to whom I'm not attached to) has developed a vertical crack in it running the full height of my property. The crack is right down the middle of the house - half way between the rear and front elevations.

At the moment it's only about 1-2mm wide at the top but the fact this has happened within the past year to the best of my knowledge is slightly concerning.

I've noticed that my neighbour has a larger crack on his property on the wall facing mine in the same position.

With the area having alot of clay in the ground (old OS survey maps show it actually was once a clay pit) and the cracks being in similar places of two separate buildings about 4m apart I'm assuming it's ground heave rather than subsidence. Would this be fair?

If so, if there anything I should be doing to reduce this cracking getting worse?

Does heave change with the seasons? I bought the property last year in March and I made sure when I was purchasing there were no cracks - I'm wondering if they appear in the summer and then vanish again over winter.....

Cheers,

 

[^woody^]

Not sure where you got heave from, but it seems like a thermal/moisture crack due to shrinkage of the masonry

 

[catlad]

If you google masonary stitching bar kits, that should help.

 

[^woody^]

Or it might cause the wall to crack elsewhere instead

 

[Geps]

Not sure where you got heave from, but it seems like a thermal/moisture crack due to shrinkage of the masonry

I assumed heave as it's clay soil but also the crack is wider at the top...so I was thinking the 'middle' was getting pushed up. If it is thermal/moisture cracking then would it be wider at the top?