Cracking in brickwork, exterior and interior walls

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Hello, I would really appreciate some advice please. Firstly I must add that I am not a tradesman so please go easy on me.

I’ve bought a detached house, built in 1974. I’ve been doing it up over the past year, however since moving in I have noticed numerous cracks on the exterior. The majority of these are through the cement around the window lintels. However some these go straight through the bricks themselves.

In addition I have noticed a very large, raised crack in the concrete flooring by the front door. The wooden flooring that was down seemed to have lifted up, and when I removed the wood I noticed the cracking.

There are 5 interior cracks that go up the length of the wall, from the floor to the ceiling. I had filled these in with flexible filler but they have reopened. The coving has also lifted from most of the rooms.

I’m quite worried about this and I don’t see the point of continuing doing the place up until I work out exactly what is causing this. At the moment I can think of three possible causes...

1. There has been a large water leak, (identified by the plumber) at some point, however we never found out where it was - it is likely to have been from under the concrete flooring however we don’t know how long this went on for. I suspect it may have occurred over the winter period when we didn’t use the heating at all and it was excessively cold.

2. We have several very large trees in the garden, taller than the house itself. 3 of these are within 15 feet of the house.

3. We have a lot of HGV’s passing by the house which cause the place to physically shake.

I never noticed these cracks before we moved in but that definitely doesn’t mean they weren’t there.

I am considering contacting the insurance company, however I wanted to get some advice first.

Any advice is appreciated, thank you.
 
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Trees are not good , they remove water from ground and can cause settlement , likewise longer hotter summers with less rainfall have the same effect.HGV’s will cause settlement quicker than without them.
Original ground conditions also effect settlement , local mining , geological make up , some properties are even built on old landfill sites.
 
The trees are protected by a preservation order, another problem. I’m wondering as to whether I should contact the insurance company and try to make a claim...
 
I found cracks in various internal walls during my renovation of 1935 house. Non in the external walls though...
One thing to get your hands on could be a crack detector. Its an inexpensive plastic tool that screws either side of the crack with a cross hair arrangement. You can use it to determine if the cracks are moving over long term (say 30 to 60 days) or if they're dormant. If the latter you probably don't need to worry. The filler you used might have just shrank as opposed to cracks opening back up.
Alternatively get a structural engineer in to have a look before insurance claims - beware though this is going to cost.
 
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AIUI insurance companies are not there to insure you against that, but by all means try it.
You will however be paying more for your insurance forever more after declaring to them that you have had subsidence issues.
 
YellowTeamJoe, good evening.


OK I work and have worked in insurance Subs claims for some time??

"’Ive bought a detached house, built in 1974. I’ve been doing it up over the past year" the insurer could claim that any damage was present prior to your purchase of the property, called "Pre-inception Damage" and as such inadmissible as far as making a claim is concerned?

" raised crack in the concrete flooring by the front door " Is the entire sub floor Concrete? in effect a concrete slab?

" 5 interior cracks that go up the length of the wall, from the floor to the ceiling " Where are these vertical cracks? in corners or not? remember, all cracks are not Subsidence??

" There has been a large water leak, (identified by the plumber) " This one is one way around #1 above, in that Subsidence is often occasioned by a water leak. Can you get any further information about this leak? it would assist any further Insurance related claim, if it gets that far?

" several very large trees in the garden " Trees are OK, But? it depends on the soil if London Clay or similar then that will be an issue.

" a lot of HGV’s passing by the house " Vibration damage is not generally accepted by insurers.

" considering contacting the insurance company, " The excess is £ 1,000, + the "stigma" of the property being forever flagged up as having the dreaded "Subsidence"

Finally??

" The majority of these are through the cement around the window lintels " Such cracking generally indicates Thermal movement [Not Subsidence] around the Concrete lintel ends, where the Concrete expands and contracts at a different rate to the brickwork, plus given the Summer we have had the temperatures were high. The dry Summer has also caused what the insurers call, and are calling a Subsidence Surge.

Ken.
 

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