Cracks and Foundations

[ukwrecker]

In need of some addvice I have just striped my walls of wallpapper and found a few cracks, problem is one of the cracks is from my neighbours partition fire wall and my outside face wall going upto the top corner of my front window and the other is over the living room door from one corner going straight to the ceiling and beyond as far as I can tell, have several others through out the property one that goes across the concrete floor in the kitchen and from what i can tell it is causing a split in the wood staircase as well, is there any one out there that could give me any idea as to what could be causing this problem

 

[JohnD]

no, but a few things that will help

how old is your house

is it detached, semi, terrace

has any work been done on it or next door since building it

has your neighbour knocked down any walls, e.g. through lounge from two rooms

have any chimneys been removed

any extensions or loft conversions

have you got a cellar

what is it built of

width and depth of cracks

are they clean inside (new) or full of dust and cobwebs (old)

do the cracks seem to be getting bigger

have they been plastered over before, and has the old repair fallen out or is it still firm

what is the ground like (clay, limestone, sand, etc)

is it a mining area

any nearby events (flood, excavations, rivers, burst pipes or cracked sewers)

and some photos would help.

Also, have a look at your household insurance and see what it says about subsidence.

 

[ukwrecker]

the Building is a Semi Detached of Block and Brick with stipel plaster work on outside wall, the crack that goes along the kitchen floor is about 4mm across and goes in 7mm in places the one above the living room door is just under a 1mm across and goes in 6mm and the door jam is slightly out of square I have no cellar no loft conversion or extensions the house was built late 1940 and the house that is on my opposit side my detached side is about 6 ft lower then what mine is