Cracks in mortar and roof issues

[MKnewc]

Hi everyone,

I am currently purchasing my first house and had a level 3 RICS survey carried out. I have absolutely no building knowledge at all and a couple things were pointed out regarding the external walls and roof. I am hoping I could get some advice as to how bad (or not bad) the issues pointed out are, and if they are bad what kind of things could be required and how costly these could be to fix.

To give some context, the house was built in the mid 1960's. If any more information could be helpful please let me know. Thank you!

Some comments regarding the issues in the survey:
"There is horizontal cracking to the main walls and tiles on the gables have pulled out,this indicative of corrosion of c"avity wall ties."
"There are no gable clips to hold the edge of the roof covering down in high winds. We recommend these are fitted."
"The property may have suffered a structural defect in the form of cavity wall tie failure."

 

[noseall]

Hi everyone,

I am currently purchasing my first house and had a level 3 RICS survey carried out. I have absolutely no building knowledge at all and a couple things were pointed out regarding the external walls and roof. I am hoping I could get some advice as to how bad (or not bad) the issues pointed out are, and if they are bad what kind of things could be required and how costly these could be to fix.

To give some context, the house was built in the mid 1960's. If any more information could be helpful please let me know. Thank you!

Some comments regarding the issues in the survey:
"There is horizontal cracking to the main walls and tiles on the gables have pulled out,this indicative of corrosion of cavity wall ties."
"There are no gable clips to hold the edge of the roof covering down in high winds. We recommend these are fitted."



View attachment 283502View attachment 283503View attachment 283504View attachment 283505View attachment 283506View attachment 283507View attachment 283508View attachment 283509

Standard expansion of tiles. They always get pushed out at the verges and there is no way back. Especially on darker south facing tiles.

 

[^woody^]

There does not seem to be anything indicative of wall tie failure. Has the surveyor mentioned lateral restraint of the gable to the rafters?

The rafters have dipped (common not an issue) which it's why the tiles are higher at the edge and this can cause some tile separation

 

[MKnewc]

There does not seem to be anything indicative of wall tie failure. Has the surveyor mentioned lateral restraint of the gable to the rafters?

The rafters have dipped (common not an issue) which it's why the tiles are higher at the edge and this can cause some tile separation

No mention of lateral restraint from what I can see.

The only things similar mentioned in the survey are:
"The roofs are pitched and covered with concrete tiles finishing at the ridge at the top, eaves gutter line at the bottom and covering the gable ends on a cut timber frame." and the fact there are no gable clips.

I have a picture of the attic but from the picture its hard for me to see the lateral restraints, but I also have absolutely zero knowledge about it.

Thank you for the reply and information so far! Much appreciated

 

[^woody^]

Ignore the mention of gable clips. The fact that the house had been there for 60 years or so and the verge tiles have not blown away, would indicate that they don't need clipping.

You would see any gable restraint straps as horizontal metal straps on the underside of the rafters at the gable top middle and bottom. There does not appear to be any.

Has the surveyor mentioned that the gable is actually out of plumb? If the gable is vertical (or he had not mentioned it) then I can't see how he can assert wall tie failure.

Without more detail of the gable it's hard to comment further. Obviously you could use the report to get a discount to reflect the work required. Bit conversely, a discount may not be offered or the work may nor even be required and you don't want to lose a house on the basis of a poor report.

 

[tony1851]

There does not seem to be anything indicative of wall tie failure. Has the surveyor mentioned lateral restraint of the gable to the rafters?

The rafters have dipped (common not an issue) which it's why the tiles are higher at the edge and this can cause some tile separation

According to the older editions of McKay's, it was common practice on plain tiled roofs to fix a tilting batten under the tiling battens at the end, giving that slight upward tilt. The rationale was to help keep rainwater from running off the verge and causing staining on the wall.

 

[^woody^]

Loved Kay's. Mom used to get me some good gear for 25p week, including my first pair of docs.

 

[MKnewc]

Ignore the mention of gable clips. The fact that the house had been there for 60 years or so and the verge tiles have not blown away, would indicate that they don't need clipping.

You would see any gable restraint straps as horizontal metal straps on the underside of the rafters at the gable top middle and bottom. There does not appear to be any.

Has the surveyor mentioned that the gable is actually out of plumb? If the gable is vertical (or he had not mentioned it) then I can't see how he can assert wall tie failure.

Without more detail of the gable it's hard to comment further. Obviously you could use the report to get a discount to reflect the work required. Bit conversely, a discount may not be offered or the work may nor even be required and you don't want to lose a house on the basis of a poor report.

I will see if I can get some better photos of the rafters to see if there are restraint straps.
No mention of the gable being out of plumb.

Thank you for the info and advice though, super helpful!

 

[George_engineer]

Horizontal crack between the two windows appears more to be corrosion of the lintel. Wall tie corrosion horizontal cracking is usually more widespread

 

[robinbanks]

tiles on the gables have pulled out

Or also they were fitted that way as the roofers failed to notice that the distance to the verge wasn't nicely a multiple of the tile width with the gapping they'd used across the roof, so the last few tiles on the row got banged on with a bigger gap to make the verge line up. If they'd started spacing out a couple of metres away there would have been more smaller gaps and it wouldn't have been as noticeable.