Cracks in walls

[Dylan123]

Hi,

just doing a general assessment of
My property. I bought it a while ago and homebuyers report noted no real issues with subsidence etc.

the back of the house has a balcony with a recess underneath (see pics)

at the back of this recess i can see big cracks in the render (this wall essentially sits on the foundations)

does this look like a serious problem? Could it just be the render cracking? It worth chipping it off and having a look underneath?

I haven’t got under the floorboards behind it yet but can pull them up and see if it’s wet etc


everything above is straight. Windows and doors ok.

see pics.

thanks

 

[KenGMac]

Dylan123, good evening.

Are there any indications of the cracks [especially] to the right hand side, as seen on the posted image, outside the balcony enclosed area??

One, non-destructive way of investigating a crack is to use a very, very thin probe, which is pushed into the crack.

The probe can be a thin piece of wire or a thin plastic tie wrap? Insert the [wire] into the crack and see how far it goes in.

If the wire stops just after being pushed into the cracked render then the crack is only in the render??

Ken.

 

[Dylan123]

Dylan123, good evening.

Are there any indications of the cracks [especially] to the right hand side, as seen on the posted image, outside the balcony enclosed area??

One, non-destructive way of investigating a crack is to use a very, very thin probe, which is pushed into the crack.

The probe can be a thin piece of wire or a thin plastic tie wrap? Insert the [wire] into the crack and see how far it goes in.

If the wire stops just after being pushed into the cracked render then the crack is only in the render??

Ken.

Thanks for your response. I tried to see but it’s behind the steps and essentially hidden from view. After the steps is the void under the kitchen where I can clearly see the wall, I rendered, and there are no cracks whatsoever. For the perhaps 3 - 5 feet where the steps are, I can’t see what’s there.

the steps themselves have no cracks or movement, and the wall above has no cracking.

I will try with the wire but I doubt I could get much into the gap