Hi,
We've recently bought a detached house (last summer), the house was built in the late 80s I think. We had a survey done at the time which highlighted no structural issues.
The surveyor did note a number of cracks on exterior of the property, which he explained as:
"... some nominal cracking to the front, left and rear elevations. The external cracking has resulted from differential thermal movement typical in external wall construction of this type. The external brickwork, being a reconstituted stone, expands / contracts [thermal movement] at a different rate to the internal wall skin which is concrete blockwork. This differential expansion between the inner and outer wall skins can lead to cracking; the type of which is now apparent to the subject property. The cracking does not represent a structural concern and can be simply re-pointed as part of the routine maintenance of the property..."
I've attached several photos of the cracks. I've looked around the inside of the house and can't see any corresponding cracks internally, except behind one of the radiators in a first floor bedroom where it appears a crack was present but has since been filled (not sure if it's related).
The only reason I'm worried about this is because a builder who was providing a quote for some work thought the cracks were structural. We've trusted the surveyor and gone ahead with the purchase, but a comment like that is scary and weighs on your mind.
We're about to start renovation work on the property (an extension) and wondered if this is something we should be worried about? Do I need to get a structural engineer to have another look before the construction work starts?
Any help or advice would be much appreciated.
We've recently bought a detached house (last summer), the house was built in the late 80s I think. We had a survey done at the time which highlighted no structural issues.
The surveyor did note a number of cracks on exterior of the property, which he explained as:
"... some nominal cracking to the front, left and rear elevations. The external cracking has resulted from differential thermal movement typical in external wall construction of this type. The external brickwork, being a reconstituted stone, expands / contracts [thermal movement] at a different rate to the internal wall skin which is concrete blockwork. This differential expansion between the inner and outer wall skins can lead to cracking; the type of which is now apparent to the subject property. The cracking does not represent a structural concern and can be simply re-pointed as part of the routine maintenance of the property..."
I've attached several photos of the cracks. I've looked around the inside of the house and can't see any corresponding cracks internally, except behind one of the radiators in a first floor bedroom where it appears a crack was present but has since been filled (not sure if it's related).
The only reason I'm worried about this is because a builder who was providing a quote for some work thought the cracks were structural. We've trusted the surveyor and gone ahead with the purchase, but a comment like that is scary and weighs on your mind.
We're about to start renovation work on the property (an extension) and wondered if this is something we should be worried about? Do I need to get a structural engineer to have another look before the construction work starts?
Any help or advice would be much appreciated.
