Cracks on outside of wall

[nuzuki]

Hi all,
Weve just bought a new house and its come with a few cracks. Seems to have got slightly worse in this dry weather. Our neighbour's with a similar property (bungalow) have had this issue also this summer but lived there many years before with no issues.
I was going to have a dig down and see what's what then maybe if I can get under the main vertical crack pour some concrete then repoint the wall.
Any advice is appreciated.
Here's some pics...
Cheers

 

[^woody^]

If it's cracked on the inside, suspect foundation movement.

 

[nuzuki]

Yes there is a crack on the inside wall that matches the location of the outside wall.
The house is on clay soil. Has a willow tree about 20metres away. All these factors could play a part. I best get my spade out....
Thanks for the reply

 

[nuzuki]

Ok got the spade out... didnt get too far in but it tells me what I need to know....
Pic attached...
So if i need to underpin. How far underneath and into existing slab do i need to dig too?
Thanks

 

[^woody^]

You need to deal with the cause before you try any repair. Otherwise the repair you do may not be the repair you should do.

 

[nuzuki]

Well the willow tree is coming down on Wednesday so that's one possible cause out the way
As this has happened to nextdoors house this summer they have sought expert advice. I could probably "steal" that advice to save me a few quid. But it seems its just caused by heat in their case probably affecting the clay.
Is it safe to dig a bit deeper till I get to the bottom of the slab and leave the hole open for a few weeks/months?
I'm curious as to how far that crack goes down
Thanks

 

[Mr Chibs]

That crack looks like its been patched previously under the left hand side of the window... was that just before you bought it, or have you done this?

I suspect the crack will more than likely go all the way down, dig down until you reach the top of the footing.

 

[nuzuki]

It was like that when we bought the house. I need to repoint as they've not used any sharp sand in the mortar mix so it sticks out like a sore thumb.

Do you mean dig down to the bottom of the slab? I can already see the top of the slab

Thanks

 

[tell80]

Its unlikely that a Willow 65ft from the house is causing the problem - your pic shows no roots so far?
Clean off the footing and see if the footing has been cracked?
Presumably you have solid floors, so inside below the wall crack search for a cracked slab or a disturbed finish flooring.

 

[nuzuki]

I'll do some more digging so I can at least discount the roots as being an issue.
We have laminate floors and I cant see any movement in them near the crack on the inside. I guess I could take the flooring up too see but first I'll dig more outside to see if it throws any light on the matter.

 

[^woody^]

I'll do some more digging so I can at least discount the roots as being an issue.

Roots don't crack foundations. They extract moisture from the ground, which then causes foundations to crack.

So you won't be discounting anything

Have you checked all the drains? That is normally done before any digging

Solid floors are separate to the walls and foundations and are not affected by foundation movement or a sign of it

 

[George_engineer]

I wouldn't do spot underpinning - this would just move the crack location.

Keep an eye on the crack, repoint and fill internally. As the weather/soil gets wetter, it may close back up. You can get crack monitors / tell tales that will tell you whether this is seasonal movement (most likely) or an ongoing settlement issue.

Crack stitching (search helifix bars) on the outside may help as the window is probably acting as a stress concentration point.

 

[tell80]

No, dont be taking the flooring up seeing as its not been disturbed at FFL.

 

[nuzuki]

Thanks for the replies
I have repointed the outside of the wall so shall keep an eye on that. I did check one drain and all seems normal but I think I have a couple of others I could check. Hoping this is just a extreme weather thing although the crack doesnt look new.