I know the answer will probably be get a structural engineer but I am having panic attacks about our house and we are not exactly flush for money.
The house is a non standard wimpy no fines construction.
We have lived here 7 years and believe that a lump has always been on our landing, the lump is between 2 walls and runs parallel to the floor boards. I have lifted the carpet this week ready for it to be disposed of and discovered that where the bump is there is no gap between the skirting and the floorboards. There is roughly a 0.3cm gap everywhere else.
I went downstairs and looked under where the bump it. It is the under stairs cupboard in the kitchen. Both sides of the wall by the door have lifted slightly. The tiled floor has also moved away from one side of the wall leaving a gap of about 0.5cm. The door still shuts fine but you can see the slight lift by the 2 lower corners by the door. There is also a small crack in the tile that was cut to go by the corner.
To add to my concerns upstairs there is a window on the landing which has hairline crack running from one corner up to the ceiling and then down the other corner to the floor. This crack developed a few years ago.
I am really worried that the house has heave. When we moved in some trees were removed from the garden. I have later discovered we are on clay soil and that this might have been a really stupid thing to do.
We did have the insurance out earlier this year to look at other issues and he concluded no subsidence and told me the crack on the window was probably thermal expansion. He didn't look at the lump or in the cupboard.
I understand we are naive homeowners but I want to know how much of an issue this could be and how bad it could be.
The house is a non standard wimpy no fines construction.
We have lived here 7 years and believe that a lump has always been on our landing, the lump is between 2 walls and runs parallel to the floor boards. I have lifted the carpet this week ready for it to be disposed of and discovered that where the bump is there is no gap between the skirting and the floorboards. There is roughly a 0.3cm gap everywhere else.
I went downstairs and looked under where the bump it. It is the under stairs cupboard in the kitchen. Both sides of the wall by the door have lifted slightly. The tiled floor has also moved away from one side of the wall leaving a gap of about 0.5cm. The door still shuts fine but you can see the slight lift by the 2 lower corners by the door. There is also a small crack in the tile that was cut to go by the corner.
To add to my concerns upstairs there is a window on the landing which has hairline crack running from one corner up to the ceiling and then down the other corner to the floor. This crack developed a few years ago.
I am really worried that the house has heave. When we moved in some trees were removed from the garden. I have later discovered we are on clay soil and that this might have been a really stupid thing to do.
We did have the insurance out earlier this year to look at other issues and he concluded no subsidence and told me the crack on the window was probably thermal expansion. He didn't look at the lump or in the cupboard.
I understand we are naive homeowners but I want to know how much of an issue this could be and how bad it could be.
