Help....CRACK!

[hollylulu]

Hi everyone!
Im new to this forum but was hoping for a bit of advice and possibly peace of mind for me?!

We have just noticed a crack running from just under our roof and it runs vertically right down the side of our house about half a foot from the edge (one story, end terrace approx 12 yrs old)) its not a very wide crack but its at it widest at the top then getting thinner and thinner until it can barely be seen but this stops about a foot above ground level. Should we be worried? No idea how long its been there for, Im guessing 3 or 4 years at the most.

We are currently in the middle of a part exchange and may be having a homebuyers survey done soon I think, as our house is over 10yrs old...just. Is this likely to be brought up in this?
Please some advice would be most appreciated!
hollylulu xxx

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

It sounds like settlement.
Is there any evidence of this crack on the internal walls?
What material is outside of the house finished in?
Can you upload a picture of the crack?

 

[^woody^]

Vertical cracks, especially near to corners and one side of the wall only, are normally thermal cracks - ie expansion/contraction of the wall.

This should be noticed in even a basic survey, and the level of concern/advice will generally be related to the numptiness of the surveyor

 

[hollylulu]

Thanks for the replies!
I'll try and get a pic of the crack soon if I can work out how to do it. If it is a thermal crack is this or could this be a cause for concern or is it easily repaired? Would it fail the survey,I'm so worried the part exchange will all fall through because if this.
Hollylulu

 

[hollylulu]

Untitled

• hollylulu
• 28 Apr 2011
• 1

Untitled

• hollylulu
• 28 Apr 2011
• 1

Here are the pics ive taken (hope it worked) the crack looks like this from the top going down to the bottom but it gets thinner and thinner towards the bottom of the wall.
The first pic you can see our next door neighbours house (we are end terrace and our house juts out further than next door)
Its a Barratts home, red brick built approx 1999.
Any advice much appreciated!

hollylulu

 

[^woody^]

Yes, as per post nr 3.

Those soft bricks soak up water like a sponge and rapid drying causes this type of crack in this type of location.

Structurally is not a significant problem, but would/should get picked up and chances are the surveyor will refer this to a structural engineer who will then propose cutting in an expansion joint

 

[hollylulu]

Thanks for your reply woody!
I'm relieved you don't think it's a big problem but am slightly worried that it may get referred to a structural engineer, sounds costly and as we are currently in the middle of a part ex it may mean we lose the new house we have reserved.
Do things like this take time to do,would it be covered under our buildings insurance? We haven't got much spare cash at the mo cos of moving :-/
It's not a full structural survey we are havingdone,just a homebuyers report, if that makes a diff?

Hollylulu

 

[^woody^]

The problem with a Homebuyers report is that there is little scope for any comment or diagnosis other than "its a crack", and even less scope for further advice other than a referral to an "expert" survey

The other problem is that a buyers survey is likely to be used to either pull out or knock the price down, and it would have to be a really poor surveyor for him to miss this

Could you not quickly get hold of some half-round cable conduit to fix over the crack to make it look like an electric cable or satellite/aerial cable or suchlike going up to the roof? And then just pass it off as an old unused/unfinished project

 

[hollylulu]

Thank you woody.

I would never have thought of that, the good thing is that we have a satellite dish right at the top of the wall in that corner so if we put a cable running right down the wall I don't think it'd look out of place at all.


They are not likely to look behind cables are they? Or question cables on outside Walls?

Thank you for helping though, we are rather clueless about all this!!

Hollylulu

 

[Nige F]

Respect to Woody - he has a lot of knowlege Most sky cables are down the outside of walls - and through a rough hole into the house. sometimes there are 2 cables - like here @ mine ( multiroom ) so maybe you could fix 2 which would cover better - and in truth the spare one would be for multiroom in future . Good Luck

 

[^woody^]

But not just the cable, you need the conduit or cable cover, with is a U shaped metal or plastic cover with is about 30-40mm wide in all.

No one will look behind this, as it is screwed to the wall