Porch moving away from the house

[landsh99]

Hello everyone. I'm buying a 1950s detached house and my level 3 survey report highlighted
 an issue with the porch. I'm a FTB so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

There is a porch addition to the front of the property which is made from brick with a pitched tiled roof. It has timber door with a varnished finish and plastic framed side windows with double glazed units. The cracking where it meets the main property is tapered and currently 7mm. Surveyor said the porch is moving away from the property. I believe the porch was built in the 1950s.

I did a CCTV drainage survey to check if the porch movement was caused by dairnage problem. There were some minor fractures, cracking and root ingress identified along the drainage line but we could not confirm the cause of the porch movement.

Seller told me the crack has been there for many years, although they could not remember when they first saw it. They have lived in the property for more than 40 years. They also said that the porch was built on main slab, but they were not certain about this.

What could be the possible cause of the porch movement? Would it need underpinning? How much does it normally cost to repair?

Thank you.

 

[johnny2007]

When I bought my current house we had the exact same problem.
A few years passed and the gap became wider, over an inch.
So I demolished it and built it properly.
I started from fundations because there weren't any, just some garden slabs.
If it's the only defect with the house, I wouldn't worry.

 

[^woody^]

Porch "is moving" or has moved? That cracking looks old, and may be due to poor quality work - ie lack of sufficient ties.

Cracking inside? Have the frames moved? Has the roof moved - displaced flashing?

If that porch is built on a slab, not traditional foundations, that would be common for an older porch and that would be common movement.

The issue is whether movement has stopped.

 

[Brickie93]

Best advice I could give would be to check if the porch is tied into the existing building, if it’s been built properly then it should have a wall starter kit or the older screw ties. This can be checked by running a metal ruler through the gap and you will feel the ties, they should be every 3 course of maybe every 6.
Either way if it doesn’t have any of these then your problem could be that the foundation of the porch has either been built by cowboys or not got a sufficient slab under the porch.

Could also be something else, very hard to say without seeing more pictures but i’d check the ties first.

 

[landsh99]

Porch "is moving" or has moved? That cracking looks old, and may be due to poor quality work - ie lack of sufficient ties.

Cracking inside? Have the frames moved? Has the roof moved - displaced flashing?

If that porch is built on a slab, not traditional foundations, that would be common for an older porch and that would be common movement.

The issue is whether movement has stopped.

Not sure if the movement is settled, but there are cracks on the ceiling inside the porch. Door is a little bit stiff to open. Surveyor didn't mention any displaced flashing on the porch roof. I guess I'll just have to move in and observe for a while to see if the movement has stopped.

 

[landsh99]

When I bought my current house we had the exact same problem.
A few years passed and the gap became wider, over an inch.
So I demolished it and built it properly.
I started from fundations because there weren't any, just some garden slabs.
If it's the only defect with the house, I wouldn't worry.

Was it expensive to have it demolished and rebuilt? Did it cause any insurance problem?

 

[landsh99]

Best advice I could give would be to check if the porch is tied into the existing building, if it’s been built properly then it should have a wall starter kit or the older screw ties. This can be checked by running a metal ruler through the gap and you will feel the ties, they should be every 3 course of maybe every 6.
Either way if it doesn’t have any of these then your problem could be that the foundation of the porch has either been built by cowboys or not got a sufficient slab under the porch.

Could also be something else, very hard to say without seeing more pictures but i’d check the ties first.

Thank you for your advice, I'll check this out when I visit the property next time.

 

[johnny2007]

Was it expensive to have it demolished and rebuilt? Did it cause any insurance problem?

I built it myself.
I built 2 full size cabinets in there with doors and double skin with insulated cavity.
Overall it cost me around £3k if memory serves me well.
Bear in mind though that prices have gone up quite a bit now, so it would probably cost around £4k if I had to build it now.
No insurance problem because I didn't claim.
I never told them anything because I replaced what was there, like for like, only better.

 

[^woody^]

In context that porch is unlikely to move to such an extent that it becomes a problem, or if it does it will be years and years down the line.

However, a buyer would normally take the worst case scenario and use it as a lever to get a reduction in the asking price.

 

[mrrusty]

I'll echo what @^woody^ says - If it's the only negative on the house, I wouldn't worry. You'll wait a long time to find an older house that doesn't have something that might need fettling eventually. Try and negotiate a small reduction, fill the gap, and don't worry about it. If it does eventually shift a lot, rebuilding the porch is not a huge job.