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Groundwork & Foundations
If you saw serious cracks in a house would you say they were not due to subsidence?
I found a small crack between my wall and coving last year, then it got bigger and there were reasonably big cracks along the ceilings on both floors of my house. Not only along the walls but down the walls in the corners, by the door frames and windows. Not forgetting my FAVOURITE one which is behind the MAINS board.
I have been told these are not due to subsidence, even though some of these have appeared over the period between September and now. There are no visible cracks on the outside by outer wall is pulling away from the inner wall by my front door. So this surely can not be a figment of my imagination, and is more than just changes in room temperature.
11 Answers from MyBuilder Groundworkers
Best Answer
Hi fedup, (cheer up!)
I presume a structual engineer/surveyor has told you that you haven't got subsidence? If not and you are really worried? I suggest you call a surveyor/structual engineer to come and take a look..
Room temperature only needs to be a couple of degrees warmer and cracks will appear. Especially in damp weather and especially around the perimeter of a room at ceiling level(where it's warmest) corners of rooms... Floor's, Door frame's, window's, skirting's and staircases all shrink causing cracks. Have you had your heating on since September time? The dryer the room become's, the bigger the crack's will grow...it sounds like normal shrinkage/movement to me, except for your front door wall..
kind regards
Mark
Answered 9th Jan 2012
Who told you that its not subsidence, ?
You need a Structural engineer to check it all out.
Answered 8th Jan 2012
sounds like a problem to me, get a strucural survey done asap, may not be subsidance,, you may have to pay for this but might save you a fortune of chaseing possible problems
good luck
Answered 8th Jan 2012
Who gave you the all clear? Things like this need to be VIEWED by a structural expert for peace of mind.Builders etc can give you an opinion but are not usually qualified to tell you for sure what is causing these cracks.They may be superficial but you will always worry unless you have a professional give you the all clear.
Answered 8th Jan 2012
To me i would say the symptoms are subsidence sounds to me like the foundation is incorrectly designed/failing. I would seek advice off a structural engineer for this.
Answered 8th Jan 2012
you need a structual engineer to come and have a look
Answered 8th Jan 2012
They all sound like normal settlement cracks... so don't worry your house isn't falling down.
Answered 8th Jan 2012
If the inner wall is coming away from the outer I would seriously recommend you get a structural surveyor in to take a look.
Answered 8th Jan 2012
i would contact a structural engineer for their opinion
Answered 8th Jan 2012
who has told you it is not subsidence?
You Need to pay a reputable surveyor to do a structural survey
Answered 8th Jan 2012
As other posts have suggested, get the advice of a properly qualified Structural Engineer. The Institution of Structural Engineers - www.istructe.org will have a list of their members in your area.
The problem might just be a superficial one, but it pays to have peace of mind.
Alternatively post a job on here in the Architectural services section.
Hope everything works out for you.
Kind regards
Damon Smith
DS Interior Services Limited
Answered 16th Jan 2012
