Cracks Survey

Back Home

Cracks Inside And Outside Of The Property...

You'll be extremely lucky to view a property with no cracks whatsoever, 90% of the time these will look worse than they actually are, but it's well worth paying attention to them, subsidence cracks will be more obvious and will start from the base of the property, not only will it show from the outside of the property, it will also be obvious from the inside. It's always possible that the ground below has reached a point where it is no longer sinking and in this scenario it's as easy as stitching the brickwork back together and repointing with mortar.The best way of finding out if the ground has settled is to fix a small piece of glass (100mm x 50mmm approx) over the crack using a bulding adhesive and then montitoring for 6 months to see if the glass splits, if there is still movement after 6 months then this could require underpinning...

Chimney Cracks

Also have a look for chimneys, if you see a chimney on the roof, check to see if the rest of it is still in place , to do this check the rooms below, you should see the chimney coming down through the ceiling, be aware on certain properties these can also run down the outside of the property, or in rare cases between the properties...

Make sure this continues down into the room below

If the chimney stack has been removed below, this will be another reason for structeral cracks. A lot of people remove these themselves and pay no attention to the structeral supports that
are needed, It is well worth sticking your head in the loft to see if there are supports

Cracks From Trees

How Do Trees Cause Cracks...

This Is Why It's Important To Look At Trees Regarding Cracks...

Other Types Of Cracks

When And When Not To Fill Cracks In Brickwork

Filling Cracks

An Easy Repair...Without The Need For A Plasterer

Underpinning

Homes that require underpinning can be a good investent as they are normally a lot cheaper. Builders love picking these up and follow the methods in this video to make them structerally sound again, underpinning can be done from either the inside or outside of the property!

Ground Stability

Clay-rich soils can absorb a lot of water, a bit like when you fill a sponge with water; it will look smaller when it is wet than when it is dry. The same can happen with clay.
The water table under the ground can constantly change; whether that change is through wet or dry weather, broken drains under the ground, or cutting down a tree close by that has been taking the water, all types of things can affect the conditions underneath your feat.

New builds today accommodate this by incorporating compressible materials in the footings; this helps to alleviate the clay heave. In older properties, you won't find this compressible material used, yet the house is still standing and unaffected in most cases.

A survey report saying the ground stability is high is not necessarily a reason to become alarmed. If you look at the map below, you will see the most affected areas of the UK. You can read about this in greater detail here