Internal cracking on walls / subsidence - anyone know about this?

PTR

Striker
I noticed when we first started moving in that one wall appeared to have a bodge-load of filler all the way up, and now I see why.

The upper floor, gable-end of the house has 2 rooms, separated by a partition.
One room has coving, and that's cracked all the way along underneath
The other room doesn't have coving, but is again cracked the entire way along.
The partition wall is also cracked from the floor to ceiling, on both sides.

Its really difficult to tell downstairs, as the kitchen has been extended, so that external wall is no longer there. There is a similar crack in cloakroom downstairs, but not in the w/c next to it.

To that side of the house is a small field, 30 yards wide, then a road. That field always seems to be sodden.
House built about 1970

I've checked my insurance, and it seems we are covered for subsidence, so I guess ultimately, we'll not be too far out of pocket - and we haven't decorated that part of the house yet, so nothing really lost there either.

Anyone any thoughts on what the problem might be?
 


I noticed when we first started moving in that one wall appeared to have a bodge-load of filler all the way up, and now I see why.

The upper floor, gable-end of the house has 2 rooms, separated by a partition.
One room has coving, and that's cracked all the way along underneath
The other room doesn't have coving, but is again cracked the entire way along.
The partition wall is also cracked from the floor to ceiling, on both sides.

Its really difficult to tell downstairs, as the kitchen has been extended, so that external wall is no longer there. There is a similar crack in cloakroom downstairs, but not in the w/c next to it.

To that side of the house is a small field, 30 yards wide, then a road. That field always seems to be sodden.
House built about 1970

I've checked my insurance, and it seems we are covered for subsidence, so I guess ultimately, we'll not be too far out of pocket - and we haven't decorated that part of the house yet, so nothing really lost there either.

Anyone any thoughts on what the problem might be?

Please upload some images of both the cracks and the outside of the building to get an understanding of where the foundations are relative to the problem. Are you on a slope?
 
I noticed when we first started moving in that one wall appeared to have a bodge-load of filler all the way up, and now I see why.

The upper floor, gable-end of the house has 2 rooms, separated by a partition.
One room has coving, and that's cracked all the way along underneath
The other room doesn't have coving, but is again cracked the entire way along.
The partition wall is also cracked from the floor to ceiling, on both sides.

Its really difficult to tell downstairs, as the kitchen has been extended, so that external wall is no longer there. There is a similar crack in cloakroom downstairs, but not in the w/c next to it.

To that side of the house is a small field, 30 yards wide, then a road. That field always seems to be sodden.
House built about 1970

I've checked my insurance, and it seems we are covered for subsidence, so I guess ultimately, we'll not be too far out of pocket - and we haven't decorated that part of the house yet, so nothing really lost there either.

Anyone any thoughts on what the problem might be?

It could be numerous things- subsidence is quite rare. If you had a mortgage survey they would have picked this up- was the cracking mentioned? Id there any cracks externally?

With regards to the sodden field I wouldn't worry. Subsidence normally occurs in droughts when the ground shrinks
 
It could be numerous things- subsidence is quite rare. If you had a mortgage survey they would have picked this up- was the cracking mentioned? Id there any cracks externally?

With regards to the sodden field I wouldn't worry. Subsidence normally occurs in droughts when the ground shrinks

But you can also have cracking due to heave.
 
It could be numerous things- subsidence is quite rare. If you had a mortgage survey they would have picked this up- was the cracking mentioned? Id there any cracks externally?

With regards to the sodden field I wouldn't worry. Subsidence normally occurs in droughts when the ground shrinks
There are no cracks externally that we've seen.
Nothing was found in the survey. The internal cracks were not evident when we moved in. Although there is a lot of polyfiller on one side of the partition wall where its obviously cracked in the past and been poorly filled.

But you can also have cracking due to heave.
Yeh, read that earlier.

underground mineworkings or a sink hole or summat prollies mate
Had the coal mining survey of course, but they never really say owt.

Its almost perfectly flat land, btw
 
There are no cracks externally that we've seen.
Nothing was found in the survey. The internal cracks were not evident when we moved in. Although there is a lot of polyfiller on one side of the partition wall where its obviously cracked in the past and been poorly filled.


Yeh, read that earlier.


Had the coal mining survey of course, but they never really say owt.

Its almost perfectly flat land, btw

The first step is to determine whether the cracks are due to the foundations moving, either upwards or down. Then you need to buy a set of 'tell tales'which will measure movement over time (don't worry, these things do not take place quickly so no worries about catastrophic failure).

You need to know which direction the movement is and if it is seasonal. If the crack propagation is progressive, then you may need to provide drainage, remove trees or under pin the founds.

Let me know if you want some assistance.
 
Are there any trees close to your house, this is the cause of most subsidence issues?
You might have a £1000 excess on your buildings insurance, many firms do.
£1000 is fine. It was £20,000 I was worried about!

There are 3 large trees 2 meters behind my garden. About 10 meters from the house at a guess. They're not huge, but biggish.
 
Had a surveyor check our place last year after I noticed some cracks. He reckoned it was roof spread and was nowt to worry about.

"What about the cracks?"

"Just fill them in."

"What if more cracks come?"

"Fill them in as well."

Gonna end up with a flat roof and an extra room upstairs.
 
I noticed when we first started moving in that one wall appeared to have a bodge-load of filler all the way up, and now I see why.

The upper floor, gable-end of the house has 2 rooms, separated by a partition.
One room has coving, and that's cracked all the way along underneath
The other room doesn't have coving, but is again cracked the entire way along.
The partition wall is also cracked from the floor to ceiling, on both sides.

Its really difficult to tell downstairs, as the kitchen has been extended, so that external wall is no longer there. There is a similar crack in cloakroom downstairs, but not in the w/c next to it.

To that side of the house is a small field, 30 yards wide, then a road. That field always seems to be sodden.
House built about 1970

I've checked my insurance, and it seems we are covered for subsidence, so I guess ultimately, we'll not be too far out of pocket - and we haven't decorated that part of the house yet, so nothing really lost there either.

Anyone any thoughts on what the problem might be?
What street do you live in?
 

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