Cracks In My Wall

If you would like to talk to a chartered surveyor or chartered engineer about any structural problems you may have or require and engineer's report please phone 0800 298 5424 for a friendly chat.

Introduction

We thought an example of a problem that we have come across would be a good way of showing you what we do and what cracks can mean.

Structural cracks overview

The property is a 1920's built semi-detached property. Its construction is:

•  a pitched roof clad with a concrete tile

•  the walls have a painted render finish

•  the windows are plastic double glazed

•  fascias and soffits boards are painted timber

•  gutters and downpipes are cast iron and plastic

 

Cracking problem

Recently whilst carrying out gardening work the householder noted that there was cracking in the property, which they had not seen before. Concerned about this, the therefore call us to give an independent assessment.

Inspection of the cracks

Initially we carried out an external examination of the cracks, photographing the cracks and recording their position and sketching them. Whilst we were carrying out all this work we were thinking about what the problem could be. We carried out the same exercise internally and noted that the cracks were predominantly around the windows. The cracks ranged from hairline cracks to cracks of a few millimetres wide. The action required is that we would recommend anyone with an older property to think carefully before having plastic windows installed.

Question and answer session with the homeowner

We then had a general chat with the homeowner and a specific one about the cracks and about the history of the property. This, combined with our general knowledge of 1920's properties, brought us to a conclusion, but before we give you that let us explain a bit more about the thought process.

The thought process behind the conclusion

1920's buildings or around the war year buildings had many characteristics, one of which is that there was a limited supply of tradesmen at the time and that materials were rationed. Defects in both are common and often houses were built in, what we would term as, a lightweight style, utilising the minimums due to the rationing that existed. Since that time there have also been major alterations and additions in most houses, the first relating to how the property is heated. Originally in years gone by the heating would have been via coal fires so there were coal store houses, and also over the years central heating has been added to properties, which had meant that floorboards have needed to be lifted and cut into to run the pipes, etc. This means that construction that was already lightweight may in addition have been cut into, causing further problems.

Also at the time the properties were constructed it was not standard to treat all timbers, accordingly woodworm is more prevalent in this age of construction.

There are many other, what we would term as, characteristics of this age of construction that we could mention but we hope these examples give you an indication of the type of things that surveyors look for. However, in this instance due to the way the cracking was being formed pointed to there being problems around the windows. This was confirmed when we did what we refer to as a timeline.

Timeline explained

The timeline that we carry out when we look for that specific defect is a history of as many alterations and amendments as the householder can advise us of. We then also add into this things that we have noted that may be the householder is not aware of or has forgotten about or that happened before they came to the property. This builds up a picture and a history of the construction, so in this case we were very pleased when the householder advised that they had had the windows replaced about a year ago.

The original timber windows had been replaced with a plastic double glazed windows and whilst this had benefits on the thermal properties and acoustic, as they had some quieting properties too, they certainly did not help the structure. This is because the original timber windows (as we did check they were timber windows previously) also had structural properties, which meant in part they supported the structure. They were also flexible and moved with the structure as it moved throughout the year, because all properties of this age have some element of movement.

These two factors meant that the building adjusted over the different seasons and therefore the cracking didn't occur. With the new plastic windows that are much more rigid the wall and the render couldn't move as much and therefore cracked and this is the hairline cracking that the owners was getting concerned about. In this case it was just surface cracking.

Action required

We would recommend that the surface cracks are sealed with a filler that allows for movement (a hard filler would simply fall out sooner or later) and then redecorate. We also recommend that one of the cracks is opened up and the render hacked off, just to check that it doesn't carry on through the brickwork beneath.

Please see our other articles on cracking:

Cracks to my Plaster

How, in our experience, Insurance Companies deal with Cracks in Properties

Foundations

Foundations and Underpinning

Please see our section on: Specific Defects Reports

If you would like to talk to a chartered surveyor or chartered engineer about any structural problems you may have or require and engineer's report please phone 0800 298 5424 for a friendly chat.

Please note we are independent chartered surveyors.

We hope you found the article of use and if you have any experiences that you feel should be added to this article that would benefit others, or you feel that some of the information that we have put is wrong then please do not hesitate to contact us (we are only human).