Hello,
I am in the midst of purchasing my first home. The property is a 3 bed semi detached.
The property garage at the back was converted into a room and an extension/garage was built to the front (single storey)
Directly under the left side of the window (on the outside) at the back, you can see some zig zag cracks (see photo below)
We had a survey report and it says further investigation is required (see photo of comments below). Also, the roof is in terrible condition with sitting water, and inside the room, there is cracking along where the ceiling meets the wall, not sure if this is related to the possible subsidence or separate issue (see photo of surveyor's comments for that too below).
Is the crack in the extension and the thin crack in the ceiling enough to suggest that subsidence has occurred? Or could it just as likely be something more harmless?
We??re looking at getting a structural engineer out, but we??re not sure about paying out for this if subsidence seems quite obvious??..
I'm aware that subsidence and underpinning can lead to various difficulties, particularly with insurance and reselling the property. Would underpinning in the extension alone lead to such problems, or would issues only arise if the main building needed underpinning?
What could it mean for us if we purchased a house with a crack in it, even if it hadn??t been officially recorded as subsidence? The mortgage has already been approved for the property.
Any advice really would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
Adam
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Hey Adam.
That sucks?ÿ You're on the Surveying website though, you need to go look for a civil engineering and structure website for the support you're going to need.
And a good lawyer.
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And Good Luck!!!
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Happy New year!!!
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Subsidence as considered by surveyors is usually in at least a neighborhood if not city-sized or larger area, and is of most concern near flood areas, rather than just being some settling of a foundation affecting one building.
I think the investigation of the foundation should give you the information you need.
I think he??s referring to building surveyors which they have in some countries such as the UK.
In the U.S. this might be similar to a home inspector.
My layperson thoughts on it is you are buying a project, a fairly extensive project. The purchase price should be significantly under market and then anticipate months of renovations. Whether you want to take that on is of course up to you.
My wife wanted to buy an extremely beautiful Victorian house in the gold country town of Auburn, California. After a couple of visits to the property and a seemingly nit picky inspection report I figured out the house is slowly sinking not to mention lots of dry rot and apparent ground water intrusion underneath and in the basement. I told nope not buying that place, don??t have the resources to fix it right.
Having a problem child and having a problem residence are very similar except that you can eventually dump the problem residence onto the next eager buyer.?ÿ Both will cost you tons of money and enduring grief.
Continue checking around for websites connected to the Civil Engineering profession.?ÿ Cracking, such as your situation, can be caused by a wide range of possibilities from subsidence to highly expansive soils near the basement/foundation area.?ÿ Another possibility involves perched soils such that the top soil sits on an almost impenetrable base soil which forces natural rainfall to collect under and around the house because it has a minimal opportunity to get away.?ÿ In areas where fill dirt has been added to one side of a house prior to construction you have two very different conditions supporting the house.?ÿ Natural soil action can be so different between the two parts of the base that one side may be going up while the other side is going down.?ÿ Houses have quite literally been torn apart by the fill area sliding downhill at a noticeable rate.
