Old house New Large Cracks

L

LisaG64

Guest
Hi

I bought a 1930's poured concrete house 2 years ago. I have just noticed a vertical crack going up the wall as the wall is papered the paper has now teared, on peeling it back the crack is now 5mm wide, so pretty big i think. Also in the same spot upstairs is the same thing happening.

Is this a common occurrence in old houses and is it just something i need to chase out and refill or should i be looking at getting a structural engineer in to look at this. Any advice would be very grateful
Thanks!
 
Get an engineer urgently. You may have a problem with subsidence. Check your house insurance while you are waiting.
 
Lisa - our house is 9 years old with all old shrinkage cracks filled in and I'e noticed them reoccurring in the past few weeks - I mentioned it to my old boss who is a builder & he told me that the extreme temperatures are to blame. Mind you, if the crack you have is on an external wall, I would get it checked out.
 
It could be frost heave, though is is unlikely unless the temp is really low.
As noted by babaduck, get it checked out by an engineer.

Did you not have a survey prior to buying the place?
 
Thanks for your feedback. I got a survey before i bought it and it was fine but then again there were no cracks visible.
I am mid terrace and the wall with the crack is the adjoining wall to my neighbour.
Surely subsidence would not happen 80 years later????
 
Just to confirm - are you sure the cracks are 5mm wide?

That's fairly wide. Get it checked straight away.

Not all cracks are sinister though so don't get too worried yet.
 

Yes, settlement is common enough in old houses.
No, 5mm cracks don't happen that often, even in older buildings.

You may have hear Gerry, the man from the MET office saying that while the thaw may be coming [its here in South Dublin from yesterday] this can be when problems start.
Pipes which had frozen and burst will now leak, soil which had frozen will now move and the snow melt is going to put the drainage systems all over the country under huge pressure.
I'd add that brickwork or older rendered elevations may show signs of spalling in properties exposed to the frost and previous rain, particularly northern and eastern elevations.

This 5mm crack may have been papered over prior to your prchase and relatively minor movement recently has torn the paper and exposed the truth of the matter.
OTOH this could be a relatively recent crack which suggests significatn movement in the building for reasons which are unknown.
Finally if you neighbour or you undertook works which created point loads in the building this could be a possible cause.

Can I recommend that you contact an engineer soonest?
The status of this defect needs to be determined.
I have three names you might consider:

Robert Rogers
RMR Consulting
T 01 842 9807
M 085 151 6589
E robert@rmrconsulting.net
W http://www.rmrconsulting.net/

Paul Downes
Downes Associates
Cashel Business Centre
Cashel Road. Kimmage
Dublin 12
T 01 4901611
F 01 4901651
E admin@downesassociates.ie

Frank Moran
Malone O'Regan
2B Richview Office Park,
Clonskeagh, Dublin 14.
T: +353 1 260 2655
F: +353 1 260 2660
E: info@morce.ie

I have worked with all three offices on dwellings and apartment projects.
Please revert here to let us know how matters progress.

ONQ

[broken link removed]
 
I can second Malone O'Regan. Otherwise I can recommend Finn Behan of FBCE at 087 9674572 - I've worked with hom for many years & he's excellent
 
Thank you all for your advice, i will get in touch with an engineer and let you know how i get on. The property had a double extension added on back in 2001 so maybe the building work from this has caused some damage. Keep those fingers crossed for me that its not too serious! At least this will give me a kick up the.... and get the place painted.
 
It could be that the drains are leaking internally and causing the earth to subside. Common problem. Also, trees are another cause if nearby.
 
buyingabroad said:
It could be that the drains are leaking internally and causing the earth to subside. Common problem. Also, trees are another cause if nearby.
Click to expand...

I know I've taken you up wrong here, but in what sense might the drains be leaking internally?

ONQ.
 
Hi All,

I am new to this site and previously joined Boards.ie and did not find much information on this issue. This is great! I feel some of the problems people are encountering and posting are literally verbatim to what we are experiencing currently.

Our house was built in circa 1930. We have large cracks on the interior and exterior of the house which is localised to one side of the masonry. It was exacerbated by a leaking pipe from the sink pipe and bath (which adjoin) which was blocked and causing the water escape under the ground of the kitchen and adjoining garage (cctv and excavations carried out with supervision of engineer) washing away the founds. The house is semi-d and the extent of the damage is on the detached side of the house. We appointed an engineer who I will not name as it could defame, but they ended up costing us a great deal and jeopardised our claim with our insurers. We paid this engineer €9,400, which they did not enlighten us with before embarking on any reports which proved futile. Once the loss assessor got in on the job (8 months later after ditching the engineers with a result of their findings our insurers offered us a settlement figure circa €13k) it was dealt with accordingly. The claim was only finalised only in December 2009, when it was submitted in July 2007.

The only gripe we have now is the actual costing of underpinning, grouting micropiling. Which, from what I hear, is a less costly variation of underpinning - the construction company (Cork based with Dublin rep) recommended by our own loss assessor has quoted extortionate rates. Would you be able to give guestimates on the worst case scenario of costing for underpinning in this current climate. We would not want to go for something sub-standard which would prove more costly down the road for ourselves. This is a Dublin south issue also, the area is not prone to subsidence.

Also:
Should we tell construction companies when tendering that this is an insurance settlement claim?
How do I access the scope of works now that the current construction company recommended are too pricey, in order to tender to other sources?
General tips on saving money and not making foolish mistakes like the situation with Engineer mentioned above?

sorry if this seems vague.. feel free to question.

Best wishes,
trixsyme
 
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