To be this worried about subsidence?

[hejsl]

Attached a photo but isn’t massively clear. The patio outside our house is really crooked and uneven. It’s been like it since we bought the house a year ago and nothing came up on the survey. We are surrounded by trees though and I’m worried it’s a sign of subsidence? Anyone have any experience?

Do you have clay soil? It expands and contracts every summer. Alternatively could be roots or bamboo. If you have clay soil always best to take care with shrubs and trees within 5m of your house

If it was like the when you moved in, and doesn’t seem to have changed it might just be a poorly laid patio.

@Wigtopia it seems to be slightly worse I don’t know? Would a patio moving be a sign of subsidence?

Not necessarily - it might just be a badly laid patio - worth investigating though if there are trees to make sure the roots aren’t getting too close to the house

Just looks like a slightly dodgy old patio. Nothing to worry about

Poorly laid patios are far more common than subsidence. A better guide would be: is subsidence common in the local area?

@CraftyOP is right .

OP, This might help you find out if your area is at risk of subsidence:

www.geobear.co.uk/uk-subsidence-map/

I grew up in a property which had ongoing subsidence and was subsequently tied in (twice). I am, probably not surprisingly, a bit twitchy about subsidence.

An uneven pathway wouldn't even come across my radar as being an issue. It could be laid on a rubbish base, the area could have flooded, tree roots could have got under there, hot dry summers will have impacted the clay underneath...

The things I look for would be: stepped cracking on external walls of the property, windows and doors going out of line/not shutting as well as they used to, visible and expanding cracks internally.

Most likely to be settlement of the soil/hardcore/sand under the patio. If water starts ponding in the low bit, it can seep down and slowly wash out soil over the years. Get someone to re-lay the slabs.

Subsidence risk factors are normally mine working related, trees on clay soils (southeast England) or dodgy construction, e.g. extensions with inadequate foundations or leaking drains.

Your house is much heavier than the patio, if that doesn't have big cracks you are probably fine. The survey would have picked that up in any case.

We are just having our patio redone as we speak, because it looked like yours. It was all cracked and crooked and sounded hollow in places, and I was worrying about subsidence or that there was a water leak somewhere. The guys have just taken the old patio up and it was just badly laid patio. Now issues underneath. Whoever laid it didn't compact the soil underneath properly so there was a bit of a void between the soil and slabs. I'm glad we had it looked so I don't need to worry. :)