Should I be worried about this crack? Pic included.

[Fairylea]

We are in the process of doing up our 1950s semi. We have lived here for 8 years and are doing bits as we go. We had an issue with severe condensation (that was so bad we had water dripping from the lights!) so we had the roof referred with breathable felt, had vented tiles added (this was a few months ago now) and more recently had a full electrical survey and check done. All good.

We are now turning our attentions to the bedrooms and one of them had textured wallpaper that had been painted over a billion times and was literally falling off due to the damp we had had. Today I began to remove the wallpaper and found this crack... you’ll see in the photo.

This is an upstairs bedroom, external wall. I can’t see any cracks or damage on the outside of the wall. Should I just sand down, fill and redecorate or would this worry you in terms of subsidence etc?

I feel a bit unsure.....! Any input gratefully received! Thanks.

I should add the obvious drip marks to the right are where I’ve been cleaning the wall with mould spray and are not recent damp damage marks.

I'm no expert, but our 50s/60s house is full of cracks in the plasterwork. I think there's not much problem if there aren't cracks in the outside too.

If it was me, I'd get a builder who wasnt a conman/cowboy etc and who has a good reputation to have a look at it.I'd then take it from there and if it does need work get 3 or 4 quotes from different people.
It would worry me and I'd get it checked out, you dont want the wall to split or anything like that. Have a look on My Builder,they have people on there with good feedback, if you cant find anyone yourself.

That’s reassuring, thank you.

I’ll keep my eye out for more replies.

This is the oldest house we’ve had and there are a lot of quirks with it!

Cross posted.

Thank you for your replies.

"Quirks" - tell me about it!
Our house has metal doorframes!

I'd get someone in to look at it but don't use mybuidler. Often the reviews are false. Ask around your friends and family and get recommendations that way.

Metal door frames!

Our pipework is dreadful. We still have the original pipework to the bathroom - if you so much as put more than 2 sheets of toilet paper down the loo it blocks (Bathroom is being redone soon too)!

We do love our house but hate it at the same time!

Thank you I think maybe I’ll get an opinion from someone. I’m sure I can ask around and get a recommendation.

Husband is a plasterer, I have absorbed various bits of knowledge since I’ve known him. He would knock the plaster with his knuckles and listen out for any change in sound....he would be checking to see if that plaster had blown from the wall. If so, it would need scraping off and replacing or else your crack will keep coming back.

I was always led to believe (and it seems to make sense) that diagonal cracks were the really dodgy ones as they would go across the bricks. Ones that run along mortar lines less so, but it will probably need scraping out and repointing

Thank you, that’s interesting, I may try that myself tomorrow. If it is just a plastering issue I may be able to sort that myself maybe but I worry it’s something more sinister (ie structural) and would eat up all our money or even cause the house to fall down.

You would, I believe, see subsidence cracks in the ground floor, typically in the area where the house is sinking. I am married to a Structural Engineer! Therefore check the ground floor for cracks in brickwork and anything that doesn’t look straight. A window or doorway. As it’s been a wet winter, it’s unlikely that any damage is new.

The other alternative is heave. This is where the ground swells with water and pushes the walls outwards. You would possibly notice gaps appearing between the floors and the walls. Both are issues that arise due to inadequate foundations.

If the house has had serious damp, it could just be plaster damage if there are no other signs of damaged brickwork, wonky doors or internal gaps. If you cannot see anything else that’s wrong, I would just get the old plaster hacked off and get it renewed. Probably the whole room!

A crack in the wall is not always serious unless its on the outside of building also (or so I've been told! Wife of a trademan you learn all sorts of random information!) Agree with PP if your unsure ask for another opinion, everyone knows someone in the trade who might have a look for free. I remember having a big crack in my bedroom wall as a kid (it scared me for some reason I can't recall! Was a big line from top to bottom) my Grandad - a plasterer - came to look and fixed it the next day so i assume there was no underlying structural concern.

Thank you so much for your replies and information. Mumsnet is so great for stuff like this!

I’ll attach a photo of our bedroom ceiling to show you the damage from the condensation / damp issue - it was pretty bad, that’s also being repaired this week (sanded down and re painted- if chunks of plaster come down that will be re plastered)!

It sounds hopeful from what everyone is saying that it probably is just an old crack but I’m probably best to get it checked out. Thanks!

Meant to add there are no cracks downstairs - everything is upstairs. So that’s interesting too. The room underneath the big crack room is our living room, we use it all the time and there are no cracks anywhere. So that’s hopeful going by what people have said!

I would get that looked at by a builder who can recommend a structural engineer

We are returning our whole house. Just done the loft extension and the plaster was hacked off in the first floor below. It has revealed large cracks in the wall. The wall looks fine externally but we still need a steel put in below. That was the advice of the builder, the structural engineer and building control.

You really need someone with experience to look at it in real life and the rooms below etc. Not amateurs on the internet who can't assess everything as a whole. I'm not trying to be rude or argumentative just pointing out that it really needs a proper check