Just moved in. Several internal cracks. Should we be worried?

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Hi,

So I'm sure you're wondering why we hadn't noticed this during viewings, but we just didn't...is the short answer. I don't know if it was the lighting or what, but we definitely didn't see any.

We didn't have a full structural survey, as it's not a really old house and the area is considered a low risk for subsistence.

There are no external cracks and no internal cracks on the ground floor, only first floor. Mostly around the windows - above and below. Some are quite long and not all are vertical. They're not zig zag or thick though. Only a mm if that. Basically like someone has drawn a thin line. Well...a hairline I suppose.

There is one in the wardrobe (built in) which is a cm or so thick though and that is mainly along the join of the walls and ceiling.

I have sent pictures to my builder friend and he thinks it's just bad plastering and the fact it is only internal, not on the ground floor or zig zagged, is a good sign.

Has anyone got any experience with this? What was the outcome?

It's really spoilt the enjoyment of settling into a new home

Can be caused by lots of harmless things. If the house has been unlived in for a while and gone through temperature surges of hot and cold (which we have had over the past couple of months, then the plaster can crack. If you live on clay, you give up replastering after a while as hairline cracks appear every time the underlying clay swells or shrinks. Looks worrying but isn't unstable.

I use expanding polyfilla and then paint over a couple of times. It helps.

Walls do sometimes get cracks, it happens, mainly nothing to worry about.

Thanks for the replies.

I really hope you're right, but honestly, it's stopped me sleeping for the past few nights and I'm pretty sure I'm driving my DP insane

I have quite bad anxiety anyway, so I have a tendency to catastrophise everything.

We have that! I reckon it's bad plastering and the owners slapped a bit of paint on for viewings. Older houses expand and contract so the crack will reappear through the paint over time. Try not to worry

I’d they’re only hairline, then they’re cosmetic. I think they always look more worrying than they are.

If the windows have been replaced that can be a cause. Not significant we were told.

It may be bad plastering but it could also be early signs of subsidence. I used to be a property claims handler and in all subsidence cases policyholders had noticed cracking over a few years but patched it up thinking it wasn’t anything until they realised there was an issue.

It doesn’t have to be that the area itself is known for having subsidence problems. It can be due to inadequate foundations or an underground leak.

Of course it may be nothing too! I’d get it checked out for peace of mind if nothing else.

It’s pretty normal and not something to lose sleep over, new builds and modern timber frame always crack, houses from the 70, 80 always crack over windows and doors as Lintels are very heavy not like modern lightweight ones old houses generally crack due to old style building methods, proper subsidence is caused by land movement, tree roots or broken drainage which will be evident by cracking brickwork so unless you’re seeing external damage it’s almost certainly just normal drying out and a bit of polyfilla and a coat of paint will soon sort it out

Lots of cracks in houses. Wouldn't worry

I lived in Rome for a while, and the cracks they had in the flats there would make your toes curl. They'd plaster a bit of glass over the big ones so they could see if it moved a lot because the glass would crack...

They do sound like a combination of the house just settling in/being painted over/spruced up for sale and breaking through again though to me (we have similar - not helped by finding all sorts of minor leaks so the whole house is damper than it really should be, so I'm expecting new cracks to turn up once we get them fixed and the house dries out a bit)

@CantSleepClownsWillEatMe, I think we knew we were taking a bit of a risk not having the full structural survey and that just because the road wasn't known for subsidence, that didn't mean all would definitely be ok with this house. We just weighed up the odds and the fact that there were no external cracks on the brick work and decided to get the basic home buyers survey. Obviously I'm regretting that now.

We do have quite a large tree in the front garden. It's quite close to the house. Maybe 5 meters away, maximum and from what I'm reading, for most big trees, thats too close. Considering taking it down on the off chance.

Post some pictures. The tree could be an issue but if it isn't now it will become one. Get advice before taking it down as a large tree will probably need to be taken down over years as otherwise suddenly removing it from re ground could result in heave as the ground is suddenly flooded with water

It does sound better that they are internal though. Is it brick?

My family are builders and I am an interior designer.

Cracks are totally normal. it takes years after a house is built for it to be fully 'settled' - you cant build a house without this happening as things dry and materials change form

trust your judgement.. if it looks like the crack will pull the house down then it will.. if it just looks like a crack then its just a cosmetic issue. cracking in plaster is very common as we just dont have the high temperatures here for it to dry out properly

New Windows can cause this, if they replaced wood for upvc.

It'll just be the plaster.