Anyone had new bay windows fitted? Any one in the building trade who can answer this very worrying question please?

[imaginethemdragons]

I’ve had upstairs & downstairs done, so one above the other.

Where the window meets the house there is a big crack in the wall from under the window right down to the bay window below.

I’ve put some filler in, not to fill it but to see if the crack gets bigger, it has, markedly.
Has this happened to anyone else? What cured it?

Do I need:
A builder?
A plasterer?
A structural engineer?

Many thanks?

Was the crack there before the new windows were put in?

No, I don’t think so.

Do you have a picture? How old were the old windows? It's possible the old windows were load bearing and the new aren't...

Are they both bay windows - up and down?

I'd contact the window installer and get them to come back and take a look.

Watching with interest as I’m having the exact same job done later in the year …

Old windows probably 30-40 years old, also double glazed, like for like.
Both bay windows, up & down yes.

Window installer now out of business.

I'd get a builder. Just googled as wasn't sure if bay windows need lintels and found this

Some window bays especially in older properties (late 19th century through 1930s) do not have proper foundations. The bay is more or less resting on the ground. Any change to the load on the frames could create stress fractures. I'm not saying this is the case here but it would be worth checking before you spend more money. The solution in such cases is to underpin the bay. A local surveyor or builder might advise if they know the history of your street but might need to excavate. I hope you don't need to do that. I narrowly avoided buying a flat in west London many years ago for precisely this reason - it was a hot dry summer, the building rested on clay, which contracted, and the surveyor reported active settlement cracking in the bay because it was floating on the side of the building and was moving around. Two bays for the two flats, one above the other.

House built in 1958.
Good foundations.

So maybe the frames need supporting with a catnip lintel

catnic not catnip!

Oh hell.
That sounds very messy and very expensive!

The baypoles transfer the load to the ground. What is in between your bays on the exterior?

Our house is a bit older (1930s) and in the double height bays, the windows are structural so basically holding the bay up. The bit in between is so flimsy it cracks at the slightest movement. If the crack is still widening, it would be worth getting a structural engineer to look at it.

On the outside are these funny tiles, layered one on top of another like playing cards, with a pattern in the centre.
Hideous but very very popular in these parts, loads of houses have them.

There is also a leak in the corner so I think some have slipped allowing water into the plastered wall under the window.

@imaginethemdragons

On the outside are these funny tiles, layered one on top of another like playing cards, with a pattern in the centre. Hideous but very very popular in these parts, loads of houses have them.

There is also a leak in the corner so I think some have slipped allowing water into the plastered wall under the window.

We’ve got those. Our house was built in 1932. They are a typical feature on houses of this age - why do you think they’re hideous?

They are not in line, you know, they look tired and old fashioned, the lead above is chipped and the paint half on and half off.
Most of the houses in my road have had them removed and render put on.
They just look tatty.

@imaginethemdragons

They are not in line, you know, they look tired and old fashioned, the lead above is chipped and the paint half on and half off. Most of the houses in my road have had them removed and render put on. They just look tatty.

In that case they don’t sound great. Ours are all there with no gaps, just like most of the houses in our road.