Is this subsidence? Photos included. Please help

[BloodyStupidHouse]

I live in an extended 3 bed end terrace. 8 years ago I had my kitchen extended and it was a big job.

All signed off and no issues at all until about a month or so ago, maybe a little longer.

I noticed cracks inside above the door. Looking outside, there are 'stair stepping' cracks in the pointing, again above the door.

My worktop has dropped at one end. My door appears to have dropped - it won't shut properly

There is also what appears to be a distinct dip in my lawn - directly outside the extension on the corner.

My neighbour has some very tall trees in his garden right next to mine. They're well over house height and about 17 feet to the side of the extension. These weren't deemed an issue when the build went ahead

My buildings insurance company said it isn't subsidence and they've got no suggestions for me. They are basing this on a telephone call where they asked me 3 questions

I have had the original builder back out. He is puzzled and doesn't know what it could be - there have been no issues until the past few months

Any suggestions for me please? Do I need a chartered surveyor? Is this really not an insurance issue?

Red line is where the dip is

Few other pics

And the outside showing some of the cracks

You need a close up of the bricks outside. The others just look like crap workmanship.

@Icelandeesh the thing is, the build was 8 years ago. All of this has just happened in the past month or two

I'd expect crap workmanship to have reared its head by now surely?

The corner is dropping ever so slightly. The dip outside is most probably due to a leak from wherever your down spout goes. Leaks from drains is a top cause of foundation subsidence. I’d look at that down spout and make sure there are no leaks.

Another shot showing some of it

@Discovereads thanks for that. Would that be covered by subsidence insurance?

www.nhbc.co.uk/binaries/content/assets/nhbc/homeowners/guidance-docs/cracking-in-homes.pdf

This is a link to the information provided by NHBC about settlement cracking.

@redastherose thank you for the link.

Is settlement cracking possible after 8 years?

Agreed, I'd get someone to look at the drain. Especially with that dip in the soil in the garden. Is there a pipe there that could be leaking? I personally would try and get it diagnosed myself before calling insurance. From what I have heard, a subsidence claim is not something you want on your insurance record.

It should do. Give the home insurance provider a call. They’ll do a survey to see if it’s subsidence and if so what is causing it. It makes sense it could be a recent leak in the underground part of the downspout given the timing, location and how that corner of the extension is dropping. They would rather do a survey when damage is minimal than you wait. Have you recently had a heavy rain storm or two?

Any large trees / hedges nearby?

@Synny yes there are some very tall trees diagonal to my property

What are the trees your neighbour put in?
Are you on clay soil?

@HiVisAndWellies the trees are possibly apple and cherry but there are others too and don't know what they are. The height of them has recently been chopped as they were well over the height of my house and putting my garden in almost total shade

Are you on clay soil? Could just be movement exacerbated by the extremely dry weather. The trees won't help as they'll leach extra water out the soil. If it's been in last few months that would be my guess

I honestly don't know if I'm on clay soil. How could I tell? The garden has been re turfed in the past couple of years and that's how I know it was totally level out there and now isn't

I could be jumping to conclusions and it depends on species of tree, age and distance to building but it sounds like the tree roots have gone looking for water during long hot dry summer and caused drying out of the soil and cracking to your property. To find out if you're on clay, try googling what is the geology in my area or is my area on clay soil - that's that kind that is highly shrinkable and will have a worse affect from nearby trees.

Tree related subsidence should be covered on your house insurance usually has an excess of £1000

They can survey, monitor the cracks, take samples from trial pits to see how wet or dry the spilt is and test any samples of roots found.

If the trees belong to the council you could ask them if they can carry out a risk assessment of the trees as you think they could be causing cracking. They are on notice of an issue then.

It had been very dry lately. If you have clay soils it could just be some shrinkage due to the exceptionally dry weather. If you are happy to share your postcode I can check if the area is likely to have clay soils. I'd keep an eye on it over the winter and see if the wetter weather makes the cracks squeeze back together a bit.

Is it real grass? If so then you're probably not clay as I would expect it to be dead by now.

On another note your ground level below the window should be cut back with a gravel strip or acco channel to prevent damp ingress into brickwork. The fact it isn't suggests your builder was a bit crap I'm afraid

@Synny that's interesting thank you. Now I did speak to the council regarding the trees initially as my neighbour would not pay to cut them down. They initially got involved as neighbours house is part owned by them. They then said it wasn't their responsibility and eventually - after some reluctance - the neighbour had the trees cut. Not properly though - one was left due to a nest in it and they're perhaps not quite low enough but for now, they've been done

You need @PigletJohn

@gingertoast yes it is real grass and has limped along so far!

I don't understand what you mean with your last point as have no idea about these things but shall have a google - thank you for the tip

@pigletjohn your input would be valued if you ever spot this thanks