Subsidence

[roofa]

I am majorly panicking right now. We came back from holiday at the beginning of September to quite a lot of cracks in all the back rooms of our Victorian terrace. We’ve had cracks before I’m the back bedroom but they were much smaller and we just used polyfilla on them, but these were bigger (about 5mm wide) so I called the insurance company. Surveyor coming on Friday.

I went into the back bedroom earlier today and I can see the outside through one of the cracks that goes along the wall. It’s much wider now (around 1cm). I’ve been next door and the wall on that side is full of cracks. I’m extremely worried because there seems to be a measuring device over some of the cracks, and cement over some others, so it seems the problem was known. We’ve been here 5 years but have never been next door. Will our insurance company cover it?

It may not be subsidence if it’s a Victorian house. It’s possible that some load-bearing walls are not tied to the floors, so the walls can pull outwards over time. A surveyor will be able to identify if that’s the issue, and it’s not difficult to remedy - you simply get a builder to put in wall ties. It makes a bit of a mess while they are doing it, but it isn’t a complicated job.

Depends on your insurance policy Op. Mine did and it was clearly stated that they would. However it might not be subsidence and even if it is it might not be that bad.

Our insurance company sent a surveyor to our house. We then had measurements taken of the cracks every month I think to see if there was more movement. Then remedial work done.

Good luck.

Oh and insurance company also visited next door (by coincidence we had the same insurers!) and the same happened with them.

Thank you, glad to hear it might not be too bad to remedy.

is it likely to be subsidence if the houses next door don’t have any cracks?

im really angry with our sellers. We sort of knew them and I can’t believe they deceived us like this.

I’m confident they do cover subsidence, but will they cover a pre-existing problem? The measuring devices and the cement suggest this is not a new problem

im so stressed. We’d planned to move in a year or so, and regardless we really can’t afford a huge repair bill

Bumping

Did you have a survey done on the house?
If there are devices on the cracks next door and not yours why would you think your sellers deceived you? Maybe they never went next door and saw their neighbours wall either?
Have you asked your neighbours if they have been doing any work lately? Or anyone on the street doing building works....like digging a basement?

Who are your insurers? We are going through similar at the moment (I think the problem was pre-existing but we didn't know and ours is subsidence but waiting for insurers to send someone).

@anotherdayanotherpathlesstravelled Is our wall, accessed from the neighbour’s garden. There’s be no reason for the neighbours to measure cracks on that wall, it’s their garden on the other side.

It’s possible that our sellers didn’t know and it was the people who sold to them that got the investigations done I supposed.

we had a full survey and nothing structural was flagged at all

our insurers are nationwide, how about yours @Myleakycauldron ?

We sort of knew them and I can’t believe they deceived us like this.

If these cracks have only just appeared in your property, then they haven't deceived you at all OP.

It's 'caveat emptor' (let the buyer beware) I'm afraid.

Did your surveyor flag anything up eg; disused mine workings, underground stream, old Victorian culvert?
Most surveyors will have a discreet look at the adjoining properties .
Has there been any fracking in your area?
Surely the solicitors did search of the area when you purchased, so any issues there?

You'll just have to wait for the surveyors report I'm afraid.

@CrispyNoodles you’re right, maybe they didn’t cover the cracks. The house had clearly been recently decorated but that doesn’t mean that it had cracks on the inside.

I don’t think I’m explaining myself very well. The old cracks are on my wall, not next door’s wall. It’s a terraced house but my kitchen and upstairs bedroom are not attached to next door’s house, so you can see the exterior wall from their garden. Why would next door put measuring devices and fix the cracks on the wall of my house with concrete? It must have been a previous owner of my house?

No issues at all flagged by solicitor or surveyor when we bought the house. We payed for the most expensive survey

I guess what I’m most worried about is the insurance company saying that this was a pre-existing issue to us buying the house and that they are not liable. Does anyone know how likely this is?

Why would next door put measuring devices and fix the cracks on the wall of my house with concrete? It must have been a previous owner of my house?

That's a good question for the surveyor OP.

This is the company that makes those measuring devices, so you could give them a ring and ask what they are used for and if there is any record of them being placed at your address.
www.avongard.com/

Thanks, I gave them a call but they were already closed for the day. Will see what they say tomorrow

We live in a Victorian house, my neighbour has a similar problem to yourself.
She literally waters the house!
She runs a hosepipe overnight onto the soil nearest the cracks and within 48hours it’s all settled back.

@Sago1 you may well be into something, the cracks appeared after the really hot spell and we have a large fig tree in the garden so it could well be due to that

Interesting. The cracks in our house were stable but they've got worse over this summer and I wondered if the drought was to blame (it's clay soil).

Get a hose pipe on it tonight and see what happens, it works for my neighbour! 🤞. Let me know f it works!

The soil near the cracks is on my neighbours garden, we have paving stones and the soil is further down unfortunately. Can’t imagine she’d take kindly to me putting the hose over the fence

On the other hand, OP, we had a house with those measuring devices but that wasn't because there was a known problem of subsidence (any worse than anywhere else in the area). They were just for keeping tabs on the cracks and measuring if the building moved again. We did need to get a wall tied in though.

Here's all you need to know about clay soils, peeps. www.peterbarry.co.uk/blog/clay-soils-subsidence-heave-trees-roots-part-3/

I'll check it out. Unfortunately, the worst cracks are along the wall shared with my neighbour so it will be hard to access. There might be a way though.

Thanks @CrispyNoodles

Thanks for the link @CrispyNoodles

@Chaotica it’s good to know that measuring devices might not necessarily mean subsidence. Do you think the insurance company will say that we should have known that we had external cracks on that wall? Today was the first time I’ve stepped foot in my neighbour’s house.

what did having the wall tied entail if you don’t mind me asking?