Another house issue! cracks in walls

i seem to have issues with my 1930's house in handsworth all the time

 

i have now noticed cracks in one of the bedrooms after removing some wallpaper.

 

the cracks dont seem to follow a certain pattern but there is one in the corner of the party wall which is clearer than most. this is a diagonal crack.

 

i dont think the walls and plaster has been touched for a long long time. the lady i bought it off had not modernised it at all and still had woodchip wallpaper.

 

i have had a look at the brick work and it doesnt appear to have a crack but its really stressing me out!

 

i understand that settlement and movement occurs over time and the only real way to put my mind at rest is to get a structural engineer to have a look but we simply do not have the money to pay for that?

 

can anyone provide any advise? or if there is a structural engineer out there who is kind enough to have a look please let me know!

I am not an expert, but how wide are the cracks? We also have a 1930's house and there are cracks all over - even in new plaster which we had done in the kitchen. To be honest, if they are cracks like mine, just hairline ones, I wouldn't worry too much. Again, I am no expert though!

they are not that wide. approximately 1mm to 1.5mm but its the diagonal aspect that i am worried about as research tells me that this could be subsidence. i really hope not.

are you on Bramley?

Hi I live S13 and dont think its realy a subsidence area . if there are no cracks in bwk everything seems okay. one of my ceilings has a right crack in it and house is only 20yrs old [phg] All houses have settlement and shrinkage that cause plaster cracks /Even houses with cracks in bwk can usually be remedied fairly easy / a bricktor mesh across crack IF you bought house on a mortgage i am sure surveyor would have picked any problems like this up

hi chris. im on the other end near the white rose

hi spider

 

i only had a valuation done by the mortgage lender and didnt have a structural survey done! was my first property so i didnt know much of this sort of thing

hi chris. im on the other end near the white rose

 

A lot of houses on the Triangle have loose plaster. I think it's more to do with the quality of the original plaster together with natural settlement than subsidence.

hi spider

 

i only had a valuation done by the mortgage lender and didnt have a structural survey done! was my first property so i didnt know much of this sort of thing

 

HI they would have picked any major faults on a valuation Have a walk around estate see if any other houses got any problems /mortgage valuers know all subsidance areas and would have asked for strutual survey if any doubts. Enjoy your new home and stop worrying

They would have picked any major faults on a valuation Have a walk around estate see if any other houses got any problems /mortgage valuers know all subsidance areas and would have asked for strutual survey if any doubts. Enjoy your new home and stop worrying

NB: a mortgage valuation report is far less reliable than a survey (Homebuyers or Full Structural).

Plus an MVR is for the benefit of only the mortgagee (lender), not of the mortgagor (borrower).

 

Even though the latter pays for it, the valuer has a contract with only the mortgagee (so the mortgagor has no contractual recourse in case it's wrong).

Was there ever any mining in the area? If so you will be covered by their indemnity guarantee, if of course mining subsidence is responsible.

Have a good look around the outside brickwork and look for cracks. If its the triangle estate then I think these was built out of sand and lime and so was the plaster. You will find a lot of houses have plaster cracks due to settlement, slight movement at some time and drying out of the building itself.

 

Try filling these cracks or have the wall reskimmed with mesh over the cracks. If the house is on the move then the cracks will re-appear. If they don't re-appear then good.

 

If they do re-appear don't worry to much. Remedial work is now a lot easier than it used to be and doesn't cost a re-mortgage any more. Well in most cases anyway. A structural surveyor would tell you what is involved.