Foundation Cracks and Structural Issues.

Foundation Cracks and Structural Issues

We have highly experienced surveyors on hand to help identify foundation cracks and structural issues with a property.

The presence of cracks in your walls can be a major concern when they begin to appear throughout your home. More often than not, cracks indicate that your house’s structure and stability may be compromised and you need to act immediately. As property surveyors, we can assist you in identifying minor and major structural issues and help in determining whether further investigation is required. A professional should always assess any cracks in walls to determine whether it is a more serious issue. When the foundation cracks and structural issues go unrepaired, the foundation may be weak and move, putting the property at risk. Feel free to contact us at Andrew James Property Surveyors if you’re concerned about cracks in your new home’s walls.

Foundation Cracks and Subsidence

The fabric of a property is considered by our surveyors when determining how it will support vertical and lateral loads.

As a result, the building’s structural components, such as roof, walls and floors are assessed to ensure they will provide adequate strength at all times. In spite of the fact that dwellings can be built in many different shapes and sizes, they must all comply with constructional principles in order to prevent failure when built and when faced with reasonable loads. The walls are usually laterally supported by load-bearing masonry, interior partitions, wall plates, floor joists and ceiling joists.

There are many issues that can impact external wall structures, but when our surveyors discover ongoing movement, it can cause the most distress to potential buyers and vendors. As discussed in previous topics, movement can often be caused by inadequate or defective drainage, age of the drainage is in many cases, a cause of failure. It is possible for downpipes and rainwater fittings to drain away close to a wall’s base, causing the ground beneath it to erode, which can lead to poor support for the walls above. In older properties, particularly those with clay drainage pipes, which have little protection against ground movement, defective drainage is another major cause of erosion.

We frequently encounter long-standing and non-progressive movement when our surveyors observe cracking that appears old. The movement is usually seen in properties that are situated near mining operations/areas. A collapse of a deep mine shaft can cause movement of buildings on the surface. If the movement is not significant, it is called mining tilt and is not usually a cause for concern.

Upon finding ongoing movement by our Surveyor, a Structural Engineer may need to conduct further investigation and may need to dig trial pits along the foundations for them to examine the subsurface for stability. The Surveyor may recommend the commissioning of a structural engineer if the movement is suspected so that they can provide a structural adequacy certificate which may be requested by building insurance.

Cracks forming in walls

There is a possibility that hairline cracks that appear over doors and windows can be a result of seasonal movement. This is common in new buildings. The fact remains, though, that properties, regardless of their age, can move and shift over time. There are a few signs that can help you determine whether you’re dealing with a hairline crack in the wall or one that is caused by foundation movement, so take a stroll around the property, observe and look for the following signs:

Roofs that are sagging
Cracks in brickwork (diagonal following the brickwork and vertical, with snapped headers)
It is common for gaps to form around windows and doors
Flooring that is not level
External walls that are bowing or leaning

If you would like more information about cracks in walls, cracks caused by foundation movement and subsidence, please feel free to contact our team today.