Found a "bad" crack on extension....

[paulpd]

Pulled out an old kitchen in the extension to a house I just bought. Behind one of the wall units, there's a nasty looking crack near the back door, about 10 inches long and 5mm wide, coming down from the roof. It also appears on the outside but it about 2mm on that side. Could this just be one of those settling cracks that you find in a lot of old terraced houses or does it sound way more serious.....??

Thanks!

 

[extopia]

How old is the house?

 

[paulpd]

The main house is c.1950 but the extension where the crack is is about 20 to 25 yrs old. It's towards the front of the extension so nothing to do with where it's joined to the main house.

The builder is currently doing up a quote to re-roof the extension (flat roof) and hasn't seen the crack but I better get him in for another look!

 

[Seagull]

If it's on both sides of the wall, it sounds more serious.

 

[paulpd]

Two builders looked at it today. (The two lads quoting for the renovation job)

One said that he may need to dig down and go under the foundation and support it there. He thinks it wasnt dug deep enough initially.

The second builder said that because there was no weight on it (single story extension) and that it was probably there at least 15yrs, it's not gonna move anymore. The first guy says that it could potentially sink further and pull away from the main house...then there'd be big trouble. He wants to underpin the foundations. Says it'd only cost about E1,500 or so.....might well go with hiim!

Thank!

 

[bacchus]

The second builder said that because there was no weight on it (single story extension) and that it was probably there at least 15yrs, it's not gonna move anymore.

I would agree with this builder...I would not do anything for now, but simply monitor the crack and see if it becomes any wider over time.