Cracked Wall and Bricks, Subsidence? Settlement? Botched up Job?
#1
05-12-11, 08:04 AM
Join Date: May 2011
Location: UK
Posts: 1
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
Cracked Wall and Bricks, Subsidence? Settlement? Botched up Job?
What do you make of this crack? Subsidence? Settlement? Is it serious? How much to repair?
A little background info:
I am looking to purchase this property, the owner assures me its not a problem as its been like this when he bought the house 5 years ago.
The house inside has been recently decorated and I could not see any evidence of damp.
There used to be trees near the corner of the house which were removed 6 months ago.
A little background info:
I am looking to purchase this property, the owner assures me its not a problem as its been like this when he bought the house 5 years ago.
The house inside has been recently decorated and I could not see any evidence of damp.
There used to be trees near the corner of the house which were removed 6 months ago.
#4
05-14-11, 05:41 AM
This is very old construction, and old brick work, with less than standard brick. With the removal of the trees, there could have been footing settlement. That is if there was a substantial footing to begin with. How old is the structure?
#5
05-14-11, 07:58 AM
Member
I really don't see and real signs of footing settlement because the movement is outward.
I see a lot of "deferred maintenance" judging by the old vines on the walls and off the top of the roof. This indicates water problems withe the roof and flashing that could easily get into the masonry.
If you have any cold temperatures and there is freezing this coul force the brick outward.
An addition problem could be the expansion due to heat when the chimney is used for a long time when the chimney flues temperatures cause expansion outward and vertical cracks. If you do have a ceramic chimney flue it may have been mortard solidly to the brick exterior and it is probably cracked also due to the heat expansion.
This is not a new problem and was going on before the previous owner bought it, but it only showed up recently when the "pretty" ivy was removed in the last few years.
It should be rebuilt and roof/flashing examined also.
Dick
I see a lot of "deferred maintenance" judging by the old vines on the walls and off the top of the roof. This indicates water problems withe the roof and flashing that could easily get into the masonry.
If you have any cold temperatures and there is freezing this coul force the brick outward.
An addition problem could be the expansion due to heat when the chimney is used for a long time when the chimney flues temperatures cause expansion outward and vertical cracks. If you do have a ceramic chimney flue it may have been mortard solidly to the brick exterior and it is probably cracked also due to the heat expansion.
This is not a new problem and was going on before the previous owner bought it, but it only showed up recently when the "pretty" ivy was removed in the last few years.
It should be rebuilt and roof/flashing examined also.
Dick
#6
01-05-12, 09:46 AM
I agree that the foundation does not appear to be the problem. The cracks do not appear to follow all the way to grade. This is more likely due to water infiltration and possibly freeze/thaw issues. It is not easy or cheap to fix but it is fixable. Most of the brick joints could be ground out to a depth of 1" or less and repointed. Some of the brick may need to be removed, cleaned up, reset and pointed. At that time you might want to consider adding some additional masonry anchors to secure the exterior brick to the backup to minimize future issues. If you are very handy you could take this on yourself but this may be a job for a pro.
