Any surveyors in the house?
Discussion
I'll be speaking with my surveyor during the week but I thought I'd ask here also.
Whilst inspecting the perimeter of a house I wish to purchase I discovered several cracked bricks on the side elevation. The cracks last about 1m.
There is a pine tree about 1.5 from the building, right next to the cracks. The cracks start immediately above the flue outlet for the central heating boiler. The property has been extended above the garage, not sure when.
I have attached some pictures..any help appreciated..as this concerns me.
Captain
Whilst inspecting the perimeter of a house I wish to purchase I discovered several cracked bricks on the side elevation. The cracks last about 1m.
There is a pine tree about 1.5 from the building, right next to the cracks. The cracks start immediately above the flue outlet for the central heating boiler. The property has been extended above the garage, not sure when.
I have attached some pictures..any help appreciated..as this concerns me.
Captain
Edited by CaptainSlow on Monday 27th August 18:56
A textbook example of why you don't plant trees so close to a building. The root spread of a tree like that will generally be around the same as its height. That is the minimum distance you want it planted from your house.
Is the subsoil clay?
What has probably happened is the tree has drawn a significant amount of water from the soil, drying it and therefore shrinking it. This has undermined the foundations.
The tree would need to come down; the unused water in the soil would then swell the ground. After it has settled down (the cracks would need monitoring) the property would need underpinning.
The owner's insurance should sort this.
I think it is unlikely your new mortgage company would take on this property unless your deposit was significant enough to eliminate their risk.
Is the subsoil clay?
What has probably happened is the tree has drawn a significant amount of water from the soil, drying it and therefore shrinking it. This has undermined the foundations.
The tree would need to come down; the unused water in the soil would then swell the ground. After it has settled down (the cracks would need monitoring) the property would need underpinning.
The owner's insurance should sort this.
I think it is unlikely your new mortgage company would take on this property unless your deposit was significant enough to eliminate their risk.
A2Z said:
Whilst it appears to be related to the tree, could you expand on where you mentioned that the garage had been extended and where in relation is this to the crack? Also, have any major alterations taken place on the house and do you know the sub soil type?
yes, the photograph is of the side elevation, with the house facing to the right. The garage is the right hand area of the ground floor with a dining room behind (the ground floor lefthand window on the left is the dining room). The property has been extended above the garage and dining room. The house was built circa 1970, I'm unsure of the date of the extension at the moment but I would guess it was completed over 10 years ago. Soil is suspected to be clay. I'm also thinking the flue outlet may be the cause, when installed?? The crack is about chest height on the wall directly behind the the tree and above the flue (the greenery on the second picture is from the offending tree).Edited by CaptainSlow on Tuesday 28th August 10:57
having considered it further
if it is the tree
1.age of house/foundation depth
2.age of tree/when planted
3.type of soil
4.drains
soil is sand who cares won't move in a month of sundays
clay - it will/well might depends where you are geographically
if the tree came before the house then there may be heave, but if you mention it to BRE they don't know of or have that many heave claims, if the house came before the tree then things should go back to where they were roughly, monitoring ok but level is better than crack, crack monitoring doesn't tell you a great deal you need to know what the ground is doing
to be honest WALK AWAY unless there really is a reason to buy
if the house is broken and results in a claim who is going to insure it (even with an engineer's certificate to say its better than originally built) and what about selling in the future
if it is the tree
1.age of house/foundation depth
2.age of tree/when planted
3.type of soil
4.drains
soil is sand who cares won't move in a month of sundays
clay - it will/well might depends where you are geographically
if the tree came before the house then there may be heave, but if you mention it to BRE they don't know of or have that many heave claims, if the house came before the tree then things should go back to where they were roughly, monitoring ok but level is better than crack, crack monitoring doesn't tell you a great deal you need to know what the ground is doing
to be honest WALK AWAY unless there really is a reason to buy
if the house is broken and results in a claim who is going to insure it (even with an engineer's certificate to say its better than originally built) and what about selling in the future
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