Hello

I live in a relatively new house (about 6 years old) and I have this nasty feeling it is subsiding slightly as one of the rooms the walls are very cracked and some of the doors are starting not to shut / lock. The bedroom door (where the cracks are) will now open half way itself if not closed properly and it didn't do that before.

Is there anyway of checking without getting a full structural survey? Can I complain to the builders (or NHBC?) so they can check?

Thanks,

Steve

 

Hope it's not. I'd be inclined not to say anything to builders just yet until you find out a bit more or you'll likely to get the brush off with "they all do that Sir, just a bit of natural settlement".

Do you know if there are problems with other newish houses and the main question - is it built on a clay base?

Do NHBC have a helpline I wonder? dl

 

yeh best bet is find out what its built, on, if any tree's have been felled recently close to the property, but in all fairness it probably is just settlement, common but annoying

 

Dont go straight to your insurance, we had 3 mm of movement in a bay (no proper footings) and a small crack, asked the builder over the road and he said £400 to sort and we agreed it was down to the dry summer and big tree in front draining the moisture.

So, wife wanted a second opinion so rang the insurance and they despatched a surveyor who produced a report over six months that said it was down to the dry summer, the tree and would cost £400 to sort, they then doubled our premium as we had been marked as being prone to subsidence, the work never got done (below the excess), it hasnt moved anymore but I have been paying £90 a month for the last 5 years.

 

how was your head this morning?

 

About a level 4 (of 10) hangover.

 

mm yes curry was good though wasnt it i spent about #60 quid dont knoiw how

 

Don't mess around on this!

For most people the house is both their biggest asset [your equity] and their biggest liability [your mortgage].

Get a good structural surveyor in immediately. They will give you an unbiased opinion. If you have subsidence, report it to your insurance company straightaway. If there is any come back on the NHBC guarantee, the insurers will deal with that.

The thing is, it can take up to 2 years to resolve a subsidence claim as most insurers have adopted a wait and see policy so if your personal circumstances change whilst this is on going, you will have a house you will not be able to sell which can put you in a real tough place. I know this from experience as I was once there in the same circumstances in the early 90's and whilst we could not sell the house the market dropped 25%!

The insurers' surveyor will nail little markers on the cracks and monitor them over 12 months. Then they will decide what to do to your property.

Work on the foundations will require Building Regulations approval - a ground engineer will work these up - and the remedial works can vary from a few boreholes filled with concrete and linked into the existing foundations of, as in our case, and remember this was nearly 20 years ago, £45,000 of 35 foot deep pilings and a new concrete raft inserted right under the house and walls!

So go out, get professional advice and either confirm the problem or put your mind at rest.

Good luck!

 

I would definitely get some professionals to look at it, but dont panic and assume your house is about to fall over ! If it was built on clay soil, then a lot of settling can take place, even years after it was built, and clay can shrink or be effected by tree roots, weather etc... which can lead to the house shifting and cracks appearing.

One thing you can do in the short term to see if it is getting worse is to fill the cracks with filler - keep an eye on them and see if they open up any further over time. If they dont and no new ones appear, then it could just be the house settling and isnt a major worry.

With newly built houses where most of the walls are plasterboard and wood, even fairly small movements can make cracks in the plaster appear.

One other thing it could be is the wood of the framework warping, have you checked to see if there is any damp getting in ? The wood used on most framing is really crap quality, and can sometimes bend like a banana after fitting.

If it is something like the corner of the house moving, then this can often be dug out and shored up, which isnt hugely expensive.