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- Jul 22, 2010
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Hi
I have a house that I am currently *housesitting* for relatives. About 20 yrs ago the house was underpinned and the external brickwork fixed along with the inside being replastered.
Within the last 5 yrs an alarming number of cracks have appeared along the walls and ceilings. Specific examples of the cracks and movement include
- ceilings have moved away from the supporting walls by as much as 1cm
- diagonal cracks run from one or both sides of the internal doors
- parallel cracks run horizontally along the stairs and when feeling down the walls you can feel the shift where the sides of the crack are no longer level
- paintwork appears to be *stretched* on areas of wall not currently cracked
- nearly all the window frames are cracks where they join the paster
The outside of the house currently shows no sign of brick cracking and subsequently the house owners do not feel the subsidence is a problem that requires immediate attention.
I however think that even if the external walls do not fall down the internal walls falling in on me will still probably result in squished naturegirl.
If anyone has any advice on the effects I have described I would be really appreciate it for peace of mind.
The house is insured with the same insurance company that dealt with the initial subsidence as I understand its next to impossible to switch once you have have reported problems already and this may be my relatives reluctance to have it looked at.
Thanks for reading.
I have a house that I am currently *housesitting* for relatives. About 20 yrs ago the house was underpinned and the external brickwork fixed along with the inside being replastered.
Within the last 5 yrs an alarming number of cracks have appeared along the walls and ceilings. Specific examples of the cracks and movement include
- ceilings have moved away from the supporting walls by as much as 1cm
- diagonal cracks run from one or both sides of the internal doors
- parallel cracks run horizontally along the stairs and when feeling down the walls you can feel the shift where the sides of the crack are no longer level
- paintwork appears to be *stretched* on areas of wall not currently cracked
- nearly all the window frames are cracks where they join the paster
The outside of the house currently shows no sign of brick cracking and subsequently the house owners do not feel the subsidence is a problem that requires immediate attention.
I however think that even if the external walls do not fall down the internal walls falling in on me will still probably result in squished naturegirl.
If anyone has any advice on the effects I have described I would be really appreciate it for peace of mind.
The house is insured with the same insurance company that dealt with the initial subsidence as I understand its next to impossible to switch once you have have reported problems already and this may be my relatives reluctance to have it looked at.
Thanks for reading.