I am looking at buying a property that’s just new on the market (house and land), the agent told me the only problem with the house might be that there is a crack in the brickwork.
Should I in your opinion still consider buying, does that sound like a major structural problem? Just wonder if anyone has come across this problem and still bought without any further disasters?
Yes we can have a building inspector look at it of course, I just would like you opinion first which can help me decide whether it would even be worth it to get an inspector out or not.[
]We’ve just spend about $700 last week on reports and searches etc and didn’t end up buying, so these costs add up every time.[
]Hi there, it would be wise to pay for an inspection, yes it will cost.
You will need to establish why there is a crack there in the first instance, unless the problem is rectified there could be further damage down the track which could cost alot more than $700.
If in doubt and do not want to spend for an inspection dont buy.
Celivia,
Is this a local property?
My parents had a place (PPOR) in Bradbury that had had a decent sized crack in the wall. (First noticed when the place was approx. 25 years old). For a non-engineer like me, to say it concerned me is an understatement.
They got an engineer’s report which said that it was not a structural issue. They said that while not exactly common, it was not unheard of in the area.
The reverse could also be true (i.e. looks fine, engineer says detonate). The lesson? I wouldn’t be putting my hard earned in to anything I had doubts on. It’s a worthy investment to get an engineer’s report.
Hi celivia,
I bought a property some time ago with 2 vertical cracks in 2 separate external walls. The cracks haven’t opened up any further (2mm) since purchase. The building report said that it was common in the area due to high clay content in the soil (expanding and contracting due to the weather). A builder buddy said that they normally run a diamond saw up the crack and fill it with a flexible joint compound to let it open and close as needed. I also noted a lot of new houses will long external walls are now being built with these expansion joints installed from new.
I might just add this house was fully refurbished when I purchased it (excellent dep schedule) and has never been vacant. The cracks in the 2 walls kept a lot of other buyers away!
Don’t let this scare you off! No doubt others have walked away. If I were you I’d get an engineers report done and if ok push for a sizeable reduction in price (as I did).Thanks qwerty – that’s just reminded me!
I knew the engineers had put it down to something (re my post above), and I knew it wasn’t mine subsidence.
Clay content was it for my parents, too.
Hi Celivia
It’s not unusual to have cracks that are not structural. It can happen as the building “settles” soon after it is built. They can be very easy to repair as well and the improvement in the appearance can be dramatic. If it looks like a good property in other regards, it could be well worth getting an inspection.If you’re really worried about wasting money on the inspection, check out some other brick buildings in the area of about the same age. If the cracks are because of clay content, you’ll see others in the same condition.
I’ve made an offer on a property with some cracks. An independant building inspection was supplied as other buyers were scared off by the appearance. It could be a good opportunity.
Regards
Judiwhenever you sell it is a good idea to patch up cracks. minor settling cracks can send buyers running a mile. as a buyer it can of course present an excellent opportunity. i would look at the property and you may get a nice discount.
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Hi Celivia
Coming from Newcastle, where every building pre Dec 89 has cracks in it from that earthquake or the one in 1930(?) and the one in 1896(?)or from mine subsidence means we don’t freak out as much when we see them.
However, we are in the process of purchasing an 8 x 2 bd unit block in NSW country built on highly reactive clays, (as is the whole town) with minor, (ie not gaping) cracking in 2 units. The cracks have discouraged other purchasers, so we go looking for a problem and a solution and our building inspector advised us it can do 3 things. Stablise itsself. Require stabilising, ( there is new technology to do this)or fall down! We know from prior experience costings on stabilising, so we put in the budget and they still show up +ve cf. We just tried to remove as much chance from the outcome.
good luck
Tony
i know with my house it has a seven yr structual garuntee if this is a reasonably new house u might be able to get their builder to check it out and repair before purchase with no costs.
We have been experiencing quite a lot of dry weather in the past few years and this will cause many shrinkkage problems in high clay content soils. If the area around it is very dry open ground but there is a larger area abutting the biulding or very close to it covered with concrete or a well maintained garden there will moisture differentials in the ground. This differential will cause one side of the affected ground area to be much smaller due to shrinkage than the other. As the open area will dry more and more the footing will flex to a great degree but the effect on the brickwork is exagertated by the wall height. E.G. 1mm movement in a strip footing over 3m or so is not much but at the top of the 2.4m may be as much as 10mm or more. The previous post about adding expansion joints is spot on. Get an engineer to tell you where to put it if building is not your strong point. It should only cost about 75 to 100 bucks to get someone to cut the expansion joint in.
If the house is on a slab then get a hold of the original developers plan if you can and check the level of fill the place is sitting on. A lot of housing is built on huge areas of fill and in the settling process a house can be very stressed. Usually after a few years this settlig will hold and no new cracks would appear and existing ones would not deteriorate. Check the internal walls for patching around doors and window in the affected area. Check the adjoining homes for signs of cracking and ask the neighbours about their homes and if they know anything about the one you want to buy. I would not be afraid of the crack but would get an engineer to look at it. If this house is brand new walk away. My 2cents, sorry its long winded.Dave
Ifs it new get the company to pay for the building inspection under their warrenty, secondly are we talking one brick or the whole wall, more clarity.
Thank you so much everyone for your very helpful replies, so many responses!
The house is about 30 years old, and there seems to be only 1 crack.
Well I agree with most of you that it’s best to organise a building inspector. I was kind of scared of cracks before but some of you think they are an opportunity (better price and scaring other buyers away)rather than a problem.
So hopefully if the crack isn’t structural, it’s not so offputting anymore after reading your replies.
Rubbachook, no this property is not local, unfortunately!
So thanks for all of you advice, fantastic![][^]Celivia, if the property is 30 years old I wouldn’t be very concerned as it likely won’t get much worse than it is now.
If it were a couple of years old who knows where it would finish.
I don’t think that the suggestion to cover up the cracks when selling is a good idea without getting some legal advice first (you may need to cover it with a clause in the contract).
I understand that there has been at least one court case where the buyer got compensation because the crack was covered up and the existence of it wasn’t disclosed to the buyer.
Pisces
Thanks Pisces, I’ll certainly keep that in mind about the legal advice.
This is such a helpful post, people, that I’m going to print it out and add it to my folder, thanks![:X]Hi Celivia.
Last year I purchased a pair of Duplexes in Perth that are approx 25/30 y-old.Shabby inside and also with cracks I had a structural reportdone for $500. The inspecter told me that if the cracks are running vertical or horizontally this is not as bad as if they ars running vertically.
Hope this helps.Regards
Bernard
Thanks Bernard, this crack is running vertically, so hopefully good news.
Just for general knowledge, Trees very close to houses with highly reactive soils (large clay content) cause drying out of the sub soil and shrinkage of sub soil. This can cause a corner of an external wall to subside slightly during periods of dry weather. This will crack brickwork as well.
Older homes don’t have the required depth of footing so are more prone to the effect of drying reactive soils.
Newer homes have to have their building site sub soil analysed and the results determine the type and depth of footings required to overcome this problem. Doesn’t always work though!Some parts of the inner west of Sydney have such reactive soils that people have installed sprinkler systems under their houses to control the moisture content of their sub soils!!
Hi Celivia,
Even if the crack is structural you may be able to negotiate the price down a bit and rectify it by using a builder to underpin the footings.
Quickly run you through the processExpose the footings in the crack location.
Dig sections out under the footing say 600mm along footing.
Pour concrete under the footing and fill right up to footing for extra support.
I have done this a few times and it has worked every time!!Make sure that you get an engineer to work out how far along the footing to go and draw up a plan of what is required to give to the builder(unless you are handy with a shovel and a concrete mixer.
All up it generally cost me around $6-7k
Hope this helps.Once cracks are remedied, either make sure that no drains, gardens etc are near the building or have reticulation going year round to keep the soil moisture content even. We have done heaps of this type of repair work through our business.
If I knew then what I know now……….you know how it goes
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