Singing Pig

My estate agent has drawn my attention to cracks to the outer wall of a property I am selling - underneath front outer bedroom wall and between mine and the adjoining property at a lower level (near next door's front door). Also evidence of repointing over front door. Front garden wall also has a crack in it. My house is at the top of a row of about eight terraced houses on a hill. Agent said a similar block of terraces was demolished some years ago due to subsidence!!! There are also large 3 poplar trees about 10 feet away from the property and a few roots are evident in the garden. However there is a large field at the front which my agent says keeps the ground damp and limits their damage. All the other houses in the row are Council owned.

The house was part of a deceased estate and the person who inherited had been trying to do it up to sell. He had plastered inside - presumably over cracks - then it had been vandalised. I bought it very cheaply for cash (£35k below what I have it on the market for) without a survey (I know, I know). It had actually been on the market for 20k more than I paid and was about to go to auction. I have spent about 5k on it.

My agent says (obviously) any prospective buyer's lender may ask for a full structural survey. He suggests I pay for this and says that he  knows a few surveyors who aren't too fussy.

As I've bought this property cheaply I'm not as devastated by this  as I might be if I'd paid more and am trying to view it as a learning experience. But it's clearly not good news at all.

I would welcome some damage limitation advice, please. Is it worth filling the cracks / sawing the poplar roots in my garden/ putting the property to auction? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Classyfied

 

Hi

Firstly any property within 10 feet of mature poplar trees,  has a high chance of suffering from subsidence. If the houses are built on clay, and of the older type

with foundations being perhaps only 12 inches of concrete - or less, your chances of problems are virtually guaranteed!!

Firstly if your house is built in brick, do the cracks follow the mortar lines, if so maybe your problem is less severe.. however if the cracks go through the bricks themselves i would guess the only answer is expensive underpinning.. Even if you repoint the cracks, the mortar will be new and obvious to most purchasers, and all mortgage valuers worth their salt.. if the house is rendered you have a better chance of completely covering your repairs, again the test here is does the crack just affect the render or does it go into the brick or stone beneath..once the render is repaired external redecoration will hopefully hide the secret..

My advice, if subsidence has occured, try selling at auction.. This is where most problem properties end up..

Cutting tree roots wont cure your problem i'm afraid.. i have been a professional gardener for 20 + years and have seen many cases like this.. Even removing the trees completely may cause the opposite of subsidence, which is heave, and is just as damaging, if not more so..

As a full time landlord now, buying property on shrinkable clay in Milton Keynes, i always never never buy any property close to damaging large trees.. two of the worst are poplar and willow.. leylandii conifers are also big culprits, as they are so often planted right upto property and then left to grow; and grow they do at 3 feet plus a year, reaching 100 foot plus in thirty years.

Let us know the type of cracks your house has, which will help with advice been given.. i would be very surprised to find structural surveyors who would gloss over subsidence, i think your agent being naive.. All the best

Paul

Many thanks for your response. The house is brick built and not rendered. The poplar trees are very close - three of them in a line, approx 12 to 15 feet away from my property. The cracks are in the mortar, not the actual bricks, which from what you say seems good news.

Regards

Classyfied

hi paul - i have 6 ash trees within 5-25  feet of my house (early victorian thick stone walls)  - my house is built on clay  soil  - are they are dangerous as poplars ?

Classyfied - cracks are bad, yes good news that they dont go through the bricks.. i assume that they are more than hairline cracks..

i would have a go at repointing the cracks, it is important to hook out as much old mortar as possible, and then repoint to a close colour match, and same mortar material match.. always good to mix a small test batch of mortar first, and see if it drys to a close colour match..

Clottie - ash trees starting 5 feet away from your house is extemely close.. Ash grows into a large tree, and will often cause subsidence.. If the Ash trees are still relatively young, i would personally plan to remove them, most definately the closest ones.. Best to get some professional advice from a tree surgeon, and if your in a conservation area you will need permission to remove or prune them.. Along with boundaries, trees are a very common cause of neighbour disputes.. twenty years ago my delightful neighbour planted a leylandii conifer 4-5 feet away from my front door, by the boundary between us.. ten years later it was touching the gutters, despite my protests, they refused to remove it, until the internal concrete floor slab near my door cracked and moved half an inch.. On hearing that news, they panicked and removed it.. they then planted another conifer, not leylandii, but still would have grown too large, 1 foot away from my newly built brick garden wall.. i think it was planted mainly from lack of good garden knowledge, but they refuse to remove it!! last three years, strangely it has been dying.. a paintbrush and a dab of neat Roundup seem to be working..

Paul