Cracked External Brick

[Jimthomasgreen]

Hi all, me and the wife are buying our first home. We have found the perfect home, and on a viewing I noticed a crack running down between the bricks from a window upstairs (picture attached). Does anyone with knowledge know if they are something to be worried about?

 

[^woody^]

Is there an opening below it, may be an issue with the support - especially if the crack is on the inside face too.

 

[Jimthomasgreen]

Hi Woody,
There is a hairline crack on the inside, but this seems to have been filled and painted some time ago. Bellow are a kitchen and a conservatory extension. This was all built years ago though, no building work has been carried out for a long time.

 

[^woody^]

The section has clearly dropped, and in that place, a lintel or beam support is the first suspect. If an extension has been done and the wall knocked through, the wall may have dropped slightly after the builders inserted a beam.

You'll need someone to look at it in context and determine if its an issue or some past event that is not ongoing. Whilst you may decide to have a survey by a building surveyor, they wont normally comment on cracking and will recommend that you have a specific structural survey by a structural engineer. So clarify this with the surveyor first, see if they have someone qualified to do both.

 

[Mottie]

That concrete lintel on the left looks like it’s dropped a little.