Crack between Extension

[Neeranam]

Thinking of buying a house which has ad an extension added. 

Problem is that there is a crack between the house and extension. 

 

The seller says it's not serious and happens a lot. 

 

Would you buy and is this serious or fixable?

[BritManToo]

Need to see photo of crack.

It could mean they didn't put proper foundations under the extension .... serious.

Or it could mean the plaster/render has shrunk ....... trivial.

Edited February 2, 2022 by BritManToo

[2 is 1]

Dont have ground frost in Thailand so why there is crack, coz i assume house need to sink from some part. Watch first what is reason for crack. Maybe they have make "bottom" work badly and house is really sinking in ground.

[VocalNeal]

I suspect the foundation of one was not keyed into the foundation of the other.

[Boomer6969]

The question is: are the two structure independent from each other? They must have independent foundations, and their slabs must me able to angle away so that any movement doesn't trigger cracks or changes the shapes of doors and windows from rectangle to trapeze. If that's the case anything can get fixed with cosmetically and adequate flashing where the extension's roof connects to the main structure.

Edited February 2, 2022 by Boomer6969

[sometimewoodworker]

23 minutes ago, 2 is 1 said:

Dont have ground frost in Thailand so why there is crack, coz i assume house need to sink from some part. Watch first what is reason for crack. Maybe they have make "bottom" work badly and house is really sinking in ground.

Ground frost is only 1 reason for soil movement others include clay gaining and losing moisture, another is soil compression. If you build on uncompressed fill it will contain about 30% air. So the reasons are varied.

[Neeranam]

Thanks all, so without knowing which it is, probably best not to buy. I don't have a photo. 

[hotchilli]

11 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Thinking of buying a house which has ad an extension added. 

Problem is that there is a crack between the house and extension. 

 

The seller says it's not serious and happens a lot

Poor foundations or the extension is not tied into the main building... or both.

Tell the owner it is serious and offer him a reduction for repairs costs..

Or walk away and find something built properly.

[ifmu]

not much to go on ....... pictures ?

[Sydebolle]

Get a professional opinion on this, the internet experts might not be the ultimate forum for this. 

A civil engineer/architect can easily assess the situation; some can be fixed, from others you want to walk away .... 

[Neeranam]

How much to fix if it is the foundation of the extension? One bedroom.

Approximate I know. The house is already 1 million below some others nearby.

[BritManToo]

Just now, Neeranam said:

How much to fix if it is the foundation of the extension? One bedroom.

Approximate I know. The house is already 1 million below some others nearby.

More of a knock it down job.

Assume the extension has ZERO value and bid accordingly.

[Hummin]

12 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

Ground frost is only 1 reason for soil movement others include clay gaining and losing moisture, another is soil compression. If you build on uncompressed fill it will contain about 30% air. So the reasons are varied.

As well water when have poor drainage. Here where we live, the water bed is 10 meters down in clay soil right now, and a bit higher in the rain season. 

[MrJ2U]

12 hours ago, Neeranam said:

is this serious

Do you have a picture?

 

If its load bearinging a crack can be very serious.

 

You'll need to have an expert take a look and work out an arrangement with the seller.

 

If its not a problem the seller should pay to have the crack repaired,sealed, and painted.

 

Looking at a crack on ones house is unsettling even if its just cosmetic.

[Wuvu2]

Send photos of your crack ????  

[Neeranam]

[Hummin]

11 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

 

 

Quite normal thinking of the poor ground work they do usally.  the new part need to settle. How long since the new part was added? 

Edited February 3, 2022 by Hummin

[Hummin]

Built one month aparth of each other during rain season. Did what I thought was a proper ground work, and 25cm sole. Got  a crack after 2. Rain season

 

 

 

Edited February 3, 2022 by Hummin

[Dante99]

13 minutes ago, Hummin said:

How long since the new part was added? 

Relevant consideration.

 

If the crack is 10 years old and not growing it may be no problem.  If it is new it may still be growing and beware.

 

Generally an extension attaches to a house in two places, is there another connection with a crack?

 

[Hummin]

2 hours ago, Sydebolle said:

Get a professional opinion on this, the internet experts might not be the ultimate forum for this. 

A civil engineer/architect can easily assess the situation; some can be fixed, from others you want to walk away .... 

I have my experience with a few local engineer's, it's a good title for some.

 

I would ask to pick the crack clean, and look at it, also look for water tracks and marks around the house and also at the land to get a bigger picture.

 

If he is not willing to pick the crack clean, just leave it to someone else.

 

I think at some point they did plaster the crack because of uneven line!?

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, Neeranam said:

I would class that as a serious problem.

Little or no foundations and a very thin floor slab as well.

Without foundations the weight of the floor slab compresses the land fill down and away from the house, which is what appears to be happening here. Eventually you'll have a wide gap at the top of the crack. 

Edited February 3, 2022 by BritManToo

[Pravda]

Is this what you're going to spend your hard earned crypto on?

 

I already feel like I should be paid to live in a relatively modern Thai condo. And this? 

[RafPinto]

Don't worry. I have a crack too.????

[chilly07]

If it's diagonal walk away.

If it's vertical call it an expansion gap and cover it with an attractive architrave.

If it extends to the roof walk away or increase the flashing.

Without several  photos it's impossible to say

[Neeranam]

2 hours ago, Hummin said:

Quite normal thinking of the poor ground work they do usally.  the new part need to settle. How long since the new part was added? 

It's less than 10 years

[Hummin]

8 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

It's less than 10 years

If it's more than 3 years, it should hane settled if the drainage is good, and it is elevated above the rest of the land. All depended on how high the waterbed formation, and how much this move during rain and dry season. Hard to tell, but I would have bought a piece of land and built new if I was going to live there myself. 

 

But as said, looking at your pic, it looks like they tried to do some cosmetic work on it before they painted. 

[Neeranam]

Another crack at the pool. Makes me wonder if there is an issue with all the ground, maybe water damage. 

Edited February 3, 2022 by Neeranam

[brianthainess]

1 hour ago, RafPinto said:

Don't worry. I have a crack too.????

Is it a builders crack and does it get wider when wet ? also have you had it inspected ? it might need filling. just having a crack. ????

[sometimewoodworker]

5 hours ago, Hummin said:

As well water when have poor drainage. Here where we live, the water bed is 10 meters down in clay soil right now, and a bit higher in the rain season. 

 

5 hours ago, Hummin said:

17 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

Ground frost is only 1 reason for soil movement others include clay gaining and losing moisture, another is soil compression. If you build on uncompressed fill it will contain about 30% air. So the reasons are varied.

As well water when have poor drainage. Here where we live, the water bed is 10 meters down in clay soil right now, and a bit higher in the rain season. 

@Hummin didn’t I include the water table by implementation?  Moisture = water, no? 5555

[GrandPapillon]

18 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Would you buy and is this serious or fixable?

not fixable, could still buy it and forget about it