Wall cracks, advice very much appreciated

[Mike Hawkins]

Hi, hoping to get some advice off you good people, any advice is greatly appreciated. The whole front of the 1960s bungalow needs seriously repointing but front bay has what I believe, and hopefully, historic settlement cracks. A couple of people have tried to tell me it is a lintel failure but it looks ok to me. It has three small stepped cracks, top left, top right and one below the window. Non are major and could only upload 2 photos for some reason,but can tell there has been a previous attempt to repoint the cracks, quite poorly. Do you think I have anything major to worry about and needs further investigation carried out or would pinning the cracks and repointing the whole lot worth trying first? Not a youngster so dont need forever out of the repair. Cheers and TIA, Mike
Sent from my iPhone

[Nickfromwales]

Looks to be very much associated with expansion at the lintel, so likely caused by the lintel.

 

When these corrode and expand, they have a lot of force/ energy to get rid of, so the resultant cracks (linear) are characteristic of this type of failure.

 

You can simply keep re-pointing this, and pass the issue on down the line.

[Mike Hawkins]

Thank you so much for the reply. Does lift my spirits that you think it is the lintel and not settlement / more worrying structural issues. As you say, It must have some force to generate 3 separate cracks, not that wide but still quite long. Would you suggest getting the lintel replaced or just get the cracks pinned and pointing suffice? Cheers

[saveasteading]

How wide are the cracks?  They look very small. It's a shame some have gone through bricks rather than mortar, but it looks fairly benign.

 

 

 

[Mike Hawkins]

Hi, thanks for the reply,, would say about. 3mm or so not very wide but run the full length. Added a photo of top left crack.

[Mike Hawkins]

The crack below the window! Again, thanks for the advice.

[Nickfromwales]

2 hours ago, saveasteading said:

How wide are the cracks?  They look very small. It's a shame some have gone through bricks rather than mortar, but it looks fairly benign.

I’d bet the split in the brick is exactly where the end of the lintel is.

 

Prob best to bite the bullet and get the lintel exposed and checked, and replaced if it is the offending article.

 

Obvs it’s very hard for us to say with any certainty, over the internet, so a builder would better advise on site I expect.

 

I’d say you’d have cracks much further down the wall if it were subsiding, and possibly inside too.

[Redbeard]

1 hour ago, Mike Hawkins said:

The crack below the window!

AFAICS that pic is upside down (the white moulding at the bottom appears to protrude, and the earlier pics show no top drip detail, so I think it's maybe the cill, upside-down), so maybe some of the cracks are down towards the ground (re @Nickfromwales' point). 

 

Nevertheless, if we 'park' any cracks below the window for now, can I raise a further possibility? That it is not so much a problem with the lintel, but that *there may not be a lintel*.

 

I had this problem with a relative's house, and it was the same for (I believe) many (tens of?) thousands of 1960's and possibly '70's and '80's houses. In my relative's case the house was built with reasonably stout timber windows, the top rail of which acted as a lintel. That situation pertained perfectly until the timber windows were replaced with uPVC (and at that time many uPVC windows did not have much, if any, steel reinforcement). Then the step-crack appeared, slowly, over a number of years. On sale of the house the issue was raised and invasive work carried out to prove the 'diagnosis': no lintel on the outer skin, and no, the inner-skin lintel did not cross the cavity and 'pick up' the back edge of the outer skin, as one builder had suggested would be the case. 

 

As I type now I can look out of the window to a 1960's or 1970's house with visibly 'drooping' uPVC FF windows. I have been waiting for a number of years (and still am!) for the DGU to 'explode' when finally the weight of the masonry above comes fully onto the glass, not (as I suspect is the case still) onto an air-gap above the glass.

Edited Wednesday at 09:43 by Redbeard
re cill protusion

[Mike Hawkins]

Thanks for the reply.You are right about the last photo, it is upside down, the others one their side mainly. Not very tech savvy.  Never even thought of no lintel. I would have expected lintel use for a 60s bungalow?? But that's why I'm here trying to get the advice, cheers.

[Mike Hawkins]

Is there an easr way of finding out if there is one or get someone in?

[Iceverge]

Boroscope from the top of the cavity might be an option if it's not filled with insulation. 

 

I'd be slow to do too much SDS drilling if there wasn't a lintel. It may make the situation worse. 

 

 

 

Here's a random one from Amazon to give the idea.

[Redbeard]

Easy? We-e-e-ll, brick removal is not difficult...

 

If it were me I'd prop temporarily (actually probably quite difficult as there appears (again, AFAICS from the pics) to be a tiny reveal, so not much to 'get hold of') and remove a couple of bricks. In reality you may probably be able to remove 2 bricks without propping, but I am not going to recommend that on a house I have never seen, you'll appreciate). If you are better than me at 'reading' boroscope pics you could just drill a hole to look. Edit: Ahah! @iceverge was posting while I typed, and suggesting just that)

Edited Wednesday at 10:26 by Redbeard
cross-posted

[saveasteading]

f there was no lintel it would have fallen down  a long time ago.

 

3mm is usually not a concern. Buildings move.

 

I'd not be worrying.  You have recorded it. Now wait for the winter and see if it gets better or worse. Do NOT fill the gaps or they may stress if there is movement back again.

Moral: mortar should always be weaker than the bricks. 

 

[Nickfromwales]

4 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

f there was no lintel it would have fallen down  a long time ago.

 

3mm is usually not a concern. Buildings move.

 

I'd not be worrying.  You have recorded it. Now wait for the winter and see if it gets better or worse. Do NOT fill the gaps or they may stress if there is movement back again.

Moral: mortar should always be weaker than the bricks. 

 

Is it worth getting someone to stich this façade and re-point, with lateral bars to tie it back together?

 

I'd say that filling the bigger cracks with a mastic would be better than letting the driving rain penetrate?

[Mike Hawkins]

Really appreciate the suggestions, it is still possible there could be a lintel in there that has failed then? The garage does need a new lintel so worth getting a quote for the whole job. Is it just as easy for a builder to fit a new lintel as replacing one? Cheers

[saveasteading]

23 minutes ago, Mike Hawkins said:

could be a lintel in there that has failed then? The garage does need a new lintel s

 

No it is very unlikely a lintel has failed.

 

Why does the garage need a new liintel?

 

26 minutes ago, Mike Hawkins said:

it just as easy for a builder to fit a new lintel as replacing one? 

It's easy during construction. It simply lifts into position on the brick wall. 

It's difficult to change one as all the wall and roof load needs supporting.

 

Who is telling you there is no lintel or it has failed?  Not experts i presume. 

 

[Redbeard]

17 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

Who is telling you there is no lintel or it has failed?  Not experts i presume. 

 

Perhaps I can come in on part of that one. I think I was the one who sowed the 'potentially no lintel' seed. I related a relative's situation where a whole estate of 1960s houses were built without lintels to the external skin, an issue which was not an issue until the sturdy timber windows were replaced with uPVC. I think I have somewhere the pics taken when the builder did 'exploratory' work.

Edited Wednesday at 12:21 by Redbeard
tripe-writing

[Mike Hawkins]

Hi Saveasteading. Thanks for you input. Added a photo of the corner of the garage, still working on getting photos right way up.. Fairly confident it is a lintel, prepared to be told otherwise of course. Why do you say unlikely to be a lintel in the front of the bungalow? Is it because of the thin long  crack below the window? Cheers

[Mike Hawkins]

[Redbeard]

@saveasteading, for clarification, my first post from further up the thread:

 

3 hours ago, Redbeard said:

I had this problem with a relative's house, and it was the same for (I believe) many (tens of?) thousands of 1960's and possibly '70's and '80's houses. In my relative's case the house was built with reasonably stout timber windows, the top rail of which acted as a lintel. That situation pertained perfectly until the timber windows were replaced with uPVC (and at that time many uPVC windows did not have much, if any, steel reinforcement). Then the step-crack appeared, slowly, over a number of years. On sale of the house the issue was raised and invasive work carried out to prove the 'diagnosis': no lintel on the outer skin, and no, the inner-skin lintel did not cross the cavity and 'pick up' the back edge of the outer skin, as one builder had suggested would be the case. 

 

As I type now I can look out of the window to a 1960's or 1970's house with visibly 'drooping' uPVC FF windows. I have been waiting for a number of years (and still am!) for the DGU to 'explode' when finally the weight of the masonry above comes fully onto the glass, not (as I suspect is the case still) onto an air-gap above the glass.

 

[saveasteading]

38 minutes ago, Mike Hawkins said:

still working on getting photos right way up.

I sympathise. the app is pretty good though in doing this for you as an attachment from a smart phone. Otherwise there are clever bods on here.

 

The garage is indeed awful. Built by idiots who get away with it because it's 'only' a garage.

What is the plan?    It is much easier than it would be with the house. a couple of acrow props to support the roof. take out the bricks and the door, insert lintel and rebuild. Maybe the door can even stay?

 

Re the house, 98% there is a good and working lintel. In the 60s it wouldn't be a sophisticated catnic type. I can't right now think of the likeliest method, but it wouldn't be to sit the wall on the window.

 

 

[Mike Hawkins]

Hi, with the garage, i think it is a straightforward lintel replacement. My main concern is with the bungalow trying to work out if it is a lintel issue(assuming and fairly likely there is one now) and guess there is no way of finding out without digging in, my worry is possibly settlement or something else sinister, going by the lower thin crack which seems to contradict and possibly suggest something else. I do know the windows are very early uPVC, would guess 20 years old so been in a long time. These are the fears of a layman with little knowledge who resides in worst case scenario land and worries accordingly. The full front of the bungalow needs repointing so considering just having the three cracks pinned and pointing carried out as could have lintel replaced and be a waste of time or money. Again all advice appreciated. Hope it all makes sense.,  Cheers.

[Mike Hawkins]

Even just some indications of the worst case scenarios would be appreciated.

[Redbeard]

 

Here's the one I 'unearthed'. Big conc. lintel on the inner skin and chicken-wire on the outer, a course above the window-head. The whole estate was built like this.

 

 

[Redbeard]

I claim no skills whatsoever with digital pic-wrangling, but try this: