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裂缝在墙壁和天花板上。结构吗?
Hi, I have an issue with my freeholder. they sent 3 of their employees (one is a surveyor) over 5 years period and they told me that the cracks in my living room wall (all the way up from the floor level) and ceiling is structural. But when I was waiting to send someone to fix it the freeholder told me its not structural. their officer/workman at his most recent visit even told me they will put a protractor at the gap but the freeholder knows about these cracks but wont do anything cause its costly, and that the "foot" of the building is giving away and in many years that wall will detach itself from rest of the building. After months I asked the freeholder where is the protractor etc and why they are not fixing it and they sent another independent surveyor who they paid. that independent surveyor gave a report that its NOT structural. I investigated myself and I found out that the flats above mine also have the same cracks at the same wall. I got photos from the flat upstairs and its tenant also signed a letter stating that she has the same cracks as mine. The freeholder was trying to avoid responding. after pushing them, the officer/surveyor who told me years ago that ITS a structural issue did not comment about my photos (showing 2 flats with same cracks and a letter from the other flat stating we DO have the same cracks at the same wall) and just said i should get my own surveyor. Also the freeholders area manager cancelled a surveyors visit he promised me months ago.
他们知道我失业很长时间和斜面fford a surveyor. Also how can they ignore photos of 2 flats with same cracks? Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated as I feel bullied by my freeholder
3 Answers from MyBuilder Architectural Designers
Best Answer
As a rule of thumb ,structural cracks need to be as thick as a 50p piece and actually extend into the block work behind the plaster surface ,strip the plaster back from the cracks and check your blockwork
Answered 20th May 2021
You need a Chartered Structural Engineer to diagnose the cause of the cracks not a Chartered Surveyor. He or she should cost around £250.00 but you will then have a definitive answer.
Answered 9th Jun 2021
A cheap way of checking if there is current movement or whether it is old is to place several crack monitoring gauges up the crack - maybe 3 up the wall height in each flat and then record the movement on a daily basis, particularly on hot sunny days and on wet days - note down on the record you are making the date and the weather conditions wet, dry, sunny, cloudy, drizzle etc.. Unless there is substantial movement you might need to do this over a period of 6 months to a year or more to get conclusive evidence of movement. You can get the cheapest monitor as RECON SURVEY TELL TALE WALL CRACK MONITOR – STANDARD - available on ebay for £5.49+vat each. If you haven't hot the finances to cope with that spend in the 1960's we used to bond scraps of 2mm glass (picture glass) cut rectangular - that won't give you much information unless there is enough movement to crack it when obviously there is likely to be a problem. If you have substantial cracks that appear to be dangerous or could become dangerous you could go to the council and speak to them about the situation. The owner can be made to repair the cracks on most types of rentals (i.e. you are a tenant), however, if you are lessees, you may find the lease leaves you responsible to make the repair. If it is a rental property, the council should inspect f.o.c. and enforce the owner to set up these monitors, the results of which may either set your mind at ease or force the owner to do something. I believe councils can offer repair grants to the owner or repair loans on a tenanted property. If you are living in Wales as a tenant you may have substantially more rights than if you are living in England, although I believe England recently bought in more strict rules for landlords. Hope this helps
Answered 5th Jun 2021
