OK strange one this. I’ve noticed that a couple of the downstairs doors have become sticky to close in the last 2 months. Today I’ve noticed that upstairs about 6 cracks have appeared diagonally from windows and doors.

All the cracks are internal. They don’t appear on outside walls and the worse are in walls that were plastered a couple of years ago. Last time the house was painted internally was about 4to5 years ago .

The worst in my daughter bedroom you can just get your nail into.

My worry is they are all fairly new. I’m wondering if I should get a structural engineer in ? Or if its just something houses do? House is 1900 red brick.

What does stw think?

monitor them and see if they progress

do not mention to insurance company

probably nothing

what is your subsoil? quite common with clay

What’s foundations so you have? What mortar?
Our mid 19c cottage had about a course of bricks, then clay.
Small cracks appear and then disappear with the seasons. Nothing visible on the outside. It’s stood like this for nearly 200 years, we’re very much ok that it’s not about to fall down
We’ve had a very dry summer so the clay would have shrunk a fair bit.

Is it just paint work?
Crapy paint not breathing /flexible?
Dodgy plaster painted before it dried properly?

Maybe tap a bit out in an inconspicuous spot and see if that reveals any secrets.

This year’s dry summer has caused a lot of subsidence, our conservatory has had a few cracks appear which I’m monitoring as I don’t think foundations are very deep

Climate change doesn’t come cheap

https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/drought-heatwave-subsidence-home-insurance-property-b2147876.html

We’ve had a very dry summer so the clay would have shrunk a fair bit.

+1

Just general soil. A little clay.

The grounds definitely shifted. Last time we had a hot spell the post at the side moved about an inch !!

joist ends rotting out and brickwork dropping ?. we’ve had a very dry summer. if built on clay it is possible to get subsidence if the clay gets to dry and shrinks?

OK strange one this

Probably not that strange, likely to be totally normal. Hot weather causes expansion of the structure and cracks appear. The sides of the cracks are rough and the cracks don’t close fully when the weather cools. That results in doors not fitting, and can also result in ratcheting which widens them or creates cracks in other places.

Certain types of clay soils can also shrink in dry weather, resulting in subsidence, but the cracks would usually be much wider. Mostly happens in SE/central England – where in the country are you? If the cracks are from the corners of windows and doors, ie, places where the wall is reduced in strength against being stretched horizontally, they are most likely to be from thermal expansion and contraction. If they are diagonal, across a whole wall, suggesting that one corner of the room has dropped, they could be subsidence.

If you ask a structural engineer to look at them, you’ll probably be told the above (saying that as a retired structural engineer).

Indian burial ground?

general soil

No such thing and what you see at the surface is rarely relevant to foundations.

You can get a good idea of what strata you’re on by using the BGS Geoindex or the Defra Magic Maps website.

My house is on clay as an example of how much the heat this year made it “move” the brick wall next to the patio slid by some 15deg onto the lawn side. The clay is only about 10cm under the law in some parts and has a huge slab of sandstone running along it.

Thanks for all the info guys. Put my mind at rest.

I’ve put marks 10mm appart along the cracks so I can measure over the coming weeks / months.

At the least it’s saved me getting someone round straight away

If these walls were replastered a couple of years ago, it wouldn’t surprise me if this is due to the really hot/dry summer drying it all-out. Even after the heatwave, the plaster would continue to dry and only crack once it reaches a certain point. Mist new-builds suffer from some plaster shrinkage in the first few years.

Yea i thought the same. unfortunately its not just in an isolated area and old plaster has cracked as well.