I live in a 1930s semi.

One of the internal walls has cracking in the plaster which runs from the upstairs rear window, down and round to the internal joining wall and finishes ~300mm above the ground.

Before we owned the property it did have front and rear fireplaces in the living rooms but these were removed, our adjoining neighbours also.

The plaster sounds loose in places. I was thinking to remove the plaster and use helifix (or a competitor?) to repair the cracking, repoint the brickwork and then have some else replaster for me.

Obviously all the internet says to seek advice of a structural engineer etc etc. However I am northern and therefore tight. I imagine it is a poor job when the fireplace was removed which has possibly settled a little combined with clay soil and mining causing slight subsidence.

WWSTW do? Do you think the above sounds sensible. The helifix “kit” is a couple of hundred from screwfix but their competitors seem a lot less. I thought using this system would be more foolproof than just repointing and hoping it doesn’t crack again.

Clay soils don’t ‘settle’ as such. You get settlement which is caused by loading (consolidation) which if you have unloaded it could conceivably cause some uplift, but it’s unlikely you will have removed sufficient load for that to be noticeable.

If you have a settlement issue caused by mining issues you will have a far bigger problem that no amount replastering is going to help…

I would be checking that the chimney breast removal was done correctly and in line with building regs etc. I.e it has been removed to the roof and if not what’s supported on properly designed steels and not a couple of 2×4”’s.

A structural engineer once said it’s not a crack until you can get your hand in it or you can see day light through it… I think I would be worrying before that point however…

I would be wondering how much support from the adjoining wall has been removed by two chimneys being removed on either side and whether you have ended up with a poorly laterally support wall.

Disclaimer IAA Geotechnical Engineer not a Structural Enginner but I work with them.

I don’t think the lateral support should be an issue, they are only ‘normal’ size rooms, 5x4m square perhaps but I get your point.

The chimneys have been removed for 10-20 years now, there is some remains of them in the loft but almost totally removed. Obviously no paperwork for any of this work. There isn’t the full stack remaining up there that’s for sure!

I guess I want an easy fix without totally ruining my living room for weeks or longer, it looks fine now aside from the crack but I know once started it is one of those horrendous jobs that makes a load of mess and looks awful until it’s finished, plus I can kind of ignore the problem (financially!) as it isn’t increasing/decreasing in size.