In article , Richard Meredith scribeth thus
In article ,
> snipped-for-privacy@chiark.greenend.org.uk
>(Owen Dunn) wrote:
>
>> *From:* Owen Dunn
>> *Date:* Thu, 05 Aug 2010 22:29:13 +0100
>>
>> I'm in one of those all-too-common situations where I have a problem
>> (in this case with my (1950s build) house) and I'm not sure what class
>> of expert to summon.
>>
>> My staircase appears to have moved away from its adjacent wall. So >> far
>> it's only about 1mm away, but I can measure this because the staircase
>> has pulled a small amount of the wall paint with it.
>>
>> So, who does one call in a situation like this? The cam.misc wiki
>> entry for builders seems to be all about building fancy things rather
>> than mending existing buildings.
>
>All buildings move to some extent, depending on the foundations. Small cracks
>aren't usually anything to worry about, and a 1 mm crack is definitely small. >
>The existence of a crack is in itself nothing to be particularly concerned >about;
>you only need to be worried if the crack continues to get wider over time. >
>What I would recommend is just to keep an eye on it to check it isn't getting
>substantially bigger: if it doesn't close up of its own accord in a few months >and
>its existence offends, Polyfilla is your friend. In the unlikely event that it >is a
>sign of a more serious structural problem, all that will happen is that the >crack
>will reappear and continue to widen.
>If that happens, you may need to consult a structural engineer or building >surveyor
>for advice; be very careful with jobbing builders, especially if they start
>recommending expensive remedial work, since there are plenty of cowboys only to
>willing to charge exorbitant amounts for unnecessary and frequently shoddy >work. >
Good advice and what you can do is to take a few pix upload them somewhere and post a URL of said pictures and crostpost to UK.D-I-Y