Repairing crack at side of house

[Charlie]

Just been clearing out our side passage that was a real mess and came across this crack between the path and the wall:

to be eveidence of some rising damp as well. What's the best way of repairing this. I was going to simply fill it in with some mortar/concrete but on second thoughts reckoned I should ask someone who knows what they are doing first :-)

Charlie

[Charlie]

Just been clearing out our side passage that was a real mess and came across this crack between the path and the wall:

to be eveidence of some rising damp as well. What's the best way of repairing this. I was going to simply fill it in with some mortar/concrete but on second thoughts reckoned I should ask someone who knows what they are doing first :-)

Charlie

[MM]

In my previous house I had a crack in the front wall brickwork, though not as bad. About 1mm to 2mm wide, as I recall. The crack had been there for 20 years and there was no sign of it getting worse. It was about 30cm long. I filled it with Milliput brown. Didn't crack again. I think it occurred when the previous owner had the window replaced and the wall got stressed.

MM

[Geoff Pearson]

Send for Beeny - she will have the structural engineer in within minutes and all your drains dug up. How much Japanese Knotweed do you have?

[Dave Liquorice]

I haven't an real idea but...

Why has the path sunk what looks like best part of an inch over a couple of feet? The render has also cracked and a bit of the pointing on the corner is missing and the bit next to the gap looks loose. Is that corner being undermined or sinking. The path not having foundations or the rest of the building to hold it up will move quicker.

The evidence of damp might just be due to all the junk you have just shifted not letting the wall dry properly. Or it could indicate that that area is rather wetter than it ought to be.

[John Williamson]

+1. Time to start digging holes, I'd say. Possibly a damaged drain or burst water pipe nearby, I'd guess. Is there an inspection chamber you can get at? In which case, have someone check the pipework from it. Or use a piece of rod to check whether you can hear running water, although not hearing it won't be conclusive.

[Geoff Pearson]

I agree - Beeny-bating aside, I was more impressed by the dropped path than the current crack.

[Charlie]

I know that in the past (say 10yrs ago) there was some subsidence. Whether they ensured the foundations for the path were remedied I don't know. Perhaps not?

To be honest there wasn't that much, I just had a really good sweep and removed a some weeds.

Or it could indicate that

I've also found a very minor drop from an waste pipe in the flat above, though to be honest the leak is pretty minimal. Obviously will still to get it fixed but I'm not sure it's the main cause, it's literally just a very slow drip whilst water is discharge.

[Charlie]

Thanks John,

There is an inspection chamber nearby so that's definitely possible. The freehold for the flats is owned by the council so they are generally pretty quick and cheap at fixing any more serious building issues. Anyhow I have to pay only 1/3 of the cost, they pay the remaining 2/3 as they hold the other two leaseholds. So they have a vested interest in keeping the costs down :-)