Structural Engineer

[vinuela vinny]

We are experiencing what appears to be some slight cracking in the walls of two outbuildings, and suspect some ground movement or subsidence, and rather than use the time-old method of masterly inactivity to progress the problem, we would like to take professional advice on our best way forward

In these circumstances, we wonder if anyone could recommend a Structural Engineer who might have skills in this type of problem, please? We would prefer the advice to be in English if possible, so that we can understand the nuances, but appreciate that might not be possible

We are in the campo but close to the A92 some 60km east of Sevilla, but are obviously more than happy to reimburse travelling costs and time

Any recommendations or ideas would be gratefully welcomed

Best Regards to All

Vincent

[country boy]

Vincent,
How old are your buildings? In the Campo if they are "old build" they will crack all the time; they are likely built of stones and in-filled with dirt and cracking is to be expected ans is quite safe.
Not so of course if it's new build.

[vinuela vinny]

Hi Country Boy

Built around 1989 by the guy we bought it from in 2004, so relatively new in campo terms. It's a stable, and a garage / utility room, so not critical to our future, but we would like to get it solved. We're checking out the Buildings Insurance, but are hopeful rather than certain...... One of the options of course if it is a real problem, might be to demolish and rebuild as accommodation (holidays lets?) on the same footprint. Apologies but I should have mentioned all that earlier......

Vincent

[country boy]

Cracking of rendered walls is very common, especially in these hot climes. One way to get a clue if it's a serious problem is to check inside and outside the building in the same area. If there are no corresponding cracks internally, relax and just keep an eye on it over the years, see if it moves further with time, mostly they do not!
PS. I'm not a structural engineer, just a mechanical engineer who builds houses for a pastime

[vinuela vinny]

Thanks country boy, but we're sorry to report that the cracks are inside and outside, in the same areas around one of the doors. We fear the worst, but are still optimists......

[El Cid]

Have you talked to your insurance company? If you have something like subsidence, they will obviously want to send someone to look at it.

Sid

[vinuela vinny]

Hi Sid

We intend to check our policy and talk to the insurers (Linea Directa) on our return to Spain next month, but one of our acquaintances has anecdotally told us that the same insurers rejected a similar claim by him several years ago, as 'an uninsured risk'...... Perhaps due to his claim also being on an outbuilding? We just know yet, but our getting our thoughts organised. We shall see.......

[El Cid]

If nothing else, they might be able to give you the name of a structural engineer.

Sid

[Mikey-essex]

Hey everyone
Just seen this post and thought my question can relate.
A house that we are buying has a crack on one of the walls, in and out. It's not massive, I'd say 1m long, house built in 2006 so standing for a little while. No visible cracks in the tiled floor in or out, or uneven surface that would point to ground sinking etc. I was going to just fill the crack for now and monitor the area, if it's been standing for 16 years and didn't collapse yet I reckon we are pretty safe, the same company built another 16 houses in the area with no issues. Any input will be appreciated, thanks a lot
Mike & Misha

[Wicksey]

I lived in a (thankfully rented) house that was about 10 years old and it started to crack up and eventually needed partial demolishing. Floors heaved, windows went out of shape, couldn't shut doors, water wouldn't drain as the drains were out of shape etc. The cracks ran diagonally through the walls and you could see out into the garden through them. The pool went lopsided too. It started from nothing and was in a dreadful state after 3 years.

Our current house has a few more cracks appearing this year than before and we've put it down to the exceptional drought. I think the land has just dried out so much. Our houses have been in the campo so were built on land that was cut, reshaped and pushed about. Over time it resettles. As our houses never had foundations to speak of it's not surprising that there's been movement. Hopefully the current house cracks are just minor ones, but after our previous experience I do tend to look at the cracks in houses rather differently. I think that rental house was a particularly bad example. I think you just need to monitor it.

[Mikey-essex]

Whoops, hopefully won't go to that scale of problems. Thank you for the reply. I will be looking at having a survey done, if you or anyone on here know a surveyor in the Albox/Arboleas area that could be very handy.