Cracks in masonry house

[12345abc6ttyui67]

Hey everyone,

I have essentially zero experience with masonry / residential buildings - my entire career has been industrial / steelwork.

So, personal favour: I recently viewed a house which I am considering buying. It's in the UK, the two story main house was built approx. 1990 and a two story extension was added approx. 2005. The extension probably doubled the floor area or thereabouts. The house is essentially rectangular (except a small reception room to one side) and is very standard. There are no huge openings, no oddly shaped walls, etc.

A home survey report was carried out by a surveyor as per Scottish legislation, which lists all aspects of the house as Category 1 (i.e. no concerns).

Upon viewing the house, I noticed a crack in the roughcast running from the top of the brick level right up to roof level. The survey report also notes this crack and suggests it is superficial and that, worst case, the roughcast will need to be re-applied at some point in the future. I am OK with this, and it seems like the most likely scenario.

What I am wondering is: could this be more serious? should there have been a movement / expansion joint between the old house and the extension (it looks as though something like this has been done in the brickwork)? should this have been carried up through the roughcast? could the cracked roughcast be hiding a serious issue, or is it indeed likely to just be superficial / cosmetic damage due to a bit of differential movement / expansion?

Just looking for a consensus on whether this is potentially a big problem or just likely to be cosmetic.

 

[MotorCity]

There should have been a joint in the concrete to match the joint in the brick. Looks like mother nature made her own joint. The concrete panels probably span vertically, so if that's the case it should not be a structural concern. My biggest concern would be water intrusion, and aesthetics if you are bothered by the look.

 

[LittleInch]

It's a bit odd for an extension because it looks like they just built the extension brickwork next to the existing wall without properly tying the two together, hence the flexible brown joint between the two, but then added a very no flexible over coat to it in the form of that pebble dash.

That crack is not threatening, especially if it's 12 years old.

If you get a crack through a brick as opposed to the mortar around it then that's a different story or any other evidence of movement in cracks around window frames or doorways, but looks pretty superficial to me.

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[tony1851]

Probably just shrinkage cracking.
As it's rendered on top, may be they used aerated concrete block for the outer skin; aac block is notorious for shrinkage, often leading to vertical cracking.
As the others have said - almost certainly of no consequence.