Andrew_Culture
Internet Marketing bod
- Location
- The People's Republic Of Suffolk.
Does anyone else here have any experience of subsidence?
We bought our 1882 Victorian terrace house twelve years ago and knew from the survey that there had been subsidence in the past (although the steeply sloping floors were also a clue), but we were young, optimistic and Northern Rock were happily giving anyone a mortgage regardless of structural stability, income or rank odour.
A few years back I foolishly reported to our buildings insurer that the cracks in our walls that I'd been filling with polyfiller for years were still opening up. They asked if the gaps in the floor and the walls were big enough to fit a credit card in, and I told them the truth, which was that the gap between wall and floorboards in our bathroom is so big the cats stick their heads down it and look under the floorboards.
A couple of years ago they told send some folk down to look at the drains and told us we needed to spend £2000 because our drains weren't in 'optimum' condition. Dynorod gave us a second opinion and told us that our drains were fine, but still we had to fork out for the work to be done or the insurance company wouldn't progress the claim.
So here we are now, the cracks are still being monitored and the gaps are still slowly getting bigger. But as of last night we noticed something odd. We are technically end terrace, but the next terrace starts about 3cm from our external wall (so from the outside we look mid-terrace), and last night we noticed that our pantry smells of cigarette smoke, neither my wife or I smoke and I'm fairly sure my 14 month year old daughter isn't smoking either... but our neighbour does smoke. So why on earth does our pantry now smell of cigarettes when our house isn't even attached to the one next door???
I guess I'm posting for commiseration more than anything else! We're in no hurry to move, but it would be nice to get the repairs done and be living in a house that we can't even decorate.
We bought our 1882 Victorian terrace house twelve years ago and knew from the survey that there had been subsidence in the past (although the steeply sloping floors were also a clue), but we were young, optimistic and Northern Rock were happily giving anyone a mortgage regardless of structural stability, income or rank odour.
A few years back I foolishly reported to our buildings insurer that the cracks in our walls that I'd been filling with polyfiller for years were still opening up. They asked if the gaps in the floor and the walls were big enough to fit a credit card in, and I told them the truth, which was that the gap between wall and floorboards in our bathroom is so big the cats stick their heads down it and look under the floorboards.
A couple of years ago they told send some folk down to look at the drains and told us we needed to spend £2000 because our drains weren't in 'optimum' condition. Dynorod gave us a second opinion and told us that our drains were fine, but still we had to fork out for the work to be done or the insurance company wouldn't progress the claim.
So here we are now, the cracks are still being monitored and the gaps are still slowly getting bigger. But as of last night we noticed something odd. We are technically end terrace, but the next terrace starts about 3cm from our external wall (so from the outside we look mid-terrace), and last night we noticed that our pantry smells of cigarette smoke, neither my wife or I smoke and I'm fairly sure my 14 month year old daughter isn't smoking either... but our neighbour does smoke. So why on earth does our pantry now smell of cigarettes when our house isn't even attached to the one next door???
I guess I'm posting for commiseration more than anything else! We're in no hurry to move, but it would be nice to get the repairs done and be living in a house that we can't even decorate.
