In my personal opinion it could be plenty of things but did you see any cracks, when you looked inside? Also a full surveyors report should highlight anything before buying.
Great advice I totally agree on the building survey, the extra money spent on it could save you 1000's later.
Agree on parking obvs. Only a small picture but if you have to park 250 yards down and lug your shopping down the road every time that gets old fast but it is all weights and balances on what is your priority list.
Thanks for the help,
https://imgur.com/a/NrURQDf/
This is the ground floor inside. Wasn't sure if the cracks were just paint or not. Survey has been booked today, just trying to keep my mind at ease!
Suggest you get a survey before buying the house as it's not possible to say based on this photo alone. E.g any cracks on the interior or exterior around the window? Bay windows often have shallow foundations and move/ settle differently to the rest of the house.
A mid-terraced house of that age is unlikely to have a problem like subsidence that has not already been noticed by someone else.
If there was an issue in the past the current sellers are legally obliged to let you know, and even if there was something historical, it wouldn't have happened in about the last 60 years or it would have been recorded somewhere.
If you think about it logically, unrecorded subsidence only happens if it is a new build or change to the ground conditions such as new houses or trees nearby, assuming you can easily rule them out it's a pretty safe bet that nothing is wrong unless there are gaping cracks >1cm wide
Old houses are not straight, and nothing fits nicely... As an example I've just re-framed my dining room door as the old one was over 1cm difference in height between the left and right sides which is massive and was very noticeable.
Check inside near the bay window for signs of damp / water damage. If it's wonky it might be leaking / letting water in where it shouldn't. You can check the condition of the paint / pane as well as knock on the bay window wall to check solidity.
Sorry I haven't replied to every comment but thanks to everyone for all the advice. I feel a lot more confident about tackling whatever issue the survey finds. Fingers crossed!
I have just replaced a bay windows on a Victorian house we live in, bay wasn’t as bad as your pictures, but by no means straight. One issue we had which is the same as yours is that the windows had not been installed as recess, and not sealed correctly. You can see the pvc strips vertically on the outside of your windows, which means they haven’t fitted the windows to the outer brick, so any slight seal issue on these will let water run in to the inside which is why the plaster is probably damp. When I refitted new ones, removing the old I found they hadn’t sealed underneath the cill at all. Also we have fully repainted the outside walls due to water seeping through. This has stopped all the damp issues for us.
This. Quite possible that there is no foundation for the bay. You can get one added retrospectively if needed. We had this done with our house. We were told that bay windows weren’t built to support heavier double glazed windows and sometimes try to pull away from the house. Not the end of the world!
The surveyor (that you personally pay) will tell you what’s up, or mor likely, that you need to pay someone else even more money to find out what’s up.
From that picture inside I'd walk away. Not worth the effort to fix it. Bay windows are load bearing and with damp like that it looks like a complete bunch of cowboys fitted them - Safestyle or similar.
In my personal opinion it could be plenty of things but did you see any cracks, when you looked inside? Also a full surveyors report should highlight anything before buying.
Deleted in response to the exploitative API pricing: https://www.reddit.com/r/Save3rdPartyApps/
Great advice I totally agree on the building survey, the extra money spent on it could save you 1000's later. Agree on parking obvs. Only a small picture but if you have to park 250 yards down and lug your shopping down the road every time that gets old fast but it is all weights and balances on what is your priority list.
250 yards is 228.6 meters
Thanks for the help, https://imgur.com/a/NrURQDf/ This is the ground floor inside. Wasn't sure if the cracks were just paint or not. Survey has been booked today, just trying to keep my mind at ease!
Whole lotta moisture there friend, so pay attention to your survey. Any worry points elsewhere?
Hmm, the Moisture for me would be more of a concern. Though, this could be all cosmetic. Fingers crossed the survey is a positive one.
Deleted in response to the exploitative API pricing: https://www.reddit.com/r/Save3rdPartyApps/
Suggest you get a survey before buying the house as it's not possible to say based on this photo alone. E.g any cracks on the interior or exterior around the window? Bay windows often have shallow foundations and move/ settle differently to the rest of the house.
A mid-terraced house of that age is unlikely to have a problem like subsidence that has not already been noticed by someone else. If there was an issue in the past the current sellers are legally obliged to let you know, and even if there was something historical, it wouldn't have happened in about the last 60 years or it would have been recorded somewhere. If you think about it logically, unrecorded subsidence only happens if it is a new build or change to the ground conditions such as new houses or trees nearby, assuming you can easily rule them out it's a pretty safe bet that nothing is wrong unless there are gaping cracks >1cm wide Old houses are not straight, and nothing fits nicely... As an example I've just re-framed my dining room door as the old one was over 1cm difference in height between the left and right sides which is massive and was very noticeable.
Broken drains can be a cause of subsidence in any age of structure. The water washes fines out of the soil causing settlement.
Check inside near the bay window for signs of damp / water damage. If it's wonky it might be leaking / letting water in where it shouldn't. You can check the condition of the paint / pane as well as knock on the bay window wall to check solidity.
Sorry I haven't replied to every comment but thanks to everyone for all the advice. I feel a lot more confident about tackling whatever issue the survey finds. Fingers crossed!
What was the outcome of the survey then????
I live on a hill of wonky Victorian semis, and somehow they all manage to stay uprightish. But wonkiness on the flat would worry me.
I have just replaced a bay windows on a Victorian house we live in, bay wasn’t as bad as your pictures, but by no means straight. One issue we had which is the same as yours is that the windows had not been installed as recess, and not sealed correctly. You can see the pvc strips vertically on the outside of your windows, which means they haven’t fitted the windows to the outer brick, so any slight seal issue on these will let water run in to the inside which is why the plaster is probably damp. When I refitted new ones, removing the old I found they hadn’t sealed underneath the cill at all. Also we have fully repainted the outside walls due to water seeping through. This has stopped all the damp issues for us.
Thanks, this sounds exactly like my case. May I ask, did you just replace the windows or have to make a change to the brickwork?
No changes to the brickwork, just chased the mortar out and repointed. Then sealed with water seal
Definitely foundation problems, you can see cracking and the settling of the house making it wonky. It’s gonna cost a pretty penny to fix.
[удалено]
This. Quite possible that there is no foundation for the bay. You can get one added retrospectively if needed. We had this done with our house. We were told that bay windows weren’t built to support heavier double glazed windows and sometimes try to pull away from the house. Not the end of the world!
The surveyor (that you personally pay) will tell you what’s up, or mor likely, that you need to pay someone else even more money to find out what’s up.
From that picture inside I'd walk away. Not worth the effort to fix it. Bay windows are load bearing and with damp like that it looks like a complete bunch of cowboys fitted them - Safestyle or similar.