Subsidence

What is subsidence?

Subsidence can put the safety of your home at risk and lead to costly damage. It is caused by the ground under a property sinking. This means your property and the foundations become unbalanced, causing walls and floors to move (and leading to cracks and destabilisation of the property. Settlement of a building is different from subsidence.

Signs of subsidence

Here are some signs of subsidence to look out for such as :-

• Large cracks in walls
• Doors and windows sticking and/or becoming misaligned
• Sinking and/or sloping floors
• Wallpaper creasing or rippling at joins with no signs of damp
• Extension cracking or moving away from main property
• Noticeable leaning of a house

Causes of subsidence

There are many potential causes of subsidence.

• Subsidence caused by drains can happen when leaking drains soften and moisten the ground surrounding the property, causing it to destabilise and sink because the ground under may not be able to hold its weight.
• Subsidence can become a wider problem following a long period of hot, dry weather. As temperatures rise, the risk of subsidence does too, heat and lack of rainfall causes clay soil to dry up and shrink, causing instability to building foundations. 
• Roots from trees and other shrubs can often cause disturbance to the foundations of the ground beneath the home, causing it to become unstable. 
• The property being built on old mining shafts or on poor soil such as landfill or cemeteries

May also cause issues

 What should I do if I think my property is suffering from subsidence?

Some types of houses and buildings are more at risk of subsidence than others. If you spot signs of subsidence, it is important to seek expert advice and contact your insurer. It is crucial that the cause of the subsidence is fully investigated before any work is undertaken to ensure the problem will not reoccur in the future and void any policy of insurance.

If you would like further advice in relation to subsidence, then do contact a member of our team on 0800 567 7595 or email enquiries@summerfieldbrowne.com