Large Crack in wall in new apt Help !

irishlenny

Hi All,
moved into a new ground floor apt 11 months ago. In the brick wall between my apt and next door a crack appeared running from ceiling to ground. I assumed it was just a settling crack. Builder sent around a plasterer to fix it. About 5 weeks later it reappeared. This time plasterer chipped away the plaster. In the brickwork I could see there was a crack in the brickwork running from top to bottom - the crack had split the bricks down their middle and the bricks had subsided downwards on the right side of the crack about an inch and a half. The plasterer put a metal mesh over this section and plastered it again. No surprise the crack is now back.

I spoke with the plasterer today. He said many of the apts in the same block had this problem. He also said that replastering would not fix it was more than a settling crack. He said he had pointed this out to the building site foreman but nothing has been done.

Has anybody had a problem like this ? I've contacted homebond on the issue and waiting for the builder to give me a response on the problem.

Thanks !

jubi lee

if it's a structural issue, get thee to homebond (if you are covered). you should also +contact your managment company as they would have buildings insurance.
perhaps get your own surveyor out to find out what the problem is.

Victor

The management company and management agent are likely to still be controlled by the builder. It may be difficult for them to act independently.

I would seriously consider getting together with the rest of the residents / owners and hiring your own structural engineer and solicitor.

It might be OK, but you need to know its OK.

irishlenny

Thanks for all the replies. Getting my own engineer sounds like a good idea just for piece of mind.

Cheers :-)