A homeowner’s guide to the symptoms of subsidence

Leading ground engineering firm provides specialist advice to homeowners…

With mortgage rates remaining high and household budgets stretched, it’s important that any nasty surprises which could have a detrimental impact on finances are minimised. Subsidence is one issue that often gets overlooked and could become a major and costly issue if not addressed.

That is why leading ground engineering firm, Mainmark UK is providing expert advice to homeowners.

Subsidence occurs when the ground beneath a building sinks and can be caused by multiple factors, including adverse weather conditions like heatwaves, which excessively dries the soil, and heavy rain, which washes out soil.

Ultimately, subsidence can lead to unstable foundations, damage to homes, and compromises a building’s safety as well as potentially damaging saleability.

But, despite an estimated 4.5 million UK homes being at risk of subsidence, over half of homeowners don’t know what to look out for.

According to residential subsidence expert Freya Chapman from Mainmark there are five key warning signs homeowners should be aware of, which naturally weakening a property’s structure.

Five symptoms of subsidence

1. Cracked walls: one of the most common symptoms of subsidence in your home is cracks appearing in the walls, paths and driveways. While small cracks could be simply cosmetic (usually due to settlement and common in most properties), indicators of subsidence will be cracks wider than five millimetres or cracks following a stepped or zigzag pattern along the mortar of the brickwork.
2. Sloping or sinking floors: this is also a characteristic of subsidence, indicating that the ground beneath your home is unstable. This requires urgent attention from an expert.
3. Skirting boards separating from floors and walls: any physical gap appearing unexplained throughout your home indicates some kind of structural movement. If you spot this, it is worth raising with an insurer or subsidence specialist.
4. Jamming doors and windows: subsidence might cause misalignment in the weakest points in a structure – for example, around door frames and windows. While this might also be due to settlement (common in the first 10 years of a property’s life), it’s worth monitoring closely.
5. Unexplained puddles forming: lastly, if a drainage issue is suspected in the foundations of your home, for instance a burst pipe or blocked drain, you might see puddles forming around your home and gardens. It’s important to address this as soon as you can, as excess water can soften and compress the soil further, exacerbating the problem

If any of these symptoms are occurring in your home, you may need to look for ways to strengthen and re-level your foundations – and quickly, before the problem gets worse.

Freya said: “The average cost of treating subsidence is between £6k and £14k, with homeowners having to pay sizeable excesses – that’s if your insurance policy even covers you. If left untreated, subsidence becomes a costly long-term financial burden, impacting premiums and decreasing your home’s value by up to 20 per cent.

“Therefore, it might be more cost-effective for you to contact an expert and have them survey the problem using specialist technology. That way, you have all the evidence you need as to the type, cause and remedy for the subsidence in your home when you go to seek treatment for your subsidence symptoms.

“My advice to anyone who notices these symptoms is to take a note of it immediately and contact an expert in this area, like Mainmark who offer a free in-person site visit with quote, for help. They can talk you through the process of monitoring the issue, making an insurance claim, and helping you diagnose and treat the subsidence in a speedy and cost-effective way. Using processes akin to key-hole surgery, treatment will most likely be non-invasive and minimally disruptive to the homeowner.

“The process involved in monitoring and treating subsidence can be lengthy, with insurers needing to collect evidence on the root cause of the issue before financially compensating the homeowner. So, the more information you have about the subsidence and its origins, the better prepared you will be.”

Mainmark Ground Engineering (UK) Ltd is a subsidiary of the Mainmark group of companies established in 2016. The company has over three decades experience and has established itself as a pioneering force in the industry, leading the way in developing and delivering cutting-edge solutions. Mainmark has earned international recognition as an award-winning ground engineering organisation.

For further information around how to spot subsidence visit: https://mainmark.com/uk/subsidence/signs-of-subsidence/