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internal doorway with a diagonal plaster crack above

Hornchurch homes

Cracks in 1930s Hornchurch semis and bay windows

Send the details of what you have noticed at your home. A specialist firm will review them and explain whether the cracking needs attention, with no cost or obligation to you.

Get advice on your cracks Read about local ground conditions

Why are the walls on my 1930s semi cracking?

Interwar houses in Hornchurch were built quickly, often on shallow strip footings. London clay shrinks when it dries and swells when it gets wet. That seasonal movement pulls at older masonry, showing up as cracks that follow the mortar lines.

  1. 1

    Stepped cracks in brickwork

    A crack stepping along the mortar joints, usually wider at the top. It often points to one side of the wall sinking slightly lower than the other.

    underpinning excavation with shuttering in place
  2. 2

    Gaps around bay window frames

    The timber or metal frame pulling away from the surrounding brickwork. Bay windows have their own small foundations, which can settle independently.

    close view of a repointed mortar joint
  3. 3

    Diagonal cracks through render

    Lines running at an angle across pebbledash or smooth render. The coating hides the brick beneath, so any crack here deserves a closer look by a specialist.

    Brick house under renovation with an extension in progress. Visible construction site materials and structure.
  4. 4

    Doors sticking in their frames

    A door that used to close freely now catches on the frame. This happens when the opening distorts because the wall around it has shifted.

    a two story brick house with a garage
Quaint English family home with red brick and car in Farnham.

Local causes

Ground movement in Hornchurch

Several things combine to make interwar homes here particularly prone to foundation movement.

  • Shallow original footings Builders in the 1920s and 1930s dug foundations far shallower than modern standards.
  • London clay shrinkage Dry summers cause clay to lose volume, leaving footings without support underneath.
  • Mature garden trees Large oaks and willows draw moisture from soil near the house, accelerating shrinkage.
  • Former airfield land Parts of Hornchurch sit on ground levelled or filled during its RAF era.
  • Added rear extensions Later additions often have different foundations to the main house, moving separately.
  • Aging clay drain pipes Original drains fracture over time, letting water wash fine soil from footings.

How specialists tackle subsidence in older homes

Different problems need different fixes. The firms that take on this work choose the method after examining the ground and the building itself.

Subsidence investigation
A structural specialist visits the home to measure the cracks, check the drainage and determine whether the movement is ongoing or historic.
Underpinning
Where the original footings are too shallow or damaged, contractors excavate sections below them and pour new concrete to reach stable ground.
Resin injection
Specialist firms pump expanding resin into shrinking clay to fill voids and lift settled areas back toward their original level without major digging.
Concrete repair
Cracked garage slabs, drives and floors are assessed separately, since they often move for different reasons than the main house walls.
Screw piling
For heavy extensions or unstable made ground, steel piles are driven deep into load-bearing layers to give the structure a fixed anchor point.

Towns covered across the borough of Havering

Enquiries are taken from homeowners anywhere in the London Borough of Havering. Specialist firms operate across all these areas and know the local geology well.

If your street is not listed here, send an enquiry anyway. The whole borough is covered.

Tell someone about the cracks you have found

Describe what you can see and where it is on your home. A specialist firm will read the details and advise you on the next step. There is no charge for this and no commitment to proceed with any work.

  • No fee for advice
  • No obligation to proceed
  • Read by a specialist firm

Your details are passed on to one independent subsidence specialist, who may pay us when the enquiry is passed on. Nothing is payable to us by you, other quotations remain open to you at any time, and our privacy notice says more about how your details are used.