Cornice deattaching, sign of serious problem?

[darkage]

Well Im tossing and turning on giving a offer on a house that I believe I can get for a small discount on.. Needs a good make over inside..

During my inspection, I noticed along one of the lounges walls (external wall) the Cornice basically looked like the bottom half was deattaching itself from the wall. ie. Bottom part of it was lifting outwards to show a wide crack which is big enough to put a decent amount of your finger tips into. 8mm if I had to guess.

This ran for a good 2 metre length, within the middle of the wall. On the ends the Cornice looked normal. I didnt see any evidence of other cracking on this internal wall, however I forgot to check same wall externally from the outside.

There was one fine very straight hairline crack within the entrance hallway which borders the lounge, running just across the width of the ceiling within the hallway. Cornice wasnt affected here. But nearby there was a corner of the Cornice that showed hairline cracking right on the corner..

Would the above tha I've highlight be edivence of serious issues enough to walk away? or is just the cornice only lifting from the wall which needs to be removed and reglued.

I would expect cracking to be present on one or multiple walls/ceiling in the lounge if it was more serious issue I guess..

 

[RumpledElf]

Really depends on the age and construction of the house. My old house was 'spreading' without ties and the cornices would gap and the gap kept growing. My current house also has a slight gap in some of the cornices that opens and closes from summer to winter (wooden cornices, fluted metal ceilings). Both are stone houses, 135 and 111 years old.

On the other hand, a recent modern brick house on a decent foundation you'd expect to *not* have any movement.

 

[darkage]

House would be 30 to 35 years old.

Since I couldnt see cracking on the walls or ceiling near where the cornice was failing I just simply thought maybe the cornice is just becoming unstuck? Even for the same room no cracking.. hmm

I've seen something like that on a house thats 50 years old but that definitely had major cracking..

This area is clay reactive soil my parents house nearby suffers from it..

 

[marg4000]

We had a crack like that in the cornice of a previous PPOR.

Squirted in "no more gaps", ran a finger along to smooth it off and you would never know. Not sure how long it lasted as we sold the house.
Marg

 

[norwoodman]

A detaching cornice isn't necessarily the sign of a bigger problem, it may simply be that the cement and adhesive holding it in place has deteriorated or is insufficient. You might want to look at the size of the cracking though, anything more than a few mm is worth reconsidering.

You won't ever find a house that doesn't move (unless it's been built with ridiculously deep foundations which would be absurdly expensive), it's natural that all houses have some sort of movement, but it largely depends on how the foundations have been designed - older homes tend to have more movement and cracking problems because foundations were never taken seriously up until the last 50 years or so when raft foundations were introduced more widely.

 

[orbitor]

You won't ever find a house that doesn't move (unless it's been built with ridiculously deep foundations which would be absurdly expensive), it's natural that all houses have some sort of movement, but it largely depends on how the foundations have been designed -

even with that, the house itself will move, and expand and shrink depending on weather etc.

some cracking here and there is simply inevitable. Just have it checked to make sure it's cosmetic and not structural.

 

[darkage]

Yeah I understand movement is normal, along with cracking etc..

Just when I saw a wide gapping crack under the cornice it did made me uncomfortable but in the back of my mind I thought it might just be cosmetic..

Thanks for confirmation that it doesnt necessarily mean a bad thing

 

[darkage]

Yeah I understand movement is normal, along with cracking etc..

Just when I saw a wide gapping crack under the cornice it did made me uncomfortable but in the back of my mind I thought it might just be cosmetic..

Thanks for confirmation that it doesnt necessarily mean a bad thing

Found the cause of cornice failure... plaster board for ceiling is sagging. Couldn't see or feel any moisture, maybe its just age..

Sagging ceiling a red flag or just one for diy task list?

Answer - Probably Red flag foundation issues.

 

[Pa1nter]

Found the cause of cornice failure... plaster board for ceiling is sagging. Could see or feel any moisture, maybe its just age..

Sagging ceiling a red flag or just one for diy task list?

If the glue has let go on the ceiling,its probably just a simple screw fix,repatch with plaster,sand and repaint,same goes for the cornice areas,

A photo would make this easier

The way you have explained how the cornice is moving, It is a big possibility of this to be the problem.

 

[Lil Skater]

Found the cause of cornice failure... plaster board for ceiling is sagging. Could see or feel any moisture, maybe its just age..

Sagging ceiling a red flag or just one for diy task list?

Answer - Probably Red flag foundation issues.

Why not just get a building and pest inspection carried out? Would save your worrying and then you can make a much better informed decision from there.

I don't think it's all that much money to pay for something that could potentially save you thousands.

 

[darkage]

Well I found outside on the same wall as cornice issue something a little suss like a garden sprinkler system that on purpose entered into one of the underfloor outside vents. That combined with freshly made tanbark garden beds around the front, I have the feeling owners are trying to stablise soil moisture.

With those signs and seeing the actual ceiling seriously sag on that one side made me a little uncomfortable.

Just had a nagging feeling that property might cost more than it should in the long run..

 

[NBS]

Without photos hard to give a realy informed comment. The sagging plaster could be from water from the roof is it tiles (maybe a cracked tile) Iron maybe a few loose screwws / missing screws.

Have the internal / external walls got cracks in them? Can you look under the house to the area in question? Have you looked in the ceiling? Has it been insulated?

The crack in the hall ceiling if I could get a $1 for everyone of them I have seen, I could be downing a few beers on a nice beach somewhere and no cares in the world.

No major issue and as someone said get a building and pest inspection and let them know of your concerns and I'm sure they will give these areas a bit more attention.

Brian

 

[shuggy]

Well I found outside on the same wall as cornice issue something a little suss like a garden sprinkler system that on purpose entered into one of the underfloor outside vents. That combined with freshly made tanbark garden beds around the front, I have the feeling owners are trying to stablise soil moisture.

With those signs and seeing the actual ceiling seriously sag on that one side made me a little uncomfortable.

Just had a nagging feeling that property might cost more than it should in the long run..

I might agree with you but without photos it's hard to say.