please help with structural problems (long)

I need some advice please; We recently bought a villa in Ingleburn, Sydney, it is our first property so we were pretty clueless in the process of buying property and what to look for. Our conveyancer said we did not need a building inspection because all we need is the strata report, on the report it said out villa had underpinning to stop cracks 3 years ago, we called 2 builders and they said the cracking will not continue to happen and we will not need to have underpinning done again.

Now we have been here for 2 months and there are cracks on every corner,door/window from top to bottom. It is brick veneer, we have tried to patch up gyprock but cracks keep coming through. I just noticed there are a few loose bricks under window and cracks in mortar.

I have found out Ingleburn has reactive clay soil, and there are 2 other villas in the complex which have underpinning works.

Have we just made the worst mistake, should we sell as soon as we can or hold onto property and rent it out (will we make money or lose it on this disaster) Is it worth spending money to fix up internal cracks or will it just continue to happen?

All info/help is very much appreciated, thank you.

So the report says the soil is something "Class H"?

Movement never (in my experience) recovers to the original position 100%. In 1976, England had a massive heatwave/drought that caused heaps of structural issues to buildings that had stood undamaged for hundreds of years prior. Remedial works were undertaken, but never since have the buildings lifted up to their previous "pre shrinkage" position.

There is now a pretty non-invasive form of underpinning using expanding polyurethane foam injection. It takes less than a day to achieve and doesn't involve more than drilling a few half-inch holes. One place that does this a lot is called Uretek - they have an office in Sydney.

Wouldn't necessarily advise to bail on the house; it will be likely very fixable and they (Uretek) will tell you the straight truth - the biggest risk to me would be other houses in the same complex getting bodgy repairs, and thus dragging down the reputation of them all.

Regards, Adam.

Ingleburn is like that almost everywhere, but particularly worse up along the ridge near collins promenade/fields rd. I know it all too well from too many experiences in the region, a lot of my friends that have lived there (rentals & owners), and even my relatives that have been there since 1980. One house will open up finger wide cracks, then promptly close them up when it rains. I know of another where the front door has nearly 10mm shaved off one side on the upper half, and it still binds when it rains!

Most of the housing in that region was built during the late 70s & early 80s, during a drought period, so guess what happened when it rained again (particularly the huge wets in 86 & 90/91.

Loose bricks sounds like more of a weak mortar issue that has been exacerbated by the cracking.

I wouldn't sell up. It's a good area, and you should enjoy living there. If you were to use this property as a stepping stone to bigger things within the next 12 months, then maybe you might reconsider, but if you plan to live there for a few years I'd do the work.

The Uretek mob addo mentions would be the go. There are other companies that do similar things too. It is the best method for the problem you have.

Once it is 'pumped' then get a brickie (or a brickies T/A) in to fix up those loose bricks & mortar - or otherwise, DIY if you are capable.

Thank you for the help.

Yes, this villa was built in 1984. So even though it had underpinning done 3 years ago will have to keep getting it done? I'm not worried about paying for these works being done because there are 20 villas in my complex so even if it cost 10 grand to have done we only end up paying $500 which if we had a house we would be up for the whole amount.

My concern is will it colapse and crash on us, will it sag/sink, and i am worried about resale, if we will lose money.

Oh another thing, we are having a new kitchen installed,with stone bench etc. i am worried with the continual movement it will destroy the new kitchen, does it work like that?

i would suggest speaking with the body corporate people asap and arrange a Building Inspection to ascertain just what is going on and if its safe :).

And by the way, your conveyencer is not worth ........insert expletive here!

My experiences with Uretek have shown they're basically too busy to mindlessly drum up business, and in one case they insisted I do some other things first that were simpler and cheaper - just in case that was all needed!

Body corporates are, sadly, easily misled or scammed. Independent advice is an extra cost but worth it. If you can hold on the kitchen until someone like Uretek have given an opinion, it might be a good idea.

Regards, Adam.

p.s. House will not fall down! It might look bad, but there's a huge margin of safety built in.