Subsidence, settlement and heave
A stump beside the bay was ground out and the seller thinks the new crack is heave. Can the survey prove heave from the stump alone?
No. The survey cannot prove heave from the stump alone. A stump beside the bay was ground out, and the seller thinks the new crack is heave. Heave, on a clay soil, is the ground swelling as it takes up moisture after a tree’s demand is removed. That mechanism is a possibility the seller has named. It is not a result. The inspection did not test the clay, did not level the bay, and did not watch the crack. A ground-out stump and a new crack, together, do not prove the soil has swollen.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Grinding a stump is not the same thing as removing the moisture regime of a shrinkable clay and then measuring the swell. The crack might be heave. It might be shrinkage from a dry spell, movement from the bay’s own footing, or an old crack newly noticed. The seller’s opinion is a theory. The survey recorded a stump and a crack the seller called new. It did not sample the soil and it did not inherit a dated crack log.
Ask the solicitor to record the seller’s account as theirs, including when the stump was ground, and ask a structural engineer or a ground specialist if the bay crack needs a real investigation. Do not write heave into the purchase as a proved cause. The survey has not shown that the stump produced swelling. It has not shown the opposite either.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What did you see of the stump, and what did the seller claim about timing?
- Did you test the soil or monitor the crack, or neither?
- Which other causes of the bay crack remain open?
What are the typical next steps?
- Keep heave as the seller’s theory, not as a proved cause.
- Ask when the stump was ground, and keep that as their account.
- Instruct an engineer if the bay crack needs a cause, not a guess.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If the stump was ground years ago, is heave finished?
The survey cannot say. Years, if that is even accurate, were not measured against the crack, and the seller’s timing was not verified. Heave was not proved from the stump. An old grinding does not become a finished swell just because time has passed. No soil test and no monitoring were done.
Does a crack wider at the top fit heave rather than settlement?
A pattern can be a clue an engineer uses. It is not proof, and the survey has not adopted the seller’s heave theory from the stump alone. Where the crack is wider was not turned into a ground test. The mechanism stays unproved until someone investigates the soil and the bay, which this inspection did not do.