Subsidence, settlement and heave
A previously filled crack has opened again along the same line. What can the survey not say about when that first fill was done?
It cannot say when the first fill was done. A previously filled crack that has opened again along the same line shows a repair that no longer closes the crack. The survey has recorded the reopen along that line. It has not found a date for the filler, a receipt, or the name of who did it. The fill might be recent or decades old, and the crack in it does not carry the year. What the visit can say is that the line is open again. What it cannot say is when that first fill was done.
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?
Filler in a crack is a material, not a diary. Once it splits on the old line, you know something happened after the fill: more movement, shrinkage of the filler, or both. You do not know the season it was put in. Decorators fill cracks before a sale and owners fill them years earlier, and both can look similar once painted and then split. The surveyor was not there for the first repair.
Ask the surveyor to keep the wording as a reopened fill, with no date attached. Ask the solicitor whether the seller has any receipt, guarantee or old survey that dates the work, and treat that paper as the seller's document, not as something the inspection verified. Tell a lender the survey cannot time the first fill. If an insurer asks whether damage is new, the honest answer from this visit is that the date of the fill is unknown.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Can you date the first fill, or only say the crack has opened again?
- Is the reopen along the same line as the old filler?
- Did any paper on site give you a date you are relying on?
What are the typical next steps?
- State that a filled crack has opened again along the same line.
- Do not put a date on the first fill.
- Ask the solicitor if the seller has any dated paper for that repair.
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 filler is a different colour, is it this year's work?
Not necessarily. Colour shows a material, not a year. Fresh-looking filler can be old, and stained filler can be recent. The survey still cannot say when the first fill was done from the way it looks. Nothing in this visit settles the reopened fill beyond the lines already set out.
Does a reopen mean the movement is rapid?
No. It means the line did not stay closed. The survey has not measured a rate, because it does not know when the fill was done and it has not monitored the crack since. Speed is not in the note.