Age and type of house
A panel of knapped flint is loose on the front and the brick quoins are firm. What facing has moved, and what structural crack has it not proved?
The knapped flint facing is what has moved, and that loose panel has not proved a structural crack. The brick quoins are firm, which is the part of the front the survey could compare with the flint. Knapped flint is a facing bedded in mortar, often in panels between those brick corners. A panel can loosen in its own bed while the quoins stay put. The survey has described the loose facing. It has not found a crack through the wall, and firm quoins are not a guarantee of the flint.
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?
Flint panels fail in the mortar that holds the knapped faces, not always in the brick that frames them. Rain then sits in the loose joint and can track inwards. That is a facing defect. A structural crack would be a break that displaces the quoins, the openings or the line of the wall. Firm brick corners argue against reading this panel as that break. The survey has not opened the panel and has not measured movement across the front.
Ask a mason used to flint what holding repair the loose panel needs, and keep that specification out of the survey. Tell the solicitor the quoins were firm and that no structural crack was proved. If other panels sound hollow, say so to the mason rather than inventing a crack the report did not write. The inspection recorded a facing that has moved, not a failed wall.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which facing did you record as loose, the flint or the quoins?
- What did the firm brick quoins allow you to rule out?
- Did you see a crack that displaces the wall, or only a loose panel?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the loose knapped flint as a facing defect.
- Ask a flint mason what holding repair the panel needs.
- Do not promote firm quoins into a proved structural crack.
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 one flint is missing, has the wall cracked?
A missing flint shows loss from the facing, which matches a loose panel. It does not prove a structural crack while the brick quoins stay firm. The survey has not opened the panel or traced a break through the wall. One lost stone is still a facing note, not a diagnosis of the structure behind it.
Can firm quoins mean the loose flint may be ignored?
No. Firm quoins mean the corners have not shown the crack people fear. They do not stick the loose flint back. Rain can still sit in that panel. The survey has separated the facing that moved from a structural crack it has not proved, and the flint still needs its own repair.