Age and type of house
A brick quoin beside a flint panel has a vertical split and the flint is still tight. What element has moved?
The element that shows the split is the brick quoin, not the flint panel. A vertical split in the quoin is a crack through the brick corner beside the flint, while the flint itself was seen still tight. The panel has not been recorded as having opened. The movement the crack records, if it is movement rather than an old joint, is in the quoin. The survey has not said why the quoin split, and it has not measured whether it is still moving. Tight flint next door is the comparison. It is not a damp diagnosis.
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 are held by the brick quoins and the brick dressings around them. The flint can stay tight while the quoin, which is the structural corner, cracks vertically. That split is in the quoin bricks, not the flint face. Causes can include old movement, an opening nearby, or ground movement, and the survey has not picked one. A tight panel means the flint has not rattled loose. It does not explain the quoin, and it does not mean the wall was tested for damp.
Ask the surveyor to confirm the split is confined to the quoin and that the flint was tight. If you need a cause, that is a further look by someone who understands this wall, not a chemical damp treatment decided from a crack. Tell the solicitor the report separates the split quoin from the sound flint panel. Do not repoint the flint and call the quoin done. The element with the split is the brick corner.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Is the vertical split in the brick quoin rather than the flint?
- Was the flint panel still tight beside it?
- Has the cause of the split been left undecided?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the split as the quoin, not the flint panel.
- Ask the surveyor to confirm the flint was tight.
- Do not treat the crack as a specified damp treatment.
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 flint is traditional, is the whole wall moving?
Not on this note. The flint was still tight. The split is in the brick quoin beside it. Tight flint is evidence the panel has not opened, not evidence that every part of the wall is on the move. The survey has not measured ongoing movement. Keep the quoin as the element. Do not spread one split across the panel.
Should the quoin be injected because it has cracked?
No. A vertical split is not a specification for injection. The survey has not decided a damp cause, and it has not said the quoin should be chemically treated. The element with the split is the brick corner. The flint beside it was tight. Ask what the crack is doing before anyone proposes a damp product. The report has not named one.