Subsidence, settlement and heave
A gap has opened above the skirting on one wall and nowhere else. What else should be read with that gap before anyone says subsidence?
Read the rest of that wall, the other skirtings, the floor and any cracks outside, before anyone says subsidence. A gap above the skirting on one wall and nowhere else is a local opening between plaster and timber. The survey has recorded that limit. It has not diagnosed subsidence from the gap. Shrinkage, a skirting that was never tight, or plaster that has pulled back can open one run. Subsidence is a claim about the ground and the foundations. It needs more than one gap. Those other signs are what should be read with it.
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?
Skirtings are nailed to the wall or the plugs, and plaster finishes above them. When the plaster shrinks, or the timber dries, a shadow line appears, often on one cold wall. A dropping floor can open a gap too, but then the floor, the doors and the masonry usually join in. Looking only at the gap skips that comparison. The survey's 'nowhere else' is the comparison already started. External brickwork, the head of the nearest door, and the fall of the floor are the rest of it.
Ask the surveyor what else was looked at with the gap: the floor, the door, the outside of that wall. Tell the solicitor the report has not said subsidence on the strength of one skirting. Do not let a claim form start from the gap alone. If the other signs are quiet, a decorator's problem is the honest scale. If they are not quiet, follow those signs, which are the evidence, rather than promoting the skirting to a cause.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What else did you read with this gap: floor, doors, outside brick?
- Is the gap really only above one run of skirting?
- Have you stopped short of calling it subsidence?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the floor, the doors and the outside wall with the gap.
- Do not say subsidence from one skirting gap alone.
- Match the scale of any follow-up to those other signs.
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 gap is wide enough to see daylight, is that subsidence?
Width is not the missing evidence. A wide gap on one run can be shrinkage or a badly fixed skirting. You still read the floor, the doors and the outside wall before anyone says subsidence, which the survey has not said from this gap.
Does a new skirting hide the question?
It hides the gap, not the cause. A replaced board does not show whether the floor or the wall moved. The other signs, if they exist, are still what has to be read, and the survey did not diagnose subsidence from the gap.