Age and type of house
A timber lintel over the back door sags and the brick above it is distorted. Why is that distortion not automatically subsidence of the foundations?
Because the distortion belongs to the lintel, not to the foundations. A timber lintel over the back door that sags, with the brick above it distorted, is a local failure of that timber and of the masonry it was holding. The survey has recorded the sag and the distorted brick over the opening. It has not shown the foundations moving, and it has not called this subsidence. Brick follows a timber that bends. That pattern stops being a foundation claim when it is explained by the member over one door.
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?
Timber lintels over back doors rot, sag and crush at the ends, and the brick they carried then drops in a little arch above the opening. That distortion matches the span of the timber. Subsidence of foundations would be expected to mark a wider part of the wall, the corners, or a crack that does not stop at the door. The survey saw the sag and the brick over it. It did not expose the foundations, and it did not need to before refusing the automatic label.
Ask the surveyor whether the distortion is limited to the brick over that back door. A carpenter or a builder can then say, in writing, what the timber is doing and whether the brick over the opening needs support. Tell the solicitor this is a lintel, not a subsidence finding, so it should not be typed onto an insurance form as foundation movement. The lender should see the survey's words: a sagging timber and distorted brick, not a moving foundation.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Is the distorted brick limited to the span of this timber lintel?
- Did you see foundation movement anywhere else, or only this sag?
- Have you called this a lintel defect rather than subsidence?
What are the typical next steps?
- Read the distortion as the brick following a sagging timber lintel.
- Do not file it automatically as subsidence of the foundations.
- Get a written note on the timber and the brick over that door.
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 timber feels soft, has rot in the foundations been found?
No. Soft timber is the lintel, or the end of it, and that is not the foundation. The survey has not found rot in the ground, and a soft lintel does not relocate the defect down into the footings under the wall.
Does a crack at the corner of the door head change the label?
Not by itself. A crack at the door head still sits where a sagging timber lets the brick go. The survey has not shown that crack continuing as foundation movement, so the lintel remains the first explanation. The survey stops at the sagging timber lintel and does not add any further conclusion.