Rob van den Boetzelaer of the building survey firm Qkeur answers our questions on structural matters and explains the most common structural defects.
Contents
- Big windows, but no lintels
- The roof
- Crooked doors
- Points to watch in a home from the 1925-1940 building period
- Building surveyor
Big windows, but no lintels
In the period between 1925 and 1940, wide window frames were often used, but lintels were often not fitted. Lintels are the reinforcing beams above a frame. As a result, you often see the head of the frame sagging. This in turn often causes cracking in the brickwork above the frames, both inside and outside. If the cracking is severe, a lintel will still have to be fitted to safeguard the structure.
The roof
Source: Joost de Vree
Houses from the 1925-1940 building period often have large roof overhangs. The structure of these overhangs is often too light. As a result, you see the overhangs starting to deform. If the structure is stable, no measures are necessary. But if it sags too far, it's important to support the overhangs. On the upper floor there is often horizontal cracking in the inner leaf of the cavity wall next to the façade frames; this is caused by movement/stress in the roof structure. This is also known as spreading forces (spatkrachten).
Crooked doors
In many houses from this period the upper floors are also out of level. You can often see this clearly in the internal door frames. If you look at the door from a distance in a room, you'll see that the door hangs crooked and the frame is also noticeably out of true. This is often the result of masonry partition walls on the upper floor that were built directly on the timber floor. The weight of the masonry wall causes the wall to deform.
Points to watch in a home from the 1925-1940 building period
- Sagging heads of façade window frames
- Cracking/leaning in load-bearing walls/façades
- Possibly rusting steel lintels pushing brickwork outwards
- Damp in crawl spaces
- The condition of the flat roof or the tiled roof
- Condition of chimneys
- Watertightness of the cellar
- Vermin
- Poor sound insulation
- Asbestos
If the home is still (partly) in its original state, you should watch out for the possible presence of:
- Cloth-covered wiring/old colour codes/electrics in general
- Lead water pipes
- Stoneware or lead sewer pipes/drains.
Building surveyor
Rob completed his building engineering training at the MTS (technical secondary school). He has been surveying houses for over 25 years, has worked for housing associations and the municipality, has worked at an engineering firm in the field of asbestos removal and asbestos surveys, and has supervised many building projects. Rob has already surveyed many houses in Utrecht. Q-keur is a building consultancy specialising in building surveys, multi-year maintenance plans and building advice. Q-keur works largely in and around Utrecht.
