House purchase with cracks in the basement

Good day,

I hope you can advise us:

We have looked at a house which has at least 2 very long cracks in the basement. According to the real estate agent, this could be caused by the pressure from the soil. However, the walls do not seem to be damp.

Are such cracks problematic? Or do they fall under a completely normal settlement crack? How do you deal with such cracks caused by soil pressure and what would you recommend if you look at the photos? The house was built in 1967. We cannot say whether the crack will get any bigger and the "heirs" are also very sparing with information since they live further away.

Regards

For the large vertical crack in image 3, I would approach the object exclusively with an expert.

Regarding the statement "Erddruck": Just ask the real estate agent when the earth pressure completely pushes in the walls. How do the walls probably look from the outside (keyword waterproofing)? If they are not able to withstand the pressure of the surrounding soil, there is a severe structural defect = demolition.

I would definitely have this condition examined by a qualified expert

According to the real estate agent, it could be caused by the pressure of the earth

Maybe also by Loriot's stone marten.....this statement would be at least as valid as the real estate agent's. She should just say it like it is, namely that she has no idea about it, instead of such nonsense......annoying.
I would never ever buy this WITHOUT having clarified beforehand what might come my way or how I can have it fixed. These are not just scratches in the parquet.

All right! Thank you very much for your help! I think we should leave it alone. At the moment everything still looks good, but I’m afraid that just patching it up won’t be sufficient. Especially if you want to use the house for another 40 years.

Hello, I am still new here because we want to renovate the condominium.

We also looked at such an old house, even the same year of construction. Location and surroundings were great, everything important nearby, an older good residential area, nice property. But we rejected it for time reasons.
We were there with a structural engineer and got the green light from him. It was about a few transverse cracks under the basement ceiling and settlement cracks in the garage. He was allowed to scrape off the plaster (the sellers agreed, it would be redone anyway) and saw that it did not affect the masonry. Nothing had been done for ages, that was probably still the first coat of paint. The basement was dry, the roof frame okay. Vertical cracks like yours existed only in the garage, which stood free, there it would have been sufficient to shore up the ceiling, saw out stones, install a concrete lintel and new masonry with reinforcing steel, and re-plaster. Costs about 500 euros.
He liked that nothing from the sellers had been whitewashed with paint, but still the old wallpaper and old parquet flooring were there.

If it can become your dream house, then I would spend the money on an expert and see further. Because it does not matter whether it is 15 or 50 years old, new coverings etc. will be installed anyway. But we could not have afforded 15 years old.

Hi, I don't find the horizontal ones so bad, for the vertical one I'd first get an expert opinion. On the other hand, I think the cracks haven't appeared just in the last few years and the house has lasted more than 50 years so far. Maybe there's still some room for negotiation on the price. Regards Olli